Reform congregations B’nai El and Shaare Emeth have decided to merge, in a move that marks the official end of one congregation that had largely been gone already.B’nai El was founded in 1852. The congregation’s board voted in 2012 to put up for...

Central Reform Congregation has hired Maxine Weil as Director of Congregational Learning. Weil’s  responsibilities include overseeing education for all age groups at CRC.  Weil has more than 30 years of experience working in Jewish education in St....

Each summer, I have the privilege of serving on the faculty at the Union for Reform Judaism’s Goldman Union Camp Institute (GUCI) in Zionsville, Ind. One day this summer, I was working with a cabin as campers  prepared to share reflections during...

Despite the oppressive heat and humidity, the eight toddlers who file outdoors at the Shirlee Green Preschool sit at attention as teacher Abby Bennett prepares to read to them from a book on mitzvot.“We’re going to go over to the garden,” she explains,...

Elie Wiesel touched so many with his writings and his witness. I saw how the American Jewish community slowly began to understand his unique genius.As a student rabbi from 1960-65, I was offered a summer job in the library of the Baltimore Hebrew College....

The title at the top of the itinerary read, “Jewish Heritage Tour to Eastern Europe.” Departing St. Louis at the end of March, 15 Congregation Shaare Emeth congregants were joined by five others, friends and family, who live in other cities. Over...

Rabbi Amy Feder likes to laud Temple Israel's ability to retain members - often over generations. "Even though we are a congregation growing in terms of young families, which is very exciting, it's pretty incredible that even those young families often...

St. Louis had a year of ups and downs in 2011, saying farewell to some beloved communal leaders, one local congregation and two longtime kosher mainstays. The community pulled together in response to the tragic devastation of the tornado that struck Joplin....