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

Beren coach Chris Cole instructing his players during a timeout at the championship game, March 3.

Texas school group pressured to be more inclusive

By Shira Schoenberg, JTAPublished April 3, 2012

Comments by the head of a Texas school association at the center of a controversy over Sabbath accommodations is fueling a drive by its members to be more open to the needs of Jewish and Muslim schools. Edd Burleson, the director of the The Texas Association...

Beren Academy players and coaches receive their second-place medals after losing to Abilene Christian in the Texas 2A state final, March 3, 2012.

Beren comes up short in tourney, but stands firm on larger principles

By Uri Fintzy, JTAPublished March 7, 2012

FORT WORTH, Texas—In Texas, they say, high school athletics are a religion. But last weekend the saying took on a new meaning. The Robert M. Beren Academy, a small Modern Orthodox school in Houston, had captured national headlines during the week. Its...

Chris Cole, coach of the boys basketball team at the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, offering up some strategy for his squad.

Orthodox school playing for Texas basketball title

JTAPublished March 3, 2012

FORT WORTH, Texas -- The Robert M. Beren Academy of Houston is playing Saturday night in the 2A private and parochial boys basketball state championship game. The game, which was set to start at 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, can be watched live via an...

Chris Cole, coach of the boys basketball team at the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, offering up some strategy for his squad.

Orthodox team advances to Texas state championship game

JTAPublished March 2, 2012

After grabbing national headlines with its push for a pre-Shabbat starting time, the Robert M. Beren Academy of Houston registered a decisive 58-46 win over Dallas Covenant to secure a spot in the 2A private and parochial boys basketball state championship...

Chris Cole, coach of the boys basketball team at the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, offering up some strategy for his squad.

Beren Academy prevails in Texas tourney controversy

JTAPublished March 1, 2012

NEW YORK -- A Texas athletic league has reversed course and will reschedule tournament games that will enable a Jewish day school, the Robert M. Beren Academy of Houston, to compete. The Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools, known as TAPPS,...

Orthodox ballers sue Texas school school district

JTAPublished March 1, 2012

NEW YORK -- The captain of an Orthodox high schol basketball team has sued a Texas public school district over the refusal to accomodate a request to reschedule tournament games that conflict with the Jewish sabbath. In a suit filed Thursday in U.S....

Jewish school’s appeal to reschedule game denied

JTAPublished March 1, 2012

A Texas school association voted a second time not to reschedule a state tournament semi-final game so that an Orthodox high school can play. Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools executive board voted Wednesday 8-0 with one member absent...

Chris Cole, coach of the boys basketball team at the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, offering up some strategy for his squad.

Shabbat conflict sends Beren Academy basketball squad to the sidelines

By Ben Harris, JTAPublished February 28, 2012

NEW YORK -- Chris Cole, the coach of the boys' basketball team at the Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston, says his squad is peaking coming off its 27-point victory in the state tournament quarterfinals. Apparently the Stars, who with a record of 24-5...

Jewish school is denied request to change basketball tourney time

JTAPublished February 27, 2012

NEW YORK -- An Orthodox high school in Texas was rejected in its request to have the state basketball semifinals rescheduled to avoid a conflict with the Jewish Sabbath. In a decision Monday, the Texas Association of Private and Parochial Schools informed...

Orthodox school makes Texas basketball tournament semi-finals

JTAPublished February 24, 2012

NEW YORK -- A Modern Orthodox school in Houston has made it to the semi-finals of the state-wide AA boys basketball tournament for private and parochial schools. The Robert M. Beren Academy advanced Friday afternoon with a 27-point win over Our Lady...

The Robert M. Beren Academy in Houston is open to kids 18 months
old and all the way through high school.

Orthodox Union has found solution to Orthodoxy’s problems: Houston

By Uriel Heilman, JTAPublished February 2, 2012

NEW YORK -- With day school tuition fees on the rise, New York housing costs among the highest in the nation and the job market still tough, the Orthodox Union has a solution for Orthodox Jews under pressure: Move to Houston. In a first-of-its-kind partnership...

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