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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

Pre-pandemic scenes of summer fun at Camp Ben Frankel in southern Illinois 

Second summer of COVID challenges camp directors

Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished January 27, 2021

Some camp directors this summer will have to decide in which cabin to put kids. Aaron Hadley, executive director of Camp Ben Frankel, has to decide where to locate an entire camp. The Jewish overnight camp typically takes place in southern Illinois....

Nancy Kranzberg

How has the pandemic affected artists in St. Louis? Here’s what they told me

By Nancy Kranzberg, Special to the Jewish LightPublished November 6, 2020

I’ve been worried about my artist friends and wondering how they are coping in these troubled times. So I decided to just pick up the phone — I’m old fashioned — and ask.The main question I asked was how they were dealing with the time on their...

Rabbi Daniel Bogard of Central Reform Congregation is participating in Pfizer's Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trial.

Why volunteer for a COVID-19 vaccine trial? Central Reform rabbi says: To build trust in the process

By Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished October 13, 2020

Normally, a sacrifice might make a Jew feel weak and lay in bed on Yom Kippur.For Rabbi Daniel Bogard of Central Reform Congregation that weakness hit him two days before the Jewish Day of Atonement, when Jews typically fast.He had made a different sacrifice:...

Ryan Silver

Finding opportunities amid COVID-19 cancellations

By Ryan Silver, Junior, Ladue Horton Watkins High SchoolPublished September 24, 2020

My experience this summer was unexpected, to say the least. With COVID-19 all across the globe, I have had to adapt to life at home, as well as the world of social distancing. Although it was not how I would have imagined it, it changed me for the better...

Every third week, one grade at Whitfield doesn't physically attend school, and instead learns online only. This allows for the building to limit how many students are there at one time so that students and teachers can maintain a safe distance from each other. In his week away from in-person school, sophomore Stephen Rosenberg continues his studies despite not actually being at Whitfield. 

Student discusses private high school’s precautions amid pandemic

By Jordan Eisen, Junior, Parkway North High SchoolPublished September 24, 2020

All St. Louis public high schools will be operating completely virtually until they reassess in October. Private schools however, have the choice to open up or not, and many have opened.There are certain policies required by Missouri and St. Louis County,...

Back-to-School Anxiety, COVID Style

Back-to-School Anxiety, COVID Style

Jewish Light EditorialPublished July 30, 2020

Normally at this time of year, back-to-school angst begins to arrive, usually in the minds of students who are hardly eager for summer vacation to end.But nothing is normal in the time of the coronavirus pandemic. This year, the anxiety typically felt...

Kylie Jansen

Start of school year prompts mixed emotions

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished July 30, 2020

As St. Louisans deal with a swelling in the number of local coronavirus cases and wait to see if they will be filling backpacks and heading to school or simply opening their laptops on the kitchen table, local Jews offered a range of responses — from...

COVID’s Risks Remain

COVID’s Risks Remain

JEWISH LIGHT EDITORIALPublished July 16, 2020

“Whoever saves a single life, is as though he saved an entire world.”  —The TalmudAs schools, camps, synagogues and other organizations continue to struggle to come up with the best way to deal with resurgent cases of illness caused by COVID-19,...

Tracy Speller

Volunteer sews masks for congregation’s preschool

By Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished July 10, 2020

Parents at Jewish preschools in the St. Louis area are engaged in their kids’ development and education, so it’s no surprise that they’ve offered a hand when the congregations need a bit of help.At B’nai Amoona, a congregation member helped get...

Jewish Agency staff members in Jerusalem during a briefing about the effects of the coronavirus crisis on Diaspora Jewish communities, July 8, 2020. (Courtesy of the Jewish Agency)  

Jewish Agency releases numbers of Jewish coronavirus deaths from countries around the world

Marcy OsterPublished July 9, 2020

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Jewish deaths around the world from the coronavirus — excluding the United States, Israel and the countries of the former Soviet Union as well as Israel — total about 2,200, the Jewish Agency said Wednesday.The group, which works...

Light wins two Jewish journalism awards

Light wins two Jewish journalism awards

STAFF REPORTPublished July 7, 2020

The St. Louis Jewish Light won two Simon Rockower Awards, the annual prizes for excellence in Jewish journalism given by the American Jewish Press Association (AJPA) for work published in 2019.AJPA honors excellence in Jewish journalism and represents...

Rob Koritz (Photo from Darkstarorchestra.net)

Chai Frequency Radio podcast: Dark Star Orchestra drummer talks music, Camp Sabra

By Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished July 6, 2020

Rob Koritz, a drummer in Dark Star Orchestra, one of the most popular Grateful Dead tribute bands, talks to Associate Editor Eric Berger about life during the coronavirus pandemic and how painful it is to not be able to spend time at two of his favorite...

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