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

A JCPA delegation recently visited the southern U.S. border during a three-day fact-finding mission. 

JCPA delegation bears witness on the border

BY PAUL KRAVITZ, MAHARAT RORI PICKER NEISS & KAREN SHERPublished October 10, 2019

When we bear witness to acts of injustice and inhumanity against our fellow human beings, we have a responsibility to tell their stories. When we bear witness to a system that criminalizes children, women and men fleeing violence, corruption and poverty,...

Maharat Rori Picker Neiss met up with some rabbis from St. Louis, who are also studying at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem this summer, as well as former Jewish Federation of St. Louis president and CEO, Andrew Rehfeld, who was speaking at the institute. From left to right: Rehfeld, Picker Neiss, Rabbis Karen and Daniel Bogard from Central Reform Congregation, Rabbi Michael Alper from Congregation Temple Israel and Rabbi Mark Fasman, formerly of Kol Rinah.  

JCRC leader studying in Israel, NCJW trip, musicpalooza

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished July 18, 2019

Summer learning (for rabbis)It’s always fun to see old friends, especially when you’re thousands of miles away from home. That’s the situation that Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, found herself...

JFHN announces grant, fundraising to support DACA renewals

JFHN announces grant, fundraising to support DACA renewals

Published August 9, 2018

The Jewish Fund for Human Needs (JFHN) announced last week that it will award an emergency grant to enable DACA recipients to apply for renewal of their status. It also will launch an effort to fundraise for additional support within the Jewish community....

Maharat Rori Picker Neiss

The road leads forward, never back

By Maharat Rori Picker NeissPublished June 7, 2018

Hidden away amid the famous story in this week’s Torah portion of the spies sent to scout the land of Israel, and tucked behind the suspense and drama of false testimony, communal wailing and the punishment of 40 years wandering the desert, we find...

Maharat Rori Picker Neiss is executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council. 

A Covenant worth its salt

BY MAHARAT RORI PICKER NEISSPublished March 14, 2018

In the Middle Ages, salt was so expensive it was sometimes referred to as white gold.Perhaps, then, it is not so surprising that as the Book of Leviticus opens to describe for us the sacrifices that the Israelites are to bring to God now that the Tabernacle...

Missouri black church coalition rejects Black Lives Matter Israel statement

JTA REPORTPublished August 17, 2016

An association of hundreds of predominantly African-American churches in Missouri condemned the recent platform of the Black Lives Matter movement labeling Israel an “apartheid state” and accusing it of genocide.In a statement published Sunday in...

Load More Stories