By Repps Hudson, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
• Published May 2, 2012
The long-troubled Cedars at the JCA has a new name – the Cedars of Town & Country – and a new owner who vows to restore the complete Jewish character of the long-term care facility.At the same time, Makhlouf “Mark” Suissa says he wants to...
What’s the difference between investiture and ordination? Plenty, say officials at the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, which has announced that for the first time since establishing its cantorial school in 1948,...
NEW YORK -- With the contemporary music world buzzing about Regina Spektor’s upcoming album more than a month before its release, I cannot help but think about the young musician’s rise in the context of Russian-speaking Jewry. Spektor, who...
By Shira Schoenberg, JTA
• Published April 30, 2012
BOSTON -- On a recent Sunday, Ayla Watson celebrated her bat mitzvah.Ayla, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and other behavioral difficulties, ascended the bimah and recited the Torah reading for Rosh Chodesh, the new month. The service...
By Rabbi Roxanne J.S. Shapiro
• Published April 25, 2012
The double portion Tazria-Metzora is abundant with everything we need to know about dealing with skin diseases and bodily infections. Offering us more than a search on the Internet, we are taught not only the signs of these diseases, but how we should...
Matthew, son of Jodi and Michael Kaplan of Creve Coeur, knows how fortunate he is just by eating a nourishing breakfast before school. Or by having a healthy snack prior to his sport practice and special food to celebrate a birthday or other happy occasion....
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published April 25, 2012
The photos are both simple and stark. There is a Klezmer duo in Buenos Aires, a circumcision in Uzbekistan, a musician at a New York soup kitchen. Set in crisp black-and-white, dozens of scenes captured by Israeli native Zion Ozeri reveal an evocative...
Everything came together all at once, a couple of years ago. My mom passed away. My son moved away. A beloved pet died. My ex-husband, my friend, talked about relocating. My husband’s state-government job was on the line again. And I could barely tolerate...
Growing up, I was always taught that rabbis were an exalted lot. These were holy men—there weren’t any women rabbis at the time—who seemed above and different from the rest of us. Bigger than life, they were learned and authoritative with a special...
Free electronics recycling by MERS Goodwill and an American Red Cross Blood Drive will be two of the highlights of Congregation Temple Israel’s Mega Mitzvah Day on Sunday, May 6. The community is invited to participate in a variety of indoor and...
Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel’s Education Committee is presenting a lecture by Professor Hillel J. Kieval on the roots of Conservative Judaism on May 11. Kieval is Gloria M. Goldstein Professor of Jewish History and Thought in Washington University’s...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published April 25, 2012
Kathy Lebedun will celebrate Mother’s Day a little early when she proudly watches her daughter and personal hero, Laura Lebedun, 28, receive a 2012 American Red Cross Lifesaver Award. The ceremony takes place Friday, May 4 at the Frontenac Hilton. “I...
