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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

Tsilla Hershco

Forgotten heroes: The Jewish resistance and ‘Exodus 1947’

By Tsilla HershcoPublished August 22, 2019

It is a regrettable injustice that the major contribution of the resistance to the creation of the State of Israel is almost entirely absent from our collective memory.This July and August mark the 72nd anniversary of the journey of the Exodus 1947 (originally...

AFP_J301A

AFP_J301A

STRINGERPublished May 17, 2017

Syrian residents, fleeing violence in Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr neighborhood, arrive in the Fardos neighbourhood after regime troops retook the area from rebel fighters, Dec. 13, 2016. (Stringer/AFP/Getty Images)

Rabbi Tracy Nathan is a Community Chaplain with Jewish Family & Children’s Service and teaches at B’nai Amoona, Kol Rinah, and Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School.

D’var Torah: ‘Spring up, O Well!’

By Rabbi Tracy NathanPublished July 13, 2016

In Parashat Hukkat, our sages read the absence of water that follows Miriam’s death as alluding to the drying up of the well that traveled with the Israelites throughout their journeys, given as a gift in merit of Miriam (Bavli Talmud Ta’anit 9a).What...

Rabbi Lane Steinger serves Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Community in St. Louis.

In lifting others, we, too, shine

By Rabbi Lane SteingerPublished June 22, 2016

The Israelites still are in the Wilderness. They still are preparing to inaugurate usage of the Mishkan/Dwelling-place, the portable wilderness Sanctuary or Tabernacle. Our Torah portion opens with these words: “The Eternal spoke to Moses as follows....

Rabbi Micah Buck-Yael is Community Chaplain with Jewish Family & Children’s Service.

How we tell the story

By Rabbi Micah Buck-YaelPublished April 21, 2016

“Our tale begins in degradation and ends in praise.”This is more or less the entire original seder “script” outlined in the Mishnah nearly 2,000 years ago. It outlines not only the story of Exodus, but also a way of looking at Jewish and divine...

Rabbi Weiman is a speaker, teaches Jewish history at Esther Miller Bais Yaakov, and is author of the new book, “48 Things, 49 Days,” (Targum Press) as well as “A Simple Guide to Happiness,” “A Map of the Universe,” and “the Everything Learning Hebrew Book.”

Between Passover and Shavuot, a time for character improvement

BY RABBI MAX WEIMANPublished March 28, 2013

What’s the most important part of Passover? Matzah? Wine? Haggadah? Aunt Tilly’s gefilte fish? Freedom from slavery is awesome. But despite the lines of the Haggadah song “dayenu,” the freedom would not have meant very much without the Torah....

Rabbi Maurice D. Harris

Rabbi’s book takes a fresh look at the career of Moses

BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief EmeritusPublished July 4, 2012

In his new book “Moses: A Stranger Among Us,” ($19, Cascade Books, 164 pages), Rabbi Maurice D. Harris, a native of St. Louis, sets forth a fresh look at Moses, “from a progressive, pluralistic Jewish perspective.”  Rabbi Harris himself is no...

Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPT, Certified Health Coach, is a longtime fitness instructor at the Jewish Community Center. She is also a member of the St. Louis Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

Re-thinking the seder

By Cathleen Kronemer, NSCA-CPTPublished April 5, 2012

As the season of Pesach approaches and households are busy eliminating all traces of chametz from the shelves and replacing it with matzah, it seems reasonable to be thinking of how we plan to embrace the traditions that await us on Friday at sundown. ...

Move over, Elijah: Interfaith kids joining the seder

By Deborah Fineblum Raub, JointMedia News ServicePublished March 28, 2012

When you have youngsters from interfaith families at your seder table, it can’t help but up the Passover ante. Maybe you are the kids’ auntie, or their grandparent, cousin, neighbor or friend. And maybe, just maybe you’re their parent.  Whatever...

Making the seder fun again

By Dr. Erica Brown, JointMedia News ServicePublished March 28, 2012

Three times in the book of Exodus and once in Deuteronomy, we are commanded to tell the master narrative of our people to our children. Sometimes it is because children ask, and we have a responsibility as bearers of a legacy to answer. Sometimes children...

See which brands are seder-worthy

By the Jewish Light StaffPublished March 28, 2012

Too often a good idea leads to less desirable—though unintended—consequences. So it was with the Jewish Light’s Matzah Taste Test. Wouldn’t it be helpful to buy a bunch of different brands of matzah and recruit staff members to judge the brands...

JCC’s Kitchen J plans Passover seder for community

Published March 14, 2012

Kitchen J is taking reservations for the First Seder of Passover, Friday, April 6, at the Covenant I Dining Room. Seniors are invited to include their families and friends for the recounting of the story of the Exodus from Egypt over a great meal. The...

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