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 Washington University volunteer teachers of COAST (Chabad Ohr Atid Sunday Torah) are pictured at Chabad on Campus’ Barry H. Levites Chabad House on a recent Sunday morning. From left are Rachel Zeuner, Sarah Lavin, Ari Rosenstrauch, Shira Weissman, and Elan Baskir. Photo: Yana Hotter

COAST: Chabad Ohr Atid Sunday Torah

By David Baugher, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 22, 2012

While his son plays in the next room, Michael Shapiro, president of Ohr Atid, couldn’t be happier to hear the sounds of activity filtering in from the other side of the Barry H. Levites Chabad House on Forsyth.“For Eitan, it’s been amazing,” he...

2012 Unsung Hero Joy Sterneck. Photo: Yana Hotter

Joy Sterneck

By Susan Fadem, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

Joy Sterneck remembers reading an essay about the dash that appears in obituaries and on tombstones between the years one is born and passes away. “It’s not so much when you lived and when you died,” she says. “It’s the dash in between that...

Steven Rosenblum chats with Nikki Goldstein, executive director of Crown Center for Senior Living. Rosenblum is immediate past president of Crown Center, where he continues to volunteer and serve on the board. Photos: Kristi Foster

Steven Rosenblum

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

In his back yard, Steven Rosenblum grows vegetables and herbs. As a founder of the Clayton Community Garden, along with 20 other families he grows more of the same. But perhaps Rosenblum’s most formidable nurturing skills are on display when he tends...

Pat Simons demonstrates her reading style using as an example one of the books used by the Ready Readers program. Photo: Andrew Kerman

Pat Simons

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

Pat Simons’s mother, an immigrant from Poland, went to college when few women did so, and her father was always “a great reader,” so growing up in El Paso, Simons well understood the value of education and the pleasure of reading. Simons has passed...

Marshall Cohen founded and directs the Lift for Life Academy and Gym. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Marshall Cohen

By Susan Fadem, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

Twenty-three years ago, Marshall Cohen was living what some might consider the ultimate slacker life. He was working for his family’s business, Globe Drugs; living with his parents, June and Julius Cohen; and stockpiling his earnings.But nightly local...

From left, Lilly’s guide dog, Dixon, Lilly, Sam, Larry and Joyce Opinksy. Photo: Kristi Foster

Larry Opinsky

By David Baugher, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

For Unsung Hero Larry Opinsky, making a difference in the world at large is also about making a difference much closer to home—one that affects his daughter.“What I can do is make the world a better place for her and for her quality of life,” he...

2012 Unsung Hero Samantha Lurie. Photo: Mike Sherwin

Samantha Lurie

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

Samantha Lurie says she is humbled to be honored as an Unsung Hero, but insists that she has been able to make a difference for area high school students only because so many people have helped her help them. “I want to talk about my heroes,...

2012 Unsung Hero Nancy Schmidt. Photo: Andrew Kerman

Nancy Schmidt

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

Before she became a lawyer, Nancy Schmidt majored in art history in graduate school, but in her career she has turned her attention to larger canvases—those of people’s lives. For almost 15 years, Schmidt, who is not Jewish, has provided free...

Marion Lipsitz’s home displays several of the awards she has earned from her service with Hadassah over the years. Photos: Yana Hotter

Marion Lipsitz

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2012

Marion Lipsitz may be an Unsung Hero, but almost everyone sings her praises and has a story about her – and many of those stories are worth retelling. For example:In 1938, Walt Disney chose Lipsitz as the ideal Snow White for the campus Snow White Ball...

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