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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

The new Kol Rinah building in Clayton is nearing completion.

Are we, like Joseph’s brothers, strong, weak or as we are?

RABBI NOAH ARNOWPublished December 10, 2021

Are Jews strong or weak, powerful or oppressed? The answer, of course, is, yes. Israel, the Jewish state, is a nuclear power and, although small, has the strongest military in the Middle East.  And in so many ways, Jews are a strong, proud presence...

The new Kol Rinah building in Clayton is nearing completion.

Torah speaks to the challenges of reentry

RABBI NOAH ARNOWPublished May 20, 2021

It’s been more than a year since I began reading the Torah through COVID-colored glasses. Or perhaps more aptly, I’ve been reading Torah this year through a mask. Familiar stories and concepts in the Torah read differently from home, on Zoom, streaming,...

Fran Zellinger said the new Jewish Senior Connection program is ‘a gift to seniors.’

Isolated Jewish seniors targeted in new ‘Connection’ program

Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish LightPublished April 27, 2021

When Fran Zellinger was growing up, she watched TV on a black-and-white set and talked to friends using a dial phone. Now she’s a Zoom veteran. That’s why she’s enthusiastic about a new program called Jewish Senior Connection, which takes full advantage...

Author will discuss history of American Jews and Native Americans

By Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished February 26, 2021

In 2002, David Koffman was a graduate student at New York University and planning to pursue a doctorate on two famous Jewish American anthropologists when the leader of an indigenous people in Canada made hateful comments about Jews that prompted Koffman...

The new Kol Rinah building in Clayton is nearing completion.

Kol Rinah longs to share its new space with big crowds

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished November 11, 2020

Kol Rinah President Randi Mozenter, a clinical psychologist, spends plenty of time thinking about people struggling with illness, hospitalizations, anxiety and depression during the pandemic. She also thinks about the Conservative congregation’s striking,...

Bill Kaufman runs Kaufman Broadcast Services.

TV/radio expert keeps Cardinals—and the High Holidays—on the air

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished September 4, 2020

Bill Kaufman is spending much of his time these days managing broadcast services for one venue where people typically sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game,” as well as one where “Avinu Malkeinu” is a familiar song.But now, Busch Stadium and the...

Rabbi Scott Shafrin

The quiet work of spiritual uplift

By Rabbi Scott ShafrinPublished May 7, 2020

D’var Torah:  Parashat EMORAdonai said to Moses: Speak to the priests, the sons of Aaron, and say to them: None shall become ritually impure for any [dead] person among their kin, except for the relatives that are closest to them: their mother, their...

St. Louis synagogues providing live streaming

St. Louis synagogues providing live streaming

Published March 25, 2020

Listing below provided by the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, with additional information from congregations directly• Bais Abraham (Orthodox): Daily Tehillim, Halakha and Mishnah Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. Online at https://zoom.us/j/297962649...

Rabbi Noah Arnow

Reading the scroll of Esther: Hope or warning?

By Rabbi Noah ArnowPublished March 5, 2020

Is  every mitzvah, every commandment equally important?  In some sense, of course — if we understand God as the source of mitzvot, commandments, then every mitzvah is an equal opportunity to obey or disobey God and God’s will for us.  And plus,...

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