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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

Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh is senior rabbi at Temple Emanuel and a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

What’s in a word? Holiness, and everything else

RABBI ELIZABETH HERSHPublished July 29, 2025

This Shabbat marks the start of the Book of Deuteronomy, which reads: “These are the words (d’varim) that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan …” Deuteronomy is also referred to as Mishneh Torah, or the repetition...

Cantor-Rabbi Ronald D. Eichaker serves United Hebrew Congregation and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Light.

Love and fear compete for your Promised Land

CANTOR-RABBI RON EICHAKERPublished July 20, 2023

Noted Torah commentator Robert Adler observed that the Book of Deuteronomy (D’varim) is “… the most sustained deployment of rhetoric in the Torah.” D’varim (sayings or speeches), by virtue of its root association, sets the tone for a series...

Cantor-Rabbi Ronald D. Eichaker serves United Hebrew Congregation and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Light.

D’var Torah: Experiences alone may not get you there

CANTOR-RABBI RON EICHAKERPublished August 4, 2022

In what many scholars, Robert Adler included, have observed, The Book of Deuteronomy (Devarim) is “…the most sustained deployment of rhetoric in the Torah”. If you go back to a previous article I wrote about the Book of Numbers, I framed this year’s...

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