SAN FRANCISCO — Passover, which commemorates the Jewish people's liberation from slavery, has a political message at its heart. So it's not surprising that the seder - especially the seder plate -- has been pressed into the service of all kinds of freedoms....
As Passover approaches, thoughts of singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman flood my mind.Of course, I will always remember Friedman, who died early this year, for her monumental healing prayer "Mi Shebeirach" and other songs that touched a multitude of people...
Some day St. Louis will be on the map, as the place where Larry Levin, Publisher/CEO for the Jewish Light, founded the movement for "Interfaith Food."As a Reform Jew (my daughter's family belongs to Shaare Emeth) who believes in tikkun olam (Healing the...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published April 13, 2011
Gail Littman likes to take a stack of 10 dimes with her when she goes to speak to groups. She breaks them into three sets of three to illustrate someone dividing an estate among their children. The leftover dime goes to the community."It's actually a...
The Central Agency for Jewish Education announces the 2011 Israel merit-based scholarship awardees. The recipients were chosen on the basis of an essay, their activities in the Jewish community, commitment to continued Jewish education and high school...
When we put our paper to bed last week, I was extremely pleased, for several reasons: • We were able to provide front-page coverage of (and I was fortunate to attend) the dedication ceremony for Chabad on Campus' newly renovated facility adjacent to...
Two weeks before the recent Egyptian uprising, I was traveling as the sole Jewish member of a university-sponsored educational trip in the Arab world. While the prior January I had traveled to Israel with Rabbi Hershey Novack of Chabad on Campus on a...
Why I continue to be surprised when The St. Louis Jewish Light seeks community viewpoints only from men is beyond me. After all, it is 2011, not 1911; women do have the vote, are educated, own businesses, raise families and are as capable of having...
In a tremendously challenging year, the grand total of Jewish Federation's combined 2010 fundraising hit $17 million - a $3.5 million increase over 2009. Federation's "total" income stream includes the Annual Community Campaign, emergency campaigns for...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published March 30, 2011
Many are aware of the "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," the anti-Semitic work that has plagued the Jewish community for more than a century with lies about Judaic desire for world domination. Yet few would have thought of writing a song about it. "It...
NEW YORK (JTA) -- For the man tapped to lead American Jewry's largest religious denomination, keeping the movement's 900-plus synagogues welcoming to the unaffiliated, inspiring for members and a home for disaffected traditional Jews may require a high-wire...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published March 23, 2011
For a group of B'nai Amoona confirmation students, last year's trip to Washington, D.C. was educational in more ways than one. Not only did the delegation see the nation's capital, they made a number of new friends among the city's homeless for whom the...
