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 Amy Feder

D’var Torah: Moses sets the standard for living our best selves 

Rabbi Amy Feder Published August 12, 2022

At the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Moses has finally led the Israelites across the wilderness and he turns his eyes to gaze on the Promised Land. It seems as if it should be a joyous moment, but we know that it’s actually bittersweet,...

Rabbi James Stone Goodman

D’var Torah: Our shalom is broken; we look for connection

RABBI JAMES STONE GOODMANPublished July 21, 2022

We are dreaming peace all the time now, the evidence of that broken letter vavin the word shalom of briti shalom, covenant of peace, in Numbers 25:12, that may be what's holding it up. The vav in shalom is broken. Let's fix the vav in the...

Dvar Torah: Quietly cultivate ‘earth-wisdom’ to help heal the world

D’var Torah: Quietly cultivate ‘earth-wisdom’ to help heal the world

RABBI JANINE SCHLOSSPublished July 7, 2022

I grew up mostly in California, and people often presume that I must have spent my whole life out communing with nature. In truth, I was never a big hiker, and I absolutely hated camping and boating. As an adult, I still hate camping, but I have...

Torah gives us all a chance to be included in creating the sacred

Torah gives us all a chance to be included in creating the sacred

RABBI CARNIE SHALOM ROSEPublished June 16, 2022

“And the Almighty spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and say to him, When you mount the lamps, let the seven lamps give light at the front of the lampstand.” (Numbers 8:1-2) All too often, I hear from my students about how “irrelevant and anachronistic”...

Dvar Torah: Welcoming a ‘Second Naïveté’ can help deepen our faith

D’var Torah: Welcoming a ‘Second Naïveté’ can help deepen our faith

Rabbi Carnie Shalom RosePublished May 26, 2022

This week, the world over, we will be reading and studying the Torah portion of Bechukotai, which is drawn from the Book of Leviticus. Our weekly Parashah opens with the words: “If you follow My CHUKIM (statutes) and faithfully observe My MITZVOT...

Dvar Torah: ‘Earth-centered spirituality’ leads to harmony with the world

D’var Torah: ‘Earth-centered spirituality’ leads to harmony with the world

RABBI NEAL ROSEPublished May 19, 2022

What is Jewish time? I am not referring to our supposed casual approach to arriving at appointments or even at synagogue services. Rather, how do our spiritual teachers understand the nature of time? Rabbi Gershon Winkler teaches that “time...

Dvar Torah by Rabbi Carnie Rose: Dedication to community serves divine purpose

D’var Torah by Rabbi Carnie Rose: Dedication to community serves divine purpose

RABBI CARNIE SHALOM ROSEPublished March 23, 2022

“Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, laid incense on it, and offered before God alien fire, which had not been enjoined upon them. And fire issued forth from God and consumed them. Thus, they died at the instance...

Dvar Torah: We have a duty to act for justice in the world

D’var Torah: We have a duty to act for justice in the world

RABBI JEFFREY ABRAHAMPublished March 17, 2022

Turbulent times demand that we take action. Parashat Tzav follows Purim by one day, both of which “demand action.” In the Megillah, Haman reveals his diabolical plan to exterminate the Jews of Persia, and Mordechai instructs Esther to immediately...

Portrait of Rabbi Josef Davidson

D’var Torah by Rabbi Josef Davidson: Creating community

RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished March 10, 2022

With this week's Torah portion the third book of the Torah, Vayikra ("[God] called [to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting]..."), is read. Vayikra is also called Torat Cohanim in Hebrew, which corresponds to the name most commonly known, "Leviticus."...

Rabbi Neal Rose

D’var Torah: Judaism recognizes power of coming together as community

RABBI NEAL ROSEPublished March 3, 2022

The late Rabbi Bernard Lipnick kept a plaque on his desk that read, “No One of us is smarter than All of us.” In this week’s Torah reading we hear about the final stages in the construction of the portable sanctuary known as the Mishkan or the...

Dvar Torah by Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham: Fuel good deeds with ‘fire and passion’

D’var Torah by Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham: Fuel good deeds with ‘fire and passion’

RABBI JEFFREY ABRAHAMPublished February 17, 2022

Parshat Ki Tissa opens with the admonition, “This is what everyone who is entered in the records shall pay …” (30:13) God’s command was for every male from 20 to 60, rich or poor, to be counted by their half-shekel contribution to the upkeep...

Portrait of Rabbi Josef Davidson

D’var Torah by Rabbi Josef Davidson: We are all holy in the eyes of the Divine

RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished February 10, 2022

In Tetzaveh, this week’s Torah portion, we learn that the High Priest was to wear a headdress to which a gold frontlet inscribed with “Holy to the Eternal” was attached by a blue cord. One might ask: Why was this gold frontlet attached to the...

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