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A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

"Where Is Anne Frank" reimagines the famous diarist's life in animated form, with Israeli director Ari Folman partnering with the foundation that holds the copyright to her diary. (Courtesy of Purple Whale Films)

STL film festival features animated Anne Frank movie

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished November 3, 2022

A disoriented teenage girl lies on Anne Frank’s bed as people swarm the family house. But these people are not Nazis; they’re modern-day tourists. And the girl on the bed isn’t Anne, but Kitty — the imaginary friend to whom she addressed her now...

As Putin’s war sputters, antisemitism seeps into the Russian media landscape

As Putin’s war sputters, antisemitism seeps into the Russian media landscape

Cnaan Liphshiz, JTAPublished September 28, 2022

(JTA) — Soon after he rose to power 22 years ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin cracked down on the open antisemitism that nearly all of his predecessors had either encouraged, tolerated or ignored. Now, as Russia’s war effort in Ukraine founders,...

Swedish hospital wrongfully fired doctor who complained of superior’s antisemitic bullying, court rules

Swedish hospital wrongfully fired doctor who complained of superior’s antisemitic bullying, court rules

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished September 6, 2022

(JTA) — A prestigious hospital near Stockholm unjustly fired a Jewish physician who had complained of antisemitic bullying by his superior, a local court ruled on Thursday, bringing what appears to be the end to a widely-covered affair that cast a spotlight...

Rolf Eden, Germany’s leading playboy who fought in Israel’s War of Independence, dies at 92

Rolf Eden, Germany’s leading playboy who fought in Israel’s War of Independence, dies at 92

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished August 17, 2022

(JTA) — Wars had shaped much of the early life of Rolf Eden, a German-Jewish impresario and nightclub owner who died Thursday in Berlin at the age of 92. But Eden’s adult years were shaped by the pursuit of pleasure, as he became one of Germany’s...

Holocaust memorials in Buchenwald and Berlin vandalized in same week

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished July 22, 2022

(JTA) — In the same week, sets of unidentified individuals cut down trees planted to commemorate Holocaust victims near the former Nazi camp of Buchenwald in Germany and drew swastikas were onto one of the concrete slabs of Berlin’s Holocaust memorial. Near...

Russia orders Jewish Agency to cease work and remove staff from country, Russian media report

CNAAN LIPHSHIZPublished July 21, 2022

(JTA) — In an unprecedented move, the Russian government has told the local representatives of the Jewish Agency for Israel to end their activities and leave the country, according to reports in Russian media Thursday. The move comes amid increasing...

How Russia’s war is undoing 30 years of Jewish community building in Ukraine

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished July 20, 2022

VINNYTSIA, Ukraine (JTA) — At this city’s only regularly functioning synagogue, nine men and five women cheer a visitor on as he enters the building. “Terrific! We have a 10th! Let’s begin!” one of the men, David Goldish, exclaimed during...

Israeli family risks it all to retrieve rare Ethiopian Bible

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished July 5, 2022

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (JTA) — When they flew out of this country for Israel three decades ago, Askabo Meshiha’s family left something valuable behind. Unlike many other Ethiopian Jews who were airlifted to Israel in 1991, they didn’t say goodbye...

Kefale Tayachew Damtie, second from right, and his children greet visitiors to their home in Gondar, Ethiopia, May 29, 2022. (Cnaan Liphshiz)

How Israel’s Falash Mura immigration from Ethiopia became a painful 30-year saga, with no end in sight

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished June 14, 2022

GONDAR, Ethiopia (JTA) — It was love at first sight for Wesom Mellesse when his wife stepped into his metal shop 17 years ago. “Her dad took her into my shop because he needed me to fix their plow and when I saw her, we understood that we felt...

Moscow’s chief rabbi in exile after refusing to back Putin’s war on Ukraine, relative says

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished June 8, 2022

(JTA) — As the head of a large European rabbinical group, Pinchas Goldschmidt regularly travels in and out of Moscow, where he has worked since 1993 as the city’s chief rabbi. But when he left most recently, two weeks after Russia invaded neighboring...

After decades of waiting, 300 of Ethiopia’s Falash Mura to leave for Israel this week

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished May 31, 2022

GONDAR, Ethiopia (JTA) — The atmosphere was festive at this city’s only synagogue as the congregations prepared to send off 180 community members who are moving to Israel. “Everyone is happy because today’s a day of hope,” Abraham Zemenu,...

German teen suspected of planning school attack had explosives, antisemitic literature

German teen suspected of planning school attack had explosives, antisemitic literature

CNAAN LIPHSHIZ, JTAPublished May 13, 2022

(JTA) — German police found explosives and antisemitic, far-right literature at the home of a teenager they suspect of planning a terrorist attack at a school. Federal officers took the 16-year-old suspect, who was not named in the German media,...

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