“To comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” I was in a rabbinical school class when I first heard this adage. The saying was proffered by a professor as a working definition of Prophecy in the Hebrew Bible — or TaNaK (an acronym for...

Rabbi Rachel Bearman has joined Congregation Shaare Emeth as the temple’s new associate rabbi.  Bearman started at Shaare Emeth on July 7. She previously served for six years as the sole rabbi at B’nai Chaim, a small reform congregation in Georgetown,...

The last book of the Torah is a multilayered narrative opening with an experienced Moses reminding a new generation of Israelites about the challenges their parents faced as they left a narrow place of ancient Egyptian servitude. The Book of Deuteronomy...

With COVID-19 keeping us stuck inside this summer, a good book has become more important than ever. A book can transport you into another world without ever leaving the house, and the St. Louis Jewish community has lots of great books to recommend. From...

It was the 1980s. I was a teenager, and the spread of a different contagion threatened to overturn our way of life: genital herpes.Fear of this new sexually transmitted disease led social commentators to ponder whether a new age of chivalry awaited us...

Who doesn’t think their situation is paramount? My past few weeks have been as exciting and exhausting as one can imagine, moving with three young boys during a pandemic. As we have begun to settle into our splendid new home and Jewish community here...

We have been reading this richly symbolic section of the Torah on the Mishkan, the mobile sacred dwelling place for the Divine Presence. As we complete the reading of the instructions in Parashat Ki Tissa, it is worth thinking about how we create the...

Is  every mitzvah, every commandment equally important?  In some sense, of course — if we understand God as the source of mitzvot, commandments, then every mitzvah is an equal opportunity to obey or disobey God and God’s will for us.  And plus,...

You don’t often see rabbis on business journals’ 40 under 40 lists, but Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham made the San Antonio Business Journal’s list in 2018, which was a first for a clergy member.Despite that recognition of his success in Texas, Abraham recently...

As we come to the end of the year, it can be tempting to focus on setting goals, creating resolutions, and imagining dreams for the year ahead. But all too often, we fall short of these goals and end up frustrated, whether we want to move ahead in our...

I have one sister and three brothers. My brothers and I were fiercely protective of our sister, especially when she came of age to date. Her dates would have to run the gauntlet! During her high school years, I don’t believe that there was a single...

Here’s a pro tip to make it through a 25-hour fast: Lay off caffeine for a couple of weeks.That’s one way Rabbi Garth Silberstein is preparing for his first High Holidays at Bais Abraham Congregation. Silberstein is planning for the holidays in other...