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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

Caleb Ellis

A teen perspective on affiliation

By Caleb Ellis, Ohr Chadash StaffPublished December 14, 2011

CAN WE TALK? - TEEN COMMENTARY Throughout the first 17 years of my growing up, there's no question that Judaism has played an integral role. Like many of my Jewish peers, I underwent the staples of elementary Jewish education. I reluctantly attended Hebrew...

Can We Talk?

Synagogues aim to evolve to fit changing needs

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished December 14, 2011

They come for the wedding. They come for the bar and bat mitzvah. They come for the High Holidays. But the question that troubles Rick Kodner doesn't revolve around lifecycle events. How do you get them to come the rest of the time? "What's happened is...

Increasing number of Israelis are turning to Reform Movement, visiting rabbi says

By Repps Hudson, Special to the Jewish LightPublished December 14, 2011

Rabbi Gilad Kariv believes Reform Judaism holds the key to reviving the moderate center in Israel, which many commentators in recent years have noted may has been hollowed out and lost to extremists. "I strongly believe Reform Judaism can be one of the...

Through HMLC visit, police officers broaden cultural understanding

By Jennifer Rubin, Sophomore, Parkway CentralPublished December 14, 2011

One of the hardest, but most important parts of being a police officer is the training. Officers learn and participate in activities that include physical training, continuing education, driving tests, role-play and target practice. To become an officer,...

Eli Temkin at the Next Dor house. 

What’s next for the Jewish NextGen?

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished December 7, 2011

Rachel Tabak, 28, grew up at Congregation B'nai Amoona, which she still attends with family for the High Holidays. But she said she isn't a member of the congregation on her own. "I think that really kicks in when you have kids," said Tabak. "In between...

Torah MiTzion Kollel's international director Boaz Genut (left)
and Gilat Gastfraind, shlichim to St. Louis, are shown during a
breakfast Sunday at Bais Abraham Congregation, ending a four-day
conference held in St. Louis. For a gallery of images from the
events, visit www.stljewishlight.com. Photo: Yana Hotter

Conference of Israeli emissaries marks local Torah MiTzion’s growth

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished December 7, 2011

Boaz Genut has been back in Israel since 2006 but sometimes he still sounds like a St. Louisan. "Someone picked me up from the airport and was a little confused on how to go. I said just take 170 south and I'll direct you from there," laughed the rabbi,...

Rabbi Lazer Brody

‘Emuna’ translator Rabbi Lazer Brody to visit Dec. 8-10

Published December 7, 2011

The St. Louis Jewish community is invited to meet Rabbi Lazer Brody when he visits St. Louis Thursday, Dec. 8 through Saturday, Dec. 10.Rabbi Brody is an internationally acclaimed speaker and translator of several bestselling books, including the widely...

Sherie Schild and Janice Barrier wait with 16 other couples from
St. Louis to be married during a trip to Iowa in 2009. The couple's
wedding was officiated by Rabbi Susan Talve of Central Reform
Congregation. Photo: Kristi Foster

The changing St. Louis Jewish community

By David Baugher , Special to the Jewish LightPublished November 30, 2011

As Barry Rosenberg nurses a cup of coffee at a local café, the President and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater St. Louis paints a picture of what many once thought was a typical Jewish home. "Most of our institutions were designed to serve what...

Editorial: A Moment So Close

Published November 23, 2011

The news is gloomy these days, for sure, which makes it even harder to look for those morsels that ought comprise our Thanksgiving-season gratitude.Domestically, political types seem more desirous of destroying their opponents than creating governing...

Letters to the Editor, week of Nov. 23, 2011

Published November 23, 2011

Interfaith opportunity should not be missedThere comes a moment in time when the decision to act, to make a committment, to pay back for what others have done for us is upon us. The time has come.In the 1990s in Billings, Mont. a brick was thrown through...

Kayla Kahn in the Negev

Finding enduring connections to Judaism during holidays in Israel

By Kayla KahnPublished November 9, 2011

I was sitting with my parents this summer at a nice restaurant in St. Louis - "nice" meaning we had all traded our jeans and flip-flops for more formal attire and were enjoying a bottle of wine that had been ordered from a separate wine menu.  As our...

Letters to the Editor, week of Nov. 9, 2011

Published November 9, 2011

Merged day school's policy on kashrutA Nov. 2 letter to the editor asserts that the new Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School has no kashrut policy. We would like to correct this misperception and explain our approach to the merger process.When a Reform...

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