This is what's happening

Today seems like as good a day as any for a big update about what is happening around the world/web/whatever.

1. Next Dor - Furniture has been picked out, a grand opening date has been tentatively settled on (Dec 16th), and the space is starting to get booked for November.

2. Jewcy.com is now a part of Jdub, the people who brought you Matisyahu.

3. The Health Bill made it out of committee. Everywhere I go people are talking about the importance of fixing healthcare. Well, the people who are talking are talking about fixing it, the people who are yelling. . . I have no idea what they are saying.

4. BLUES! Blues City Deli Streetfest- Saturday, October 17 in the Benton Park neighborhood. From 11:30 - 5:30, there will be food and live entertainment from some of St. Louis' best jazz/funk/blues artists, including: Pokey LaFarge (http://www.pokeylafarge.net/), The Funky Butt Brass Band (http://funkybuttbrassband.com/) and Los Carnales. Local author Kevin Belford will also be there, signing copies of his new book, "Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of St. Louis Missouri"
(www.devilattheconfluence.com). Read More......

A Jew At Oktoberfest

A Jew walks into Oktoberfest and... well.. how is a Jew supposed to feel about Oktoberfest?

Amongst the many things happening this past weekend, Soulard held its annual Oktoberfest celebration, with tributes to German food, music, and of course, beer.

We went to check out the festivities, mostly for the beer, and we couldn't help feel a bit weird. 60 years after the wholesale murder of 10 million people by the Nazis, 6 million of whom were killed for being Jewish, and here we are at a festival celebrating German culture. It's hard not to think about it.

We went through the whole, 'this could never happen to us here, though, so it's all good." Then remembered, oh yea, that's how they felt back then, too.

Did it stop me from sampling some cold locally brewed beer? No. But it did make me stop and think about the source of my discomfort.

In the middle of the American Melting Pot, at a time in which we see more representations of Jews in movies and on television than ever before, when we critically deconstruct our Zionism, and when we focus so heavily on food as markers of our culture (even as we let Jewish delis fade away), it is hard not to be confused about who we are or what Jewish cultures means.

Instead of learning our history, from the destruction of the second temple throughout our diaspora, we are fed the Holocaust as our raison d'etre for staying Jewish, for supporting Israel. They say there's no business like Shoah-business and we've reached the point that Obama indicated that the Holocaust was the justification for the creation of the state of Israel, ignoring not only constant Jewish presence there, early haluztim, but also the centrality of Israel (the geographical and not political Israel) and particularly Jerusalem in all Jewish prayer, theology, and tradition.

What culture we have kept from assimilation has become so homogenized that we have lost many of the most interesting traditions from the many generations we call Sephardim or Mizrachim. One Israeli friend who just moved to St. Louis asked where he could find a synagogue which practiced those traditions. "Not in St. Louis," I had to tell him, "Maybe Brooklyn or LA."

As the culture becomes more vanilla, there is less to separate it from mainstream culture, and fewer reasons why anyone would want to hold on to the traditions, the culture, and the label. We got ourselves a ticket on the bus, but what did it cost?

How long until we don't even look at the potato pancakes at Oktoberfest and think, "you can't fool me, those are latkes?"
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New Jewish Theatre's New Season: Review of Conversations With My Father

In our never-ending quest to expose some of the culture that St. Louis has to offer, we return to the New Jewish Theatre.

Conversations With My Father contains a lot of the classic "Jewish immigrant in New York" elements, including the tension between preserving the memory, identity and traditions of the 'old world' while trying to assimilate the language and culture of America.

The play provides quite a bit of symmetry, which takes the very Jewish form of examining the role of each generation against its predecessor and antecedent. We see how the father seeks to get away from everything Jewish, religiously or culturally, even as he is infuriated when his kids skip Hebrew school.

