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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 Andrea Goldstein spends time with her children, Macey, 12, Eli, 10, and Lila, 6 at home. Goldstein has served Congregation Shaare Emeth for the past 13 years.

Imas on the bima: Seeking to balance spiritual leadership and motherhood

By Ellie S. Grossman, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 9, 2012

As hard as they may try, moms who are rabbis or cantors can’t leave their work at the office. It’s impossible. These imas on the bima redefine multitasking by what they can accomplish in one day—balancing spiritual and family duties.  Perhaps this...

An image from Jonathan Samuels of Congregation B’nai Amoona.

Visions of Judaism

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished April 25, 2012

The photos are both simple and stark.  There is a Klezmer duo in Buenos Aires, a circumcision in Uzbekistan, a musician at a New York soup kitchen. Set in crisp black-and-white, dozens of scenes captured by Israeli native Zion Ozeri reveal an evocative...

Kathy and Laura Lebedun

Blood sister

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished April 25, 2012

Kathy Lebedun will celebrate Mother’s Day a little early when she proudly watches her daughter and personal hero, Laura Lebedun, 28, receive a 2012 American Red Cross Lifesaver Award. The ceremony takes place Friday, May 4 at the Frontenac Hilton. “I...

Maxine Mirowitz teaches a Torah Yoga class in a Jewish Light file photo from 2007.

Practicing, teaching yoga suits type ‘a’ personality

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHTPublished April 18, 2012

When the 6 a.m. spin class she favored was cancelled, optometrist Maxine Mirowitz had to find another way to start her day. Reluctantly, she signed up for a yoga class. In a short time, she was teaching the class.  “I had never gone anywhere near yoga...

Fourth annual Shabbat St. Louis service planned

Published March 21, 2012

The fourth annual community-wide Shabbat St. Louis worship service will take place from 10 to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 7 at Congregation Shaare Emeth, 11645 Ladue Road in Creve Coeur. This year’s service will include the festival liturgy for the...

Rick Kodner (left), immediate past president of BSKI and his brother, Gary Kodner, immediate past president of Shaare Zedek.

BSKI and Shaare Zedek resume merger talks

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished March 7, 2012

More than a year after stalling with no apparent resolution, merger talks between Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel and Shaare Zedek Synagogue appear to have reignited last week. “I don’t have a crystal ball and can’t predict anything,” said Susan Cort,...

 

Bari Weber, United Hebrew Congregation

Published March 1, 2012

For the past several years, Bari and her parents, Suzy and Mark Weber of Chesterfield, had volunteered at United Hebrew’s Mitzvah Day. Bari loved making bracelets at the Circle of Hope station. So it was only natural for this to become one of her mitzvah...

 

Who says St. Louis isn’t hip?

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished February 29, 2012

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I checked out the new St. Louis Kabbalah Bookstore in Clayton. What I found was a spacious, sunny room with comfortable seating and bookshelves displaying dozens of titles such as “The Power of You,” “Kabbalah...

Cantor Ron Eichaker from United Hebrew Congregation in St. Louis
traveled with his wife, Heidi, to lead Shabbat services in Joplin,
Mo. at the city’s sole synagogue, also called United Hebrew.
Eichaker visited the site with one congregant of the Joplin
synagogue who lost his home during the devastating tornado that
struck the city. While the congregant, Steve Fisher, was speaking
with a FEMA representative, Cantor Eichaker offered three prayers:
 the afternoon Shabbat prayers facing East; then, facing St. John’s
Hospital, he offered the Eil Malei Rachamim for the dead and a Mi
Shebeirach for the living, the volunteers and professionals
involved in the clean up.

Live, from St. Louis, It’s ‘Friday Night Live’

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished February 15, 2012

Earlier this month, United Hebrew Congregation began broadcasting its Friday night Shabbat services live from its website at www.unitedhebrew.org. Anyone who has access to a computer and cannot physically be in attendance can simply log in and view and...

United Hebrew plans Jewish Overnight Camp Fair

Published February 8, 2012

United Hebrew Congregation invites the community to attend the Jewish Overnight Camp Fair on Sunday, Feb. 12. Families interested in learning more about 2012 Jewish summer camp opportunities for children age 7 to 18 years will be able to meet with a variety...

Top local stories of 2011 reflect changes in Jewish community

BY ROBERT A. COHN, Editor-in-Chief EmeritusPublished January 4, 2012

St. Louis had a year of ups and downs in 2011, saying farewell to some beloved communal leaders, one local congregation and two longtime kosher mainstays. The community pulled together in response to the tragic devastation of the tornado that struck Joplin....

Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh received a B.A. from Skidmore College and was ordained as a Rabbi from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. She is fortunate to be involved in so many facets of the community including serving as the chaplain for JF&CS and an instructor for CAJE. This will be her fifth year serving as the visiting Rabbi in Decatur, Ill. She has also served congregations in both Sydney and Perth, Australia. When not writing her weekly BLOGS, she can be found running marathons.

Rabbi Hersh returns to head JF&CS Chaplaincy Program; volunteers sought

Published December 28, 2011

Jewish Family & Children's Service (JF&CS) is pleased to announce Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh has returned to the agency's Chaplaincy Program. She steps back into her position having recently spent several months in Australia. A former rabbi at United...

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