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

Native St. Louisan looks back on 20+ years in Jerusalem

Native St. Louisan looks back on 20+ years in Jerusalem

ELLEN FUTTERMAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEFPublished January 27, 2022

In 1998, native St. Louisan Leah Elbaum Hakimian and her husband, Yusef, left St. Louis for Israel, where they made aliyah and settled in Jerusalem. They had been living in Clayton and raising four daughters. The family was a member of B’rith Sholom...

Dr. Morris Hartstein treats a Palestinian girl from Gaza with a lymphatic malformation in one of her eyes. She received treatment in an Israeli hospital.  Courtesy of Hartstein

Learn how this St. Louis native heals eyes, changes lives in Ethiopia

BY ERIC BERGER, ASSOCIATE EDITORPublished March 2, 2021

Dr. Morris Hartstein has not only provided eye care for people in his former home (St. Louis) or his current home (Israel) but has also made 10 trips to Ethiopia, where he has treated residents who otherwise cannot afford care, trained Ethiopian ophthalmologists...

Tia Pinsky walks with her dog Sam through the ruins of Mevo Modi’im, also known as the Carlebach Moshav, much of which burned down in a fire on May 23. Photo: Eric Berger

Family with ties to St. Louis deals with aftermath of a fire that destroyed their Israeli village

By Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished August 22, 2019

MEVO MODI’IM, Israel — “Stay close, Sam,” Tia Pinsky said to her dog as they walked around Mevo Modi’im, a collaborative village of observant Jews 30 minutes southeast of Tel Aviv.She was trying to protect her dog, a pit bull mix, while also...

In July, Judy and Josh Rosenbloom of University City, and their children, Nesya, Akiva and Nili, made aliyah. Here, the family is shown in Jerusalem. Family photo

St. Louis family embarks on new life in Israel

By Eric Berger, Associate EditorPublished August 15, 2019

TEL AVIV — Judy and Josh Rosenbloom have the sorts of jobs — dentist and obstetrician-gynecologist — that require years of difficult study and long hours. But in their early and mid-30s, about the age when many doctors start to see the payoff of...

Maharat Rori Picker Neiss met up with some rabbis from St. Louis, who are also studying at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem this summer, as well as former Jewish Federation of St. Louis president and CEO, Andrew Rehfeld, who was speaking at the institute. From left to right: Rehfeld, Picker Neiss, Rabbis Karen and Daniel Bogard from Central Reform Congregation, Rabbi Michael Alper from Congregation Temple Israel and Rabbi Mark Fasman, formerly of Kol Rinah.  

JCRC leader studying in Israel, NCJW trip, musicpalooza

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished July 18, 2019

Summer learning (for rabbis)It’s always fun to see old friends, especially when you’re thousands of miles away from home. That’s the situation that Maharat Rori Picker Neiss, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, found herself...

Some 45 former St. Louisans who now live in Israel came together earlier this month at the home of Leah Hakimian in Jerusalem.  Photo: Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman 

Former St. Louisans who have made aliyah reconnect in Jerusalem

By Maayan Jaffe-Hoffman, Special to the Jewish LightPublished July 26, 2018

Some 45 attendees streamed into Jerusalem from across the country for the event July 5, making treks from Rehovot, in the central part of the country; Beit Shemesh, a suburb about 45 minutes outside Jerusalem, and the Samarian communities of Neve Tzuf...

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