The NJT's production of the play was solid, and I mean that quite literally. Over the course of the play, the father throws chairs across the stage, pounds on doors, and smacks tables with billy-clubs. Aside from the build-quality of the stage elements, I found the acting to be quite good across the board. I was moved during some of the more climactic scenes, and while the play is a full 3 hours, it wasn't a long 3 hours.

The play made me think a lot about my grandparents, particularly my Brooklyn raised grandfather, who made the transition into the identity of a Jewish American. We got it pretty easy these days and are able to spend a lot more time thinking about identity, and discussing it, instead of fighting for or against it.

For those of us who grew up learning about our history, our music, culture, traditions, languages, and celebrations, Conversations With My Father is a throwback that, while not totally a feel good tale, certain evokes all of these elements.

The New Jewish Theatre is now in its 13th year, under the direction of Kathleen Sitzer. You can find out more, see upcoming shows, and book tickets at www.newjewishtheatre.org

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The Senate passes money for Israel missile defense

The FY 2010 Defense Appropriations bill passed the Senate today by a vote of 93 to 7. It includes just over $200 million for Israel's missile defense efforts. Read on to learn some Congressional knowledge.

By way of a quick reminder, for a bill to become law it must pass first one of the two houses of Congress. Once this is done, the other house designs and votes on its own version. Often times, the house in which the bill does not originate is involved in the process of crafting the bill in the originating house. Once the bill passes the second house, both bills are sent to conference where the two bills are compared to ensure that they say the same thing. Out of conference comes the final bill which is then presented to the president.

In this bill, which President Obama has said he "strongly supports," Israel is appropriated $202,434,000 for its various missile defense programs. This is in addition (and outside of) the roughly $3 billion Israel receives annually in U.S. aid. This is the lowest amount appropriated for Israel's defense programs since 2005, though only by a few million. Considering the current economy, this is very acceptable.

Constitutionally, only the House of Representatives has the right to originate bills that concern revenue generation; it does not specify if one house has the right to originate spending, or "appropriations," bills. However, in true Capitol Hill style, the House has historically believed they hold the exclusive right to originate these bills as well. Naturally, the Senate does not agree.

The Senate has repeatedly asserted its right to originate spending legislation by adopting resolutions to that end, and has even called for commissions to study the dispute. However, House precedents have defined "revenue measures" to include general appropriations bills, claiming that at the time the Constitution was adopted, "raising revenue" meant "raising money and appropriating the same."

So, whenever the Senate does initiate appropriations legislation, the House practice is to return it to the Senate with a blue piece of paper attached citing a constitutional infringement of House prerogatives. This is known as "blue-slipping."

Without House action, Senate-initiated spending legislation cannot make it into law. So in practice, the Senate rarely attempts to initiate such bills anymore, and if it does, the House is diligent about returning them. Regardless of what the Founding Fathers intended, the House refusal to consider such Senate legislation settles the matter in practice.

In reality, especially with defense appropriations, while the House may blue-slip the bill, they are likely to already be on-board with its contents, and are likely to craft a bill similar, if not identical, to the Senate bill. This means that the $202 million earmarked for Israel's defense programs is likely safe.


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Get Excited

Avigdor Lieberman, Israel's Foreign Minister, is re-writing Israel's foreign policy. Love him or hate him, any supporter of Israel should be excited with what he has in store.

Long story short, I'm writing this in WordPad, which has no spell check. I apolgozie for the (sure to be many) misspellings and grammatical mistakes.

Many American Jews watched with great worry as Avigdor Lieberman was sworn in as Israel's new (and current) Foreign Minister. His comments and sentiments towards Arabs and Persians set of alarms around the world that he was a man wholy uninterested in making peace with Israel's neighbors, let alone even kibitzing about the weather with them.

