Sonya J. Vann has been named executive director of Central Reform Congregation, the congregation announced in a news release this week. Vann, who has a Master of Divinity degree, served as the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Eden Theological...

As much as a synagogue is a prayer community, it is also a place where Jews gather in order to socialize, be educated, commit to social action, be inspired, and gain counsel. Although communities with smaller Jewish populations may be “one-synagogue-towns,”...

Temple Emanuel is hosting an introduction to Judaism course from Oct. 5 to Jan. 25.  Classes will be taught virtually on Zoom. There is no tuition fee for the course.   Students are asked to purchase the book, “Honoring Tradition, Embracing Modernity:...

Temple Israel welcomes the St. Louis community to enjoy its virtual High Holy Days services from home, live-streamed on their website and Facebook page. Services include traditional Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur rituals, live worship music, and sermons...

Q&A with Beth Kodner, director of Camp Emeth at Congregation Shaare Emeth How long have you worked in the Jewish community?   I was a camp counselor at Shaare Emeth when I was in high school and college and then returned in 2009...

Rabbi James Bennett of Congregation Shaare Emeth has officiated more funerals over the past year than he has at any time since he started his career in 1984.  Many of those were due to COVID-19.  And while Bennett said he is excited to hold...

Congregation B’nai Amoona will honor Rebbetzin Paulie Rose during the “Recognizing the Rose Among Us” virtual gala event  at 7 p.m. Sunday, May 23. The cost for a virtual ticket is $72. Musicians Ben Nordstrom and Steve Neale will headline...

What are you looking forward to when you retire from the rabbinate? That’s the question we posed to several St. Louis area rabbis. Here’s what they told us: Rabbi Noah Arnow, Kol Rinah, age 41:  Although retirement feels rather distant...

In the mid ’90s, when Rabbi Jeffrey Stiffman served as chairman of the Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) ethics committee, the Reform Jewish group faced a quandary: What do you do when a retiring rabbi sticks around too long? “There...

This week’s parshah, Kee Teesa, contains one of the ugliest transgressions in the long history of the Jewish people: Chet HaEgel, the sin of the forging and worshipping the Golden Calf.Quite honestly, if I had my druthers, and the chutzpah to do so,...

On Sunday, Feb. 28, Temple Israel welcomed more than 100 cars to the congregation's Purim Car-nival and Mishloach Manot. Families were able to enjoy safe and socially distanced parking lot activities, such as Purim-themed games, stories, prizes, as...

There is a psalm for every day of the week, known as Shir Shel Yom.  Wednesday’s is Psalm 94, and it tells us, “For the law shall return to righteousness, and all those of upright heart shall follow it.”Implicit is the reality that the law is...