By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published January 11, 2012
St. Louis attorney Michael Wetmore recalls watching his mother Trudy Hochster Wetmore quietly blessing his son in a German train station before the latter's departure to see a friend in Paris. "She turned around and said ‘The last time I was in this...
Nothing new under the desert sun in Iran. The Islamist leadership is starting out 2012 with its usual jagged chin forward: • Iranian leaders, in the face of enhanced economic sanctions, have threatened to illegally block the Strait of Hormuz (through...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published January 11, 2012
Assi Gastfraind has his audience's full attention. As he looks into young faces as bright as the Sunday morning sunlight streaming into this classroom tucked comfortably behind Bais Abraham's sanctuary, every question seems to elicit a sea of eager waving...
By Jim Winnerman, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published January 4, 2012
At the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, Jewish family loyalties mirrored what occurred throughout the United States where brother fought against brother. Jews also found themselves on opposite sides of the battlefield. Out of 150,000 Jews in the U.S....
By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
• Published 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...
By Gail Appleson, Special to the jewish Light
• Published December 28, 2011
NAPA, Calif. — Ernie Weir began working as a viticulturist at Domaine Chandon, the Napa Valley arm of the prestigious Champagne house Moet & Chandon, in 1973 at a time when an American wine renaissance was taking shape. It also was a period, says...
The Jewish population of St. Louis, if assumed to be in the 50-60,000 range, falls well below that of Montreal, listed as having the 24th largest core Jewish population of world cities. Yet if the Gateway City and environs were a freestanding country,...
Standing by Gov. Perry's zero-budget proposal Notwithstanding the fact that I'm a Jewish-American and a fervent supporter of Israel, I unequivocally endorse GOP presidential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry's plan for a zero budget proposal for all countries...
By Ellen Futterman, Editor
• Published December 28, 2011
No matter how hard some of us try not to over-eat during the holidays, we eventually succumb. Our promise to show restraint when faced with the seasonal feedbag-which is seemingly everywhere-goes out the window at the first sign of (insert your favorite...
By Ron Kampeas, JTA, WASHINGTON
• Published December 28, 2011
Ron Paul's unlikely rise in the Republican presidential race has Jewish conservatives on edge. The Texas congressman had been regarded as a fringe figure whose views, especially on foreign policy-including his opposition to the U.S.-Israel alliance-put...
By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish Light
• Published December 28, 2011
Not long ago Melvin Zuhler seemed to have it all -- his family, his health, a successful business and a bank account totaling near six figures. Yet as 2011 draws to a close, Zuhler is looking for only one thing -- help. "I want a second chance," said...
I came to this country as an immigrant, not unlike the ancestors of many in the Jewish community who arrived here around the turn of the 20th Century. One of the greatest families in my extended family, who had been living in the United States for more...