I was excited. Here was a man who's attitudes, completely distorted by worldwide media, represented what I felt was the most missing aspect of Israel's foreign policy: big, manly, balls. Israel has a history of giving far more than it receives. It gives more to the West in strategic upside than the West pays it in dollars. It actually contributes to the lives of many Arabs and Persians in the Middle East (medical and techonological services, for example) who give nothing but hatred back. It gives more to the United Nations by way of participation than the U.N. gives it (Israel is the only UN member who is not allowed to take part in regional groups, where much of the influential economic policies are made). It gives, by far, more to the Palestinians that it recieves (in one example, Israel gives up control of Gaza and the Palestinians respond by giving Israel 6500 of their rockets. In the current example, Israel restricts visits by non-Muslims to the Temple Mount to times between prayer and bars them entirely on holidays. In further appeasement, Israel has for years been allowing illegal Palestinian excavations, which have been used to destory Jewish historical relics, sites, and archeology. And invariably, when Arabs threaten or act violently - as they are doing to literally today - it is the Jews who are barred from the site to reduce tensions. How equitable).

What Lieberman was saying was that he had had enough of Israel offering an inch only for the world to take a foot. He was saying that, if Arabs want to live in Israel (which they do, by the way - 77% of Arab Israeli citizens would choose to remain in Israel even if offered an all-expenses paid relocation to any destination in the world), they need to respect Israel demonstrably. He wouldn't tolerate allowing Israel to rot from within. He said he didn't see the point in neogitiating with an enemy when it was obvious that the enemy had no history of respecting negotiated deals. He said there was more going on in Israel than the conflict that the world should care about, and that there was more in the world than the conflict that Israel should care about. But the thing that he said that most got my attention was this (I'm paraphrasing, of course): Israel has a right to exist, defend itself, and flourish, and if anyone challenged any of this, Israel would stand up and say, 'sit down and shut up you petchulant little child.'

It's taken Lieberman longer than I'd like, but he's institutionalizing big, manly, balls. In a 5 page memo leaked to the Jerusalem Post, Lieberman is re-writing Israel's foreign policy. It is wholistic, sensical, sensible, and global, and it is something any Israel supporter should be excited about. I've copied some quotes from the Post article below. The full article can be seen here: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1254861886009&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

According to sources, the foreign minister plans to bring the five-page preliminary policy paper to the ministry's senior professional staff in the coming days, to begin discussion on implementing what is being described as "guidelines for a whole new foreign policy."

According to a copy of the memo obtained by the Post, the new policy involves moving away from a "lone dependence" on the United States as a strategic ally, to developing broader and closer ties with other world powers and with the developing world.

The document, which was developed in recent weeks at Lieberman's request, focuses on three major shifts in policy: expanding ties with parts of the world "neglected" by previous governments, lowering international expectations of a breakthrough in negotiations with the Palestinians and creating a "zero-tolerance" policy for anti-Semitic expressions worldwide.

The memo chastises the Foreign Ministry for "becoming the 'Ministry for Palestinian Affairs,' with Israeli foreign policy almost entirely consumed by this single issue."

"There is no replacement for Israel's special relations with the United States," the memo continues, calling America "without a doubt Israel's best friend in the world.
"But," it continues, "the lone dependence on the United States is unhealthy for either side and presents difficulties for the US. Israel must build coalitions with other states on the basis of shared interests. In this way, it will expand and strengthen the circle of support, something which will be a relief for the US as well."

In particular, the memo protests as "inconceivable" that Israel's relations with the US "should center only on the Palestinian issue. There are many other important issues facing the two states, including regional security, the struggle against terrorism and cooperation in scientific research, economic [issues] and cultural [issues]."

"For decades, Israel has neglected entire regions and continents, including Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and Central and Southeast Asia. The cost of this neglect has been immense, and has been evident at the UN and other international forums."

According to the document, "it's hard to accept the claim that [Israel's difficulties in international forums] are due to 'the world being against us' when it is we who have abandoned vast swaths of the planet."

"Only by building broad coalitions and through long-term investment in ties with continents and states that have been neglected for many years can Israel improve its ability to deal with the challenges ahead."

