Scholars have long debated whether the Talmud does in fact declare it a mitzvah to drink alcohol on Purim. Or more accurately, to drink enough on Purim that one cannot distinguish between “cursed be Haman” and “blessed be Mordecai.”Most students...
By Rabbi Dale Schreiber
• Published August 24, 2016
The Book of Deuteronomy really could be called the Book of Departure, as the Israelites are about to cross into a new land. It is called D’varim in Hebrew. It means the Book of Words, or Things. It also is referred to as the Book of Admonishment because...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published July 27, 2016
Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, the eight toddlers who file outdoors at the Shirlee Green Preschool sit at attention as teacher Abby Bennett prepares to read to them from a book on mitzvot.“We’re going to go over to the garden,” she explains,...
By Eric Berger, Staff writer
• Published April 20, 2016
The flames were burning brightly as more than a dozen Jewish males surrounded an oven. They were baking matzah and had only 18 minutes before the grain would ferment and no longer be kosher for Passover.The makeshift oven was comprised of firebricks,...
In my teens, when I first started thinking of becoming a rabbi, I spent a summer shadowing several rabbis in St. Louis to get a sense of what they did every day and to try and imagine whether I could ever stand in their shoes. By the end of the summer,...
By Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh
• Published July 25, 2012
I was on a mission to leave West County and drive a half-hour north to take one of the residents I see monthly outside. Mr. S loves sitting in the sun. In this unbearable heat, I try and arrive before it gets too hot. Last month I found him sitting in...
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 Sarah Cohen, John Burroughs High School
• Published March 19, 2012
The social lives of both Jewish and non-Jewish seventh graders expand tremendously as they are invited to classmates’ bar and bat mitzvahs. However, recently these students’ social calendars have begun to overflow as their non-Jewish classmates throw...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published January 25, 2012
B'nai mitzvah mitzvah When Central Reform Congregation members Michael Getty and Brian Vetruba decided to become b'nai mitzvah together, the couple wanted a mitzvah project that was not only meaningful to them but also beneficial to the entire St. Louis...
Edan Goldfarb, Shaare Zedek Synagogue Attending the CAP (Community Against Poverty) Fair gave Edan many volunteer opportunities to choose from. After meeting a representative from Ready Readers and learning about their volunteer reading program, Edan...
BY HALEY ABRAMSON, EIGHTH GRADE, JOHN BURROUGHS SCHOOL
• Published May 11, 2011
For their bar and bat mitzvahs, many teens begin charity projects. These mitzvah projects are a great way for teens to help people in new and creative ways, be it raising money by selling autism awareness bracelets or donating movies to local hospitals.I,...
