You know that thing when you pick up the leash and the dog runs to the front door, ready for his walk? That’s me when my wife asks if I want to go to Trader Joe’s. I’m not alone in this. The grocery chain has a big, almost cultish following....

An uplifting story What a wonderful, heartwarming headlining article about the father-son reunion written by Ellen Futterman in the June 17 edition of the Light!  I can’t begin to express how deeply touching this story was, especially welcomed coming...

Jewish organizations are in danger. Our charitable giving can help ensure they survive.ATLANTA (JTA) — My library has the popular book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century,” in which Yuval Harari — a Jew, an Israeli and an acclaimed author — states...

The protest movement in the wake of police killings of African Americans that has targeted monuments to the Confederacy has also targeted statues of Christopher Columbus (including one in Tower Grove Park), Thomas Jefferson, a Texas Ranger (not one of...

The world has been changing drastically. This pandemic has forced us to rethink our values because it threatens our way of life. To many people, this ordeal has brought adversity, pain and sorrow. To me, however, this virus feels a lifetime away.I live...

Korach is one of the most infamous figures in Jewish history. In this week’s Torah portion, he attempts to start a revolt against Moses, suggesting that Moses and Aaron have raised themselves above the other Israelites when all should be equally holy. A...

Readers respond to Jewish Federation decision to drop adult learning classesA few weeks ago, I received the news that the Jewish Federation’s Adult Education program, CJL, would be summarily eliminated and staffers Cyndee Levy and Rabbi Tracy Nathan...

Every semester, students were given the opportunity to sign up for required or elective classes. Before registering, students would inevitably ask others in the next grade or two ahead about the courses and, especially, about the teachers. It was the...

America is a “medina shel chesed, a nation of kindness.” — Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson Sunday was Flag Day. In the midst of a pandemic, economic recession, and crisis over race and policing, I am daring to call for Americans to recover a...

There is almost as much to unpack in this section of the Torah (Behaalotcha) as there is to unpack from these past weeks and months.  In fact, there is so much to unpack, that I will need a little help; no, a lot of help.  It’s always a good thing...

DENVER — In the summer of 1999, we slept head to head in top bunks at Camp Ramah in Canada. We also shared a viral upper respiratory illness that kept us from participating in the much-anticipated yom bli shemesh (a day without sun) while the rest of...