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict , the memo notes that "16 years have passed since the signing of the Oslo Accords. That is a long enough period, which saw governments established of the Left, Center and Right, to allow us to understand that peace cannot be imposed from above, but must be constructed from the foundations."

In an apparent critique of US President Barack Obama's efforts for an immediate jump-start of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the memo says that attempts "to impose an immediate, total and comprehensive solution between Israel and the Palestinian Authority are preordained to fail."

Noting a series of failed "artificial" deadlines, including the 1993 five-year plan for the Oslo process, the renewal in 1999, and the efforts and deadlines of US presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush , the document calls for lowered expectations of the current effort.

"Creating [exaggerated] expectations as though it is possible to arrive [in the near term] at a comprehensive settlement ending the conflict could lead us once again to disappointment and frustration that will damage our relations with the United States and Europe and lead to a violent response from the Palestinians."

The document calls for "a more realistic approach that emphasizes improving the situation on the ground, which will bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to a calmer point that will take it off the international agenda.

"We can reach a temporary settlement between the sides, even without solving the core issues, including Jerusalem, the right of return and borders. This is the most that can be achieved realistically, and it is crucial to convince the United States and Europe of this."

The memo also seeks to bring a new focus on worldwide anti-Semitism.
"In addition to the classical forms [of anti-Semitism], we are seeing it manifested also in boycotts of Israeli goods and academic institutions, and in political-legal suits against Israeli leaders and military personnel visiting Europe."

It calls for "a policy of zero tolerance toward anti-Semitic expressions and blood libels against Jews and Israel."

Citing "attacks on Jewish communities around the world and the undermining of Israel's legitimate right to defend itself," the document says the Foreign Ministry "must not take such expressions lightly."

Special mention is made of "cases where the conduct of Western and enlightened states encourage anti-Semitic expressions, whether intentionally or not. We cannot be silent in the face of the conduct of the Swedish government, which does not condemn anti-Semitic articles published in the Swedish media."

"Only an aggressive and unapologetic stance in the face of these events will explain to the world that it is impossible to accept or encourage anti-Semitism in any way, shape or form," it says.

In the final analysis, the memo claims, Israel "has all the elements needed to brand itself as a hi-tech superpower on the one hand, and a historic center of human civilization on the other, and to improve its position and image in the world."
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Sukkot, so what?

We find ourselves smack in the middle of Sukkot (literally, booths), a holiday that finds religious Jews, and those with a bit of spare time on their hands, building temporary structures outside their houses. So, basically, as the weather gets colder, we get commanded to build huts outside, and take all of our meals (and even sleep) out there. Gee, what's the catch?

The truth, though, is that Sukkot is about stepping away from the material, or at least the illusion of material permanence, and getting closer to nature and to one another. A big mitzvah over Sukkot is to invite people into your Sukkah as a guest and to extend them the highest level of hospitality, a practice known as Ushpizin (the Aramaic word for 'guests').



For a lot of us, who feel like nomads living in temporary structures as it is, the physical idea of a Sukkah may not be something we feel compelled to pursue (check out how stringent some are in their construction), but the opportunity to spend quality face time with close friends, and those with whom we would like to grow closer, is appealing.

I checked to see what was out there, and it turns out that Bais Abe, on Delmar, is hosting a dinner tonight at their Sukkah, from 5:30-9. If you've never seen a Sukkah, or want to take the opportunity to meet some new people, drop by and, so long as this pesky swine flu is receding, I'll see you there.

Chag Sameach.


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Volunteer at Taste of St. Louis. Do it for the Kids

From Tom at Livefeed:
Hey gang,

It occurred to me that I didn't make clear the kind of difference that volunteering this weekend at the Taste will make! Given the averages last year, every hour that a volunteer spends at one of the 3 gates at the Taste, they will generate enough donations to fill a backpack full of food for a child who otherwise wouldn't have enough to eat, every weekend for a whole school year.

