On Wednesday, I was proud to stand with faith leaders from across our state and offer testimony in opposition to a bill that would allow guns in houses of worship. Rabbi Daniel Bogard of Central Reform Congregation also testified on behalf of the Jewish Community. A video of the full hearing is available in the newsletter below, and here is a clip of Rabbi Daniel and me asking for respect of the long-held principle of separation of church and state:

Our interfaith work through the Newmark Institute continued this week as our Student to Student Program had multiple presentations at Rosati Kain High School and our Director Lauren Abraham led Priory High School teachers on a tour of B’nai Amoona sanctuary, the first time any of them had ever been in a Jewish house of worship. 

The Newmark Institute's current and incoming chairs, Phyllis Markus and Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh held a meeting with a group of interfaith partners to plan a Community Freedom Seder scheduled for late April.

Next week, JCRC is co-sponsoring an education program on the Impact of Controlling K-12 Curriculum on Monday and an Education Equity Lobby Day on Thursday. All of the details are in the newsletter below.

Your commitment and support allow our community to do this important work. Thank you and Shabbat Shalom.

The situation unfolding in Ukraine and across Europe right now has catalyzed the Jewish Federation of St. Louis to act. In partnership with our national organization, JFNA and our key overseas partners of The Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee we have prepared a community-wide communication to support and help Jews in need in Ukraine.

For those of you with clients or congregants with relatives or friends who might be living in the area, here is the direct phone information for anyone who is looking to help family or friends make alyiah:

Reach out to Brian Herstig, President & CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis with any questions. He can also be contacted by phone at (314) 442-3750.

In addition to all of the work we shared in this week's Advocacy Alert, Cheryl was in Jefferson City on Wednesday morning to offer testimony in opposition to a bill that would allow guns in houses of worship. Also testifying was Rabbi Daniel Bogard of Central Reform Congregation, along with Darryl Gray of Missouri Faith Voices and John Bowman of the St. Louis County NAACP. You can view the full bill hearing at this link. Rabbi Bogard and Cheryl’s remarks begin at 8:55:37 in this link.

*Student to Student is a program of the Newmark Institute.

Please join us on Monday night for our Town Hall on The Impact of Controlling K-12 Curriculum. The program will begin with words of Torah by Rabbi Arnow from Kol Rinah, and include remarks on the national context of this issue by Dr. Lisa Gilbert, a professor of Education at Washington University. We will also hear from Sharon Guera Jones, of the Jones Advocacy group, who will address the legislative efforts in Missouri and by Dr. Cameron Poole, the Director of Equity and Inclusion from the Clayton School District who will discuss how these legislative efforts would impact classroom teachers.

What’s going on in Jefferson City? What legislation is on the floor? How can you take action? JCRC’s March 7 Council meeting will answer these legislative-related questions in a Town Hall format. Featured guests include Senators Roberts and Schupp, and State Representatives Dogan, Gunby, Mackey and Schwadron. The meeting is free and open to the entire Jewish Community. See the flyer below for additional information.

March 6 - 12

Virtual

JCRC is pleased to be a sponsor of the JCC’s Jewish Film Festival, which showcases national and international cinema that explores universal issues through traditional Jewish values, opposing viewpoints, and new perspectives. More information is available here. A video preview of the festival is available here.

Friday, March 11

11 am | Virtual

Antisemitism has been on all of our minds a lot recently: from debates about whether the Amnesty International report about Israel was antisemitic, to Whoopi Goldberg’s comments about the Holocaust, to Dr. Deborah Lipstadt’s Senate confirmation hearing to be the next Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism. And, of course, T’ruah recently published our Very Brief Guide to Antisemitism.

Join our own Rabbi Jill Jacobs in a conversation with eminent historian Prof. James Loeffler that goes beyond the booklet, Friday, March 11 at 12 pm EST/11 am CST.

This simple, safe quiz was created by local high school students from the Asian American Civic Scholars group, mentored and led by Min Liu.

This came about due to these students’ observations and experiences within their respective schools. In light of the ongoing misunderstanding, lack of knowledge, and hatred regarding the AAPI Communities, ongoing AAPI education remains important. This quiz by no means covers the entire rich diversity of our AAPI community, but it is a start to broaden awareness of AAPI history in St. Louis and Missouri.