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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

Native St. Louisan David Kram (right) is one of the entrepreneurs featured in “Startup U,” an hour-long reality series that premiered in August.

St. Louis native pitches business on Startup U

By Ellen FuttermanPublished September 9, 2015

Toke on this Admittedly, I’m not a big ABC Family channel watcher, but I turned the corner recently when I found out about David Kram and “Startup U.”Kram, who is 27 years old and grew up in St. Louis, is one of 10 young techies competing in a...

The Wonder Wheelers wow the crowd with their unicycling and juggling feats during a Performing for Pencils event.

Teens’ nonprofit helps students in need

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished August 19, 2015

In September, Ohr Chadash, the monthly section in the Jewish Light written by St. Louis-area Jewish high school students, will start back up for another school year. While similar sections in newspapers across the country have come and gone, Ohr Chadash,...

Benjamin Hochman. Photo: Craig F. Walker/ The Denver Post

A good sport: Meet the P-D’s new sports columnist

Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished August 12, 2015

It was an offer he couldn’t refuse.That’s how Benjamin Hochman describes his decision to leave a sports columnist position at the Denver Post to assume a similar one at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He will replace Bernie Miklasz, whose last column...

Dick Horowitz standing next to one of the Wings of Hope planes. Photo: Rebecca Ferman

Pilot answers prayers with Wings of Hope

By Rebecca Ferman, Jewish Light StaffPublished July 22, 2015

In November of 2012, Dick Horowitz chose to spend his 67th birthday a little differently than most people would: flying a plane from Ohio to Kansas to reunite an ill passenger with her family. When they arrived at their destination, a cheering crowd was...

Max Schneider

Q&A with musician and actor MAX/Max Schneider

By Rebecca Ferman, Jewish Light StaffPublished July 15, 2015

In the past, he’s modeled with Madonna for Dolce and Gabbana, and starred alongside Keke Palmer in the Nickelodeon film “Rags.” But 2015 is shaping up to be Max Schneider’s biggest year yet.    Schneider, known in the music world as “MAX,”...

Michael Castro

Poet laureate Castro embraces universality of art

By Susan Fadem, Special to the Jewish LightPublished January 7, 2015

In a University City neighborhood of small brick houses, the one shared by St. Louis’ first poet laureate, Michael Castro, and his wife, photographer and multimedia artist Adelia Parker-Castro, is the only one with a purple foundation.Somehow irresistibly...

Scott Goldman

A bar mitzvah 50 years in the making

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished July 16, 2014

On a recent Shabbat morning, the sanctuary at Central Reform Congregation is bathed in sunlight and alive with music and dance. Independence Day was the day before, but the festivities aren’t in honor of the July Fourth weekend. Instead, as the ruckus...

Dave Simon, founder and owner of  Dave Simon’s Rock School teaches students after school at Epstein Hebrew Academy.  

Schoolhouse Rock

By Barry Gilbert, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 1, 2014

Dave Simon strikes a chord at Orthodox day schoolsRoom 216 at Epstein Hebrew Academy (EHA) in St. Louis is filled with bookcases holding impressive sets of serious-looking bound volumes written in Hebrew, as well as paint and beads and other craft supplies,...

Juggler Kellin Quinn Hentoff-Killian 

Teen juggles life along with Circus Harmony

Benjamin Collinger, Junior, Ladue Horton Watkins High SchoolPublished February 13, 2014

Kellin Quinn Hentoff-Killian, 17, has grown up around the circus. Performing is second nature, practice is a priority and creativity is paramount. Kellin is one of the premier jugglers in the world, and his passion for his craft has been parlayed into...

Marcia Evers Levy and her family, including husband Joel, mother Anita Evers and daughter Hayley Levy with Fran Drescher (center) at the 2005 Jewish Book Festival. 

A new chapter for longtime book festival director

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished January 15, 2014

If Marcia Evers Levy were to write a memoir based on her tenure as director of the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, her reminiscences would be just as remarkable as those of the many authors she brought to town over the past 15 years. Evers Levy resigned...

Avrohom Yosef Staum 

Creating a vision thanks to technology

BY ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITORPublished December 11, 2013

As holidays go, it wasn’t well celebrated. In fact, few people knew about it at all. Nevertheless, National Technological Innovation Day is a real national holiday designated as such for the first time on Oct. 29 of this year. And the brainchild behind...

Temple Israel members Pamela Dern (left) and Nancy Solomon prepare pumpkin pies for baking. 

Pies with a Purpose

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished November 27, 2013

Every so often I try to channel my friend and colleague Lois Caplan, who currently is busy traveling for the holidays and taking a short hiatus from her bi-monthly column. Lois, as most of you know, does a terrific job highlighting all sorts of worthwhile...

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