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

Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham holds open the door to the sanctuary at Congregation B’nai Amoona, which has been holding services at limited capacity since October. Photo: Bill Motchan

As arc of pandemic heads the right way, synagogues start to reopen their doors

ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished June 4, 2021

Rabbi James Bennett of Congregation Shaare Emeth has officiated more funerals over the past year than he has at any time since he started his career in 1984.  Many of those were due to COVID-19.  And while Bennett said he is excited to hold...

(From left) Infectious disease physicians Morey Gardner, Tessa Gardner, Michael Gutwein and Gregory Storch lead a panel discussion on the coronavirus on Feb. 23 at Bais Abraham Congregation. 

Infectious disease doctor urges vaccinated St. Louisans to remain vigilant

ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished May 10, 2021

A year ago, a day after the holiday Shavuot, Congregation Bais Abraham in University City hosted four infectious disease doctors — all of them Bais Abe members— for a panel discussion on the state of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a year later,...

New vaccination clinic to open at Shaare Emeth on April 25

New vaccination clinic to open at Shaare Emeth on April 25

Jordan PalmerPublished April 16, 2021

A new mass COVID-19 vaccination site is gearing up to open April 25, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at a Reform temple in Creve Coeur. Today, Congregation Shaare Emeth announced it was teaming up the St. Louis County Health Department, and the Creve Coeur fire...

Sara Brodsky, an intensive care unit nurse at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, receives the COVID-19 vaccine.

ICU nurse has adjusted to strain of working during pandemic

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished March 11, 2021

In mid-February, Sara Brodsky, a nurse, walked through the intensive care unit at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, and for the first time since March 2020, she noticed that there were more non-COVID-19 patients than people stricken by the virus. “That was a...

Restaurateur Aaron Teitelbaum decided to close his three restaurants during the coronavirus pandemic.

After a devastating year, three local Jewish restaurant owners remain cautiously optimistic about the future

By Cheryl Baehr, Special to the Jewish Light & Ellen Futterman, Editor-in-ChiefPublished March 10, 2021

To say that 2020 has been the hardest year of Aaron Teitelbaum’s professional life is no overstatement. As owner of three St. Louis restaurants – upscale Herbie’s in Clayton and two locations of Kingside Diner, one in Clayton and the other in the...

Before they got sick with COVID-19, Jane and Michael Weinhaus enjoyed time with their grandchildren, from left to right: Bryn and Leo Weinhaus and Jackson Harvey.

Grappling with the aftermath of COVID-19 a year later

By Ellen Futterman, Editor-In-ChiefPublished March 8, 2021

A year ago, an ambulance hurried Mike Weinhaus from his home in Chesterfield to Missouri Baptist Hospital because he could barely breathe. As he was being wheeled toward the intensive care unit, he remembers stopping in front of the room where his wife,...

Gail Wechsler

Tell legislators to support safe access to state’s public hearings

By Gail WechslerPublished February 26, 2021

Last summer and fall, as the general election approached, citizens across the country voiced concern about the prospect of voting in person. With COVID -19 spreading, many jurisdictions saw a need, even if only temporarily, to expand absentee and mail-in...

Palestinians wait to be tested for the coronavirus at a health center in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, Jan. 5, 2020. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90) 

Israel sends 5,000 coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian areas

Ron KampeasPublished February 2, 2021

(JTA) — Israel is sending 5,000 coronavirus vaccines to the Palestinian areas, earning praise from some U.S. lawmakers who had urged the country to extend its successful vaccination program to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.“In accordance with the recommendation...

Students at the Leffell School in Westchester County, which emerged as an early epicenter for the coronavirus last spring in New York state, celebrated Purim from home in 2020. (Courtesy of Yael Buechler)

‘We’ve lost almost an entire year’: COVID-fatigued communities prepare for a distanced Purim

Shira HanauPublished February 1, 2021

(JTA) — In any other year, the mask-decorating party planned for later this month at Congregation Beth El Ner Tamid in Broomall, Pennsylvania, would make perfect sense: Costumes are part of the ritual for festive Jewish holiday of Purim, which begins...

The logo of Jewish Family Services — formerly Jewish Family & Childrens Service.

2020 in review: St. Louis Jewish community adapts to life during a pandemic

By Ellen Futterman, Eric Berger and Mike SherwinPublished January 7, 2021

As much as many of us might like to, no one will forget the year 2020. Not only did the deadly coronavirus pandemic shut down much of St. Louis and the rest of the world by mid-March, but the year also saw one of the most divisive and contentious presidential...

J offers families help with virtual learning

J offers families help with virtual learning

Published August 25, 2020

The Jewish Community Center is now accepting applications for the Club All Day, an extension of its before-and after-school program, which will offer space, supervision, safety and structure for an online school day for students in K-5th grade.“We...

Dr. David Rosen is an assistant professor of pediatrics and a pathobiology researcher at Washington University School of Medicine. 

Doctor would greenlight day school opening this fall, with conditions

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITORPublished July 16, 2020

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a Zoom call with parents at Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, which is hoping to be able to resume in-person classes this fall even though the pandemic is far from over. While most schools in St. Louis County aren’t...

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