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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 Justin Kerber serves
Temple Emanuel and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical
Association. 

Temple Emanuel and Senior Rabbi Justin Kerber are parting ways

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 16, 2012

Temple Emanuel is ready to open the search for a new spiritual leader after announcing the departure of Senior Rabbi Justin Kerber early this week. “Rabbi Kerber and the Board have asked me to share the news that tonight the Board reached an agreement...

Gail Appleson is a writer for Armstrong Teasdale LLP and freelancer who lives in St. Louis.
“Dor to Dor,” is an intermittent Jewish Light series looking at various aspects of “grown-up” life and generational connections through the lens of Jewish writers living in the St. Louis area.  
   If you are interested in contributing to Dor to Dor, email efutterman@thejewishlight.com.

A Rabbi who could ‘reach’ me

By Gail ApplesonPublished April 25, 2012

Growing up, I was always taught that rabbis were an exalted lot. These were holy men—there weren’t any women rabbis at the time—who seemed above and different from the rest of us. Bigger than life, they were learned and authoritative with a special...

Rabbi James Stone Goodman leads a seder at the Southeast Correctional Center in Charleston, Mo., about 145 miles southeast of St. Louis.

Why is this seder different from all other seders?

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished April 18, 2012

CHARLESTON, Mo.—Ten inmates, all but one part of the prison’s Jewish Worship Group, are seated around a large rectangular table, eagerly waiting. Several wear yarmulkes and have tallits draped over their shoulders while the others gladly accept one...

Rabbi Joseph S. Ozarowski

JF&CS hosts discussion for child abuse awareness month

Published April 18, 2012

From May to December 2011, there were 3,455 reports of child abuse/neglect in St. Louis County. Each day the Jewish Family & Children’s Service Child Abuse Prevention Program works to reduce this number. Its four-tiered, evidence-based prevention...

Dorothy Solomon

Dorothy Solomon, 90; was super-saleswoman for Light

BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief EmeritusPublished April 4, 2012

Dorothy Solomon, for many years an admired “super-saleswoman” of the St. Louis Jewish Light, died “peacefully,” according to family members, on Friday, March 30, at Menorah Medical Center in Kansas City.  She was 90 and had lived in Kansas City,...

‘Adventure Rabbi’ visits Shaare Emeth for weekend of events

Published April 4, 2012

Congregation Shaare Emeth will present “God, Wilderness, Doubt and Faith: A Weekend with Rabbi Jamie Korngold,” April 20-22.   Known as the “Adventure Rabbi,” Korngold is a Reform rabbi who is nationally recognized for her pioneering work combining...

Letters to the editor, week of Mar. 28, 2012

Published March 28, 2012

Affordable Care Act is crucial The Affordable Care Act provides a significant opportunity to help hundreds of thousands of Missourians, including many in the Jewish Community, get, afford and keep high quality health insurance.  At Jewish Family &...

Rabbi Ze’ev Smason

Crown Center presents ‘Jewish Community Voices’ series

Published March 14, 2012

Crown Center for Senior Living, 8350 Delcrest Drive, is sponsoring a speaker series, which features local Jewish congregational leaders. First up is Rabbi Mordecai Miller of Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel on March 14, followed by Hazzan Joanna Selznick Dulkin...

The late Rabbi Sholom Rivkin was the Chief Rabbi of the Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis.

Vaad Hoeir announces restructuring of rabbinic oversight

Published March 7, 2012

The Vaad Hoeir of St. Louis has restructured the rabbinic oversight for its communal operations, and appointed two rabbis from within the local community to fill new positions of Rabbanim Acharaim (Certifying Rabbis). According to Perry Mendelson, president...

Rick Kodner (left), immediate past president of BSKI and his brother, Gary Kodner, immediate past president of Shaare Zedek.

BSKI and Shaare Zedek resume merger talks

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished March 7, 2012

More than a year after stalling with no apparent resolution, merger talks between Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel and Shaare Zedek Synagogue appear to have reignited last week. “I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t predict anything,” said Susan Cort,...

Krakow bat mitzvah first for synagogue

JTAPublished March 4, 2012

A bat mitzvah celebration in Krakow's Tempel synagogue is believed to be the first of a locally born Jewish girl. Estera Derkowska celebrated becoming a bat mitzvah with a havdallah ceremony Saturday before a congregation of up to 200 people. Krakow’s...

Rabbi Elyashiv out of coma, condition still serious

JTAPublished February 20, 2012

JERUSALEM -- Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, considered this generation's leading halachic authority, is conscious after spending two weeks in a coma. Elyashiv, leader of the Lithuanian haredi Orthodox community, opened his eyes for the first time in two...

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