As a former chef and pastry chef, I had many delicious sweet and savory treats in mind to turn into hamantaschen for this year. But I wanted to keep it simple enough to re-create in a home kitchen, yet something different to also get people excited about...

For a pareve version, simply replace the butter with canola oil and omit the goat cheese. Prep Time: 40 minutes; Servings: 2 dozenIngredients:For the Pastry: 2 eggs 1/2 cup sugar 1/2 stick butter, or 1/4 cup canola oil Juice and zest of 1 lemon 1/2...

IngredientsDough 2 ¼ cups plus 1 tbsp. unbleached all-purpose flour2 tbsp. baking powder½ tsp. table salt2 tsp. finely grated orange zest1 stick (4 oz.) unsalted butter, room temperature1 cup plus 1 ½ tbsp. granulated sugar1 large egg, room temperature2...

For the first time, an evening of Jewish joke telling and comedy will be held to crown the best joke-teller in St. Louis. “Purim Night Live” will take place at 7 p.m. Sunday, March 16 at the Jewish Community Center’s Staenberg Family Complex, 2...

Religion and electability No doubt, religion plays a major part in the everyday lives of millions of Americans, and the political arena is no exception. Take this year’s GOP presidential candidates, for example, all of whom are trying to curry favor...

Naomi Jacobs will be offering a short course using Maccabees 3, a story from the Apocrypha, as a text for “The Other Purim-type Story: How God Saves the Jews of Egypt from Elephant-trampling.” Maccabees 3 is a story that predates Maccabees 1 and 2;...

The Jewish Light is seeking new voices in the St. Louis Jewish community to contribute to the paper’s website, www.stljewishlight.com, as regular volunteer bloggers.The Light is open to a range of topics that would be of interest to the Jewish community....

Gender separation I enjoyed reading about the young ladies who staged a musical for their mothers and other female friends. Norman Pressman (Letter to the editor, Feb. 29) took great umbrage at the teenage thespians. Some might consider his letter vitriolic...

A 22-year-old resident of a Chasidic enclave in New York pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from the Purim eve arson of a dissident neighbor's car. Aron Fromowitz of New Square pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Ramapo Town Court to setting fire to a car...

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has "many courageous friends." In remarks after landing in Israel following a visit to Canada and the United States, Netanyahu said, "I was received warmly, we have many courageous friends."...