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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

Unsung Hero Merle Hartstein in her U. City home. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Merle Hartstein

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 22, 2011

“There are two ways of helping,“ says Rabbi Zvi Zuravin, executive director of the Vaad Hoeir. “There is helping because you have to and then there is helping because you want to. That’s Merle. She is an extremely selfless person who does...

A 2011 portrait of Fran Cohen. Photo: Kristi Foster

Fran Cohen

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 22, 2011

Though pleased by the recognition from the St. Louis Jewish Light, Fran Cohen disputes the term “unsung.” Laughing, she says, “Lately I’ve been sung quite a bit — and I’m kind of surprised about it.” Cohen recently was inducted into the...

Dr. Rebecca Aft. Photo: Kristi Foster

Dr. Rebecca Aft

By Patricia Corrigan, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2011

Dr. Rebecca Aft spends her days in surgery, in hospital rooms guiding cancer patients to recovery, in classrooms, in a research laboratory — and, at the end of each busy day, at home with her husband, her teenage daughter and her 2-year-old daughter....

Unsung Hero Fritzi Lainoff in 2011. Photo: Kristi Foster

Fritzi Lainoff

By Ellen Futterman, EditorPublished May 22, 2011

She champions the causes about which she is passionate — and there are many — with gale-force determination and vigor. Friends describe her as a “human dynamo” with the energy of someone half her 81 years. What’s clear after spending time with...

2011 Unsung Hero Maris Berg. Photo: Kristi Foster

Maris Berg

By David Baugher, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2011

Sometimes play can be serious business. It is for Maris Berg when she is helping children with problems in the classroom.“I actually take the child aside and I find out the most about what’s going on in the child’s life by playing with them,”...

Unsung Hero David Oughton. Photo: Kristi Foster

David Oughton

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2011

In 1972, when David Oughton was in college, he traveled to Europe and went to Dachau. “Going there grabbed me emotionally, and that visit changed my life,” says Oughton.“Since then, I have tried to learn as much as I can about the Holocaust, what...

Unsung Hero Jack Cohen at B'nai Torah in St. Charles County. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Jack Cohen

By Susan Fadem, Special to the Jewish LightPublished May 22, 2011

Had Jack Cohen and his wife, Laura, not relocated to St. Charles, they likely would still be attending temple only on the High Holidays.Instead, because of the street where they moved and the neighbors they met, Jack Cohen is being honored as a founder,...

2011 Unsung Hero Phyllis Cantor in her Creve Coeur home. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Phyllis Cantor

BY PATRICIA CORRIGAN, Special to the LightPublished May 22, 2011

Ten years ago this October, Phyllis Cantor was named chair of the Social Action Committee at Congregation B’nai Amoona. The position is a perfect fit. “I am all about tikkun olam, repairing the world,” says Cantor. “I believe we have a moral obligation...

Phyllis Cantor, Unsung Hero, in her Creve Coeur home

Meet five of the Jewish Light’s 2011 Unsung Heroes

Published May 18, 2011

Join the Jewish Light in recognizing this year's ‘Unsung Heroes' from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, May 23 at the Jewish Community Center Staenberg Family Complex Arts & Education Building - Performing Arts & Banquet Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive....

Phillip Fox in the lobby of Missouri Baptist Medical Center, where he volunteers. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Phillip Fox

Patricia CorriganPublished June 2, 2010

Hundreds of people come through the main entrance of Missouri Baptist Medical Center every day. Four days a week, they are greeted by Phillip Fox, who sits, smiling, in his wheelchair, waiting to see how he might be of service."Every day, I get all sorts...

Jim Lemen outside John Burroughs School. Photo: Mike Sherwin

Jim Lemen

Ellen FuttermanPublished June 2, 2010

Not all of our Unsung Heroes are Jewish. Jim Lemen, for example, is Protestant, but he was chosen for this honor because of his foresight in championing a Holocaust studies curriculum at John Burroughs School. That and the fact he's an all-around nice...

ABOVE: Ken Rubin at the Cedars at the JCA, where he serves as board president. Photo: Lisa Mandel

Kenneth Rubin

David BaugherPublished June 2, 2010

"Extraordinary" is how Stuart Zimbalist describes Kenneth Rubin and his work at the Cedars at the JCA."It's very demanding," said Zimbalist, an attorney with Polsinelli Shughart who has worked with Rubin on the board of the JCA. "It's a very important...

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