A menorah sits on a shelf in Dave Blum and Autumn Sij’s farmhouse kitchen. The ketubah commemorating their wedding vows hangs on the wall. And outside roaming in a pasture are 65 pigs. Blum and Sij are Jewish, and they’re pig farmers.They also raise...

Farmers markets abound in the St. Louis area. More than a dozen operate each week, ranging from small operations such as  the Sunday Boulevard Farmers Market across from the Galleria to sprawling markets such as the Saturday Tower Grove Park extravaganza. Farmers...

Madison Marks. Remember the name.The 14-year-old, who just began her freshman year at Parkway Central High School, is well on the way to realizing her dream as a cutting-edge fashion designer with a unique aesthetic. Her sustainable creations embrace...

TEL AVIV — Judy and Josh Rosenbloom have the sorts of jobs — dentist and obstetrician-gynecologist — that require years of difficult study and long hours. But in their early and mid-30s, about the age when many doctors start to see the payoff of...

When we look at art, our retinas can actually see the photons bouncing off it, according to neuroscientists. We often associate the images with memories. It’s not unlike the emotions we experience hearing familiar music.For the artists who create the...

In Sheldon Low’s family, music has been something of an heirloom, passed l’dor v’dor. The St. Louis native, 36, is a third generation songleader. His grandmother sang with singer-songwriter Debbie Friedman, and his father sang at Camp Ben Frankel...

Lucy Greenbaum was always told she should become a cantor.  Before high school, music was just her side gig. She sang at open mics and coffeehouses, never taking her performances too seriously. But Greenbaum’s cantor urged her to participate in the...

For Beth Koritz, it came on very suddenly. “I went from being fine to being lifted out of the car by a security guard at the hospital within 48 hours. That was my wake up call,” said the native St. Louisan, now 56. “The first words out of my mouth...

Becca Near sees her work as coordinator of young adult engagement for Jewish Federation of St. Louis as a critical part of the local Jewish community’s future.“I think it’s important for young professionals and young adults to know the different...

One of Matt Lebon’s first foraging experiences took place on a hike in Israel when someone spotted a mulberry tree. He recalls climbing into the tree and “gorging on mulberries.”“That was incredibly exciting to me, whereas some people might just...

On April 20, Helyn Kevrick, a Marine veteran, traveled from St. Louis to Washington, D.C., in a familiar setting: She was the only woman among 22 veterans.When she joined the Marines in 1953, she and another enlistee were the first two women to go through...

Full disclosure: I have known Irl Solomon for at least 65 years, dating back to our days as fellow students at the Congregation Shaare Emeth Religious School and as classmates at University City High School (Class of 1957).If there is a consistent thread...