Basically what that means, is that every hour that you and/or one of your friends volunteers this weekend, we'll be able to fill a backpack full of food, every weekend for a school year, for a child who otherwise wouldn't have enough to eat.

The program that you'll be supporting has been taking children who would otherwise become high school drop outs, and is setting them up to be college grads. This is making a profound difference not only for individuals, but for our communities!

By the way, I know many of you have already signed up to volunteer this weekend. You're awesome. It's midnight so I didn't edit my list.

We appreciate your support and hope to see you this weekend. If you haven't yet let us know that you'll be supporting the event, please shoot me an email.

In gratitude,

Tom Read More......

Next Dor Updates

B'kitzur (in short) things are on schedule.

For a bit more in depth of an update:

On the construction side, things are moving along really well, with the final clean up scheduled to be completed on October 30th, which should set things in order to open doors on November 1st.

Furniture is going to be picked out next weekend, and we're getting nice stuff. Not 'nice stuff' as in 'I'm afraid to put my feet up', but as in 'I could get used to this'.

On the Web side of things, Next Dor now has a facebook page, a twitter account, and most exciting, a website (which is still incomplete, so any feedback is welcome).

If you have any ideas for events, you can send those to nextdorstl at gmail dot com.
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Twitter Contest

The St. Lou Jew has been no stranger to Twitter. We thought we'd take a page out of the David's Voice play-book and announce a Twitter only contest. Today we are giving away passes to the New Jewish Theatre's production of Conversations with My Father

This is how it works: 1. If aren't already, sign up for an Twitter account. 2. Follow The St. Lou Jew on Twitter by logging in, clicking here and clicking 'Follow'.
3. Send us a message by logging into your account, starting a new status update, and typing @thestloujew followed by the words, "I want a ticket".

Winners will be contacted directly through Twitter. Good luck! Read More......

This Week in St. Louis Life

This is a pretty damn busy week in St. Louis living. Between all of the musical festivals and everything else going on, you might want to get your work out of the way so that you can fully take advantage of everything happening.

Starting with tomorrow night, Science on Tap starts back up at the Schlafly Tap Room with "The Technology of War Reporting... with Tales from the Bunker"

Robert Wiener, world-renowned reporter and senior executive producer at CNN for 20 years, will discuss technological advances in war reporting, whether technology has actually aided the public's understanding of the news, and how technology has increased the risk of reporting from the field.

Thursday night, if you are a Wash U alum, stop by Schlafly Bottle Works for food, drinks, and networking.

And then it's already Friday again (gotta love the 4-day work-week). Michael Franti and Spearhead will be playing at the Pageant. The show is a bit pricey (as STL goes) but the party will be worth the admission charge. After party at Moonrise?

If you are looking for a free alternative, check out the music at Taste of St. Louis:
6:30pm – Bud Light Tasty Band Finalist – Rhyme or Reason
7:45pm Bud Light Tasty Band Finalist – Illphonics
8:45pm – Aldermanic President Lewis Reed Announces Winner
10:00pm – The Presidents Of The United States Of America

Saturday is pretty much jam-packed.
With the Taste of STL swinging into full gear, the music line up looks great:
11:00am – 2009 Yo-Yo & Diablo Battle
1:00pm – Michael Kelsey
2:30pm – Soka Break Dance Competition
4:30pm – Cryin’ Shame Blues Band
6:45pm – Make A Wish – Taste Grants A Wish
7:30pm – Funky Butt Brass Band
9:45pm – Tonic

