During a recent meeting of the rabbis of St. Louis with Jewish Federation of St. Louis President and CEO Brian Herstig, a colleague expressed our collective sadness at not being able to attend a funeral for our friend Rabbi Joseph Rosenbloom, who passed...

An urban executive with very little Jewish education started studying with a rabbi. He had been encouraged by one of his peers to give it a try and Torah study soon became a high point in his week. This encounter with his heritage boosted his Jewish self-esteem...

In my 51 years of association with the Jewish Light, I have covered or editorialized countless major events, including the aftermath of the Six-Day War, the successful struggle for Soviet Jewry, the 1973 Yom Kippur War, 9/11 and so many more.  Seldom...

Recent awakening to the racism that has plagued the St. Louis region for so long is a seismic event. With crisis comes opportunity. We must not let this moment pass without it spurring action to eradicate the deep racial divides in St. Louis.The Jewish...

There is a powerful tale found in the Palestinian Talmud, Tractate Baba Metzia (2:5), that has much to teach us about the quest for and cultivation of Mensclichkeit – “transcendent humanity” – which I believe is the primary purpose of the month...

Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology, was thoroughly secular in his professed beliefs and practices. Throughout his writings he expresses a marked disdain, if not outright hostility, toward all religions, including Judaism. “Religion is a universal...

To paraphrase Thomas Paine’s immortal quote, these are indeed the times that try our souls. Loss, illness and death have become unwelcome constant visitors – not companions, because we are desperate for them to just go away and leave us alone. But...

A little more than a year ago, I wrote a column arguing that, in many ways, anti-Zionism is more dangerous than anti-Semitism. My point was that going after the Jewish State was a sneaky way of going after the Jews. By hiding behind anti-Zionism—which...

An alliance of Jewish and Catholic organizations recently scored a victory over payday lenders in the city of Florissant. In response to a recommendation contained in the Ferguson Report, Jews United for Justice (JUJ) teamed up with the National Council...

Last week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, teaches tzedek, tzedek, terdof — justice, justice, you shall pursue. But how can we pursue justice, when some systems are inherently unjust?In this case, I am referring to the criminal justice system in the United...

Encourage lawmakers to pass gun violence prevention billsI was heartbroken to hear the news of not one, but three major shootings this weekend in El Paso, Dayton and now Chicago. With the 2019-2020 school year about to start, we will also have to brace...

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. — Last summer, I was on the phone with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer assigned to Armando Rojas, our deported synagogue custodian of two decades, assuring him that I could vouch that he is not a flight risk or a danger...