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

The Siyum HaShas celebration at Met Life Stadium on Jan. 1, 2020. Photo: Howard Shalowitz

Siyum connects 90,000 Jews all ‘on the same page’

By Hazzan Howard ShalowitzPublished January 24, 2020

On Jan. 1, more than 90,000 Jews from around the world gathered at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. at the main worldwide venue to celebrate the 13th cycle of the Siyum HaShas — the completion and celebration of studying the entire Babylonian...

By Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll

First-of-its-kind event shows Talmud learning is for women, too

By SHOSHANNA KEATS JASKOLLPublished January 16, 2020

JERUSALEM — What does one wear to the world’s first women’s Siyum HaShas?The question I posed on social media was a joke, a play on the idea of worrying about surface appearances at any event celebrating women’s achievements. But it also wasn’t...

90,000 celebrate completion of page a day Talmud study

URIEL HEILMAN, JTAPublished August 2, 2012

what she was learning. “The Talmud, for someone who has a diverse range of interests, is the most incredible text because it has everything in it,” Kurshan told JTA. “There’s nothing as exciting as the next page of Gemarah because it’s so discursive....

90,000-plus crowd cheers Siyum HaShas

JTA REPORTPublished August 2, 2012

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Some 90,000 people packed MetLife Stadium to celebrate the completion of the page-a-day Talmud cycle in the largest-ever Siyum HaShas. The gathering Wednesday evening, which was simulcast to some 60 U.S. cities and more than 20...

B’nai Amoona offers adult education classes

Published June 13, 2012

Congregation B’nai Amoona offers a variety of adult education courses throughout the week on an ongoing basis. Classes include: • Sunday Talmud Class — from 10:15 to 11:30 a.m. in the Hieken Conference Room, led by Rabbis Barry Friedman and Josef...

Mental health is a Jewish issue

By Hillel Abramson, Ph.DPublished June 6, 2012

I was pleased to learn that part of the current installment of Can We Talk? is centered on the mental health needs of our Jewish community and how we can best address them.  As a psychologist in private practice, I sense a professional calling and feel...

Israeli climber Nadav Ben-Yehuda, left, together with Turkish climber Aydin Irmak, whose life Ben-Yehuda saved near the Mount Everest summit. 

Friday Five: Nadav Ben Yehuda, Andy Samberg, Yisroel Portugal, Adin Steinsaltz, Chaya Kurtz

By Adam Soclof, JTAPublished May 25, 2012

It may be the deadliest season on Mt. Everest yet, but the highest peak in the world found a hero in Israeli climber Nadav Ben Yehuda. Ben Yehuda, 24, was less than 1,000 feet from the top when he spotted unconscious Turkish climber Aydin Irmak sprawled...

Israeli President Shimon Peres meeting with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif., as Peres launches his official page on the social networking site, March 6, 2012.

Facebook IPO: Good for the Jews?

By Uriel Heilman, JTAPublished May 15, 2012

NEW YORK – If the Talmud were written today, would it look like Facebook? First, the rabbis of the Mishnaic period post a Jewish legal rule. Then, Talmudic sages weigh in with their comments, all pithy and lacking punctuation. Almost immediately, the...

 

Aish HaTorah annual dinner to honor Charles and Naomi Ruth Deutsch

Published February 29, 2012

Aish HaTorah will honor Charles and Naomi Ruth Deutsch during its annual fundraising dinner Sunday, March 11.The Deutschs have a longstanding and deep relationship with Aish HaTorah and have shown their commitment to the organization and its mission:...

Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School.  He is the author of  ‘Dawn to Destiny,’  an analytic overview of Jewish history from Creation through the era of the Talmud.

Denouncing spiritual terrorism

By Rabbi Yonason GoldsonPublished January 4, 2012

On March 16, 1968, soldiers of the 1st Battalion's Charlie Company committed one of the most notorious war crimes in American history when they brutally massacred over 300 villagers in the Vietnamese hamlet of My Lai. Was every soldier in the American...

Letters to the Editor: Week of Oct. 12, 2011

Published October 12, 2011

D'var Torah response receives its own critiqueThe Oct. 5 commentary, "Torah portion deserves critical examination,"  David A. Rubin writes, "I was disappointed by the Sept. 14, 2011 D'var Torah. Rabbi James Stone Goodman's prose was certainly interesting,...

Rabbi Weiman is a speaker, teaches Jewish history at Esther Miller Bais Yaakov, and is author of the new book, “48 Things, 49 Days,” (Targum Press) as well as “A Simple Guide to Happiness,” “A Map of the Universe,” and “the Everything Learning Hebrew Book.”

From where do we learn our Judaism?

BY RABBI MAX WEIMANPublished August 31, 2011

For some the answer is obvious, the Torah, of course. For others it's the Talmud or the Shulchan Aruch - the Code of Jewish Law composed in the 1500s. For still others it's their personal teacher or rabbi.But for some of us, and for some things, it's...

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