Beyond that, the Loop in Motion annual festival, on Delmar will feature music food and dancing.
1:00 p.m. Arts In Motion
1:30 p.m. Pazazz - St. Louis Academy of Dance
2:15 p.m. Hui Hula 'O Punahele Hula Halau
2:45 p.m. Ashleyliane Dance Company
3:45 p.m. Motion Express - Dance Force
4:15 p.m. Midwest Dance Theater
4:30 p.m. Clarkson School of Irish Dance
5:15 p.m. Aalim Belly Dance
5:45 p.m. Midwest Dance Theater
6:00 p.m. Desert Moon Dance
6:30 p.m. Shaolin Lohan Pai Lion Dance Troupe
6:50 p.m. Capoeira St. Louis
7:15 p.m. Murder City Players

Sunday, the Taste of St. Louis is still making noise and filling bellies:
11:30am – Saint Louis Symphony Ensemble
12:45 Pm – Brian Owens & Martha Mae Soul Ensemble
1:45pm – Saint Louis Ballet
2:30pm – 2009 Yo-Yo & Diablo Battle Championship
4:45pm – Alvin Jett And Phat Noiz Blues Band
7:00pm – 40oz To Freedom – Sublime Tribute

So do yourself a favor, and leave the house.
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Barry Rosenberg Gets It

Barry Rosenberg, the Executive Vice President of Jewish Federation of St. Louis, has a lot on his plate. As the United Way of the Jewish community (which actually predates the UW), Federation has an immense number of organizations to which it allocates funds. particularly now, in a time of economic hardship, Rosenberg's job is not an easy one. That's why it was particularly refreshing to see his his piece in the Toward Thriving blog.

In the piece, published Tuesday, Rosenberg asks the following questions:

What is our destination? What is our vision for the future of St. Louis and American Jewish life? What type of Jewish community will our children and grandchildren inherit?

The questions themselves aren't new, but in his answers, we find evidence of a frame of thought that we find ourselves nodding along to.

Take for example, the following:

A St. Louis region that offers high quality education, economic and recreational opportunities, and poses no barriers to our full participation in society. We cannot thrive unless St. Louis thrives. (emphasis mine)

We need to walk the fine line between a focus on the needs of our community and full participation in community and civic life outside of the Jewish community. If St. Louis, as a city, is not a place where people want to be, then god luck attracting and retaining future generations of Jewish community. As Rosenberg notes, "Our region, experiencing sluggish growth and economic vitality, offers limited attraction to young, single Jews – native or those who arrive for University."

Rosenberg goes even further this with point saying we need:

A critical population mass, sufficient to support a broad array of core institutions and services that meet Jewish needs, enrich Jewish life and offer extensive social opportunities.

As much as I support the vision of regionalism, I still believe that there is a need to see a certain population density to start to see things like walkable/bikeable corridors, viable entertainment and cultural areas, and innovative programs.

In the example of Next Dor, while the location in the Central West End is a pretty great one, will people from Chesterfield make the drive? Will there be a time in which the Jewish community is not based around deep suburbs and instead puts its collective resources toward a more efficient and dense city neighborhood?

Thus, as one of the four areas that require priority attention, Rosenberg names, "Creating a vibrant local Jewish community that will retain and attract young Jewish population to St. Louis."

To address this, Rosenberg suggests:

New strategies, institutions and programs are required to develop a more vibrant and inviting community for young people. Professional internships and mentorships, early career support and professional networking, enhanced social and recreational opportunities, reduced membership fees, expanded social action and cultural programs, increased opportunities to take leadership roles and specialized concierge services should be employed to make St. Louis a preferred community for young Jews. The community must support new styles of informal, grass-roots engagement that many young people prefer.

It is interesting to note that Next Dor has already started moving forward (as have groups like YPD and JGrads) on many of these ideas.

In all, Barry Rosenberg's remarks indicate a cognizance of many of our gripes, and some strong statements in support of the type of cultural shift necessary to ensure a thriving Jewish community.

See the full piece here.

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Liveable St. Louis: Next American City Event at Left Bank Books Recap

Last night, at Left Bank Books, Next American City hosted an UrbanNexus. What does any of this mean? Read on to find out.

Left Bank Books, an independent book store located at 10th and Locust downtown, played host last night to an UrbanNexus, in which great minds meet great cities.

The event was described as such:

As St. Louis transforms into a more vibrant city, how can it maintain a creative population with talents and energy to contribute to the larger community? Chris King, editorial director of the St. Louis American, will moderate the discussion. Panelists include Washington University adjunct professor, Jasmin Aber; Trailnet program coordinator, Jennifer Allen; Alderman, Antonio French; non-profit community developer, Galen Gondolfi; and Vice President of Metropolis St. Louis, Leslie Proud.

I arrived a bit late, and found the book store to be packed with people. Each speaker was introduced and spoke for a few minutes about what is necessary to retain the creative class in order to make St. Louis a more vibrant city.

Highlights included North City Alderman Antonio French who said, amongst other things, that a more regional approach is needed. That is to say that, instead of focusing on undercutting another municipality by offering lower tax rates in order to get businesses to move a few miles, we need a systematic and regional approach in order to attract individuals from outside of the greater St. Louis metropolitan areas.

Up for debate was whether or not it could be expected that individuals and families living in the deep suburbs like Chesterfield could be convinced to move in to city itself, but what was agreed upon was that St. Louis needs to find a way to attract and retain creative people, either through government tax incentives, programs, or individual organizing.

There are already signs, though, of a movement to connect creative people with opportunities for innovation. Take the Urban Studio Cafe, for example, whose mission is to use, "the creative process to develop individuals' skills, build community assets, promote self-confidence, and strengthen sense of community."

This new art cafe/coffee shop just opened up in North St. Louis (2815 N 14th Street) as part of increasing efforts to revitalize that community.

I couldn't help but think about the possibilities of Next Dor along this same front. Next Dor will have dedicated artist studio space and its walls will double as gallery space for Jewish artists in St. Louis.

As great as I thought the idea behind the UrbanNexus was, I felt like I left with out a clear plan of what next steps would be. How do you take the energy present in the room and make a fundamental shift in the culture and direction of St. Louis?

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Music This Weekend

This is crazy weekend indeed. With Yom Kippur falling on Sunday night, make sure the rest of your weekend is just as packed.

Friday night, catch Drummer and DJ Duo Autiomadic at the Gramophone. Opening up for them is acclaimed St. Louis band, the Northwoods.

Light the candles and get to the Gramophone around 9 or 10 for the show.

Saturday night, Papa Grows Funk, New Orleans' best funk band, will be at the Broadway Oyster Bar. This brand brings the funk like few others, and is pretty much a guaranteed good time.

So make it a musical weekend, live it up a bit in St. Louis, and Gmar Chatima Tovah. Read More......

Moishe House Gets Some Great Press

Moishe House is getting some great press all over the world, including St. Louis!

From Ha'aretz, Israel's leading left-of-center newspaper, is featuring a full length article about Moishe House, and covers some of the interface issues Moishe House has with the mainstream Jewish community. Read it here

And right here in St. Louis, Barry Rosenberg of the Jewish Federation is quoted in the St. Louis Jewish Light as saying, "Exciting new programs like Moishe House and Next Dor will help attract young Jews who want less institutional modes of Jewish identification."

..it's a start right? Read More......

Chabad Telethon and Conan: Which jumped the Shark?

Triumph the Insult Comit Dog made an appearance on the Chabad Telethon .... really.

'Jumping the Shark' "is a colloquialism coined by Jon Hein and used by TV critics and fans to denote the point in a television program's history where the plot veers off into absurd story lines or out-of-the-ordinary characterizations. This usually corresponds to the point where a show with falling ratings apparently becomes more desperate to draw in viewers. In the process of undergoing these changes, the TV or movie series loses its original appeal. Shows that have "jumped the shark" are typically deemed to have passed their peak."

So Chabad Telethon or Conan, for which was this move jumping the shark?


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Shanah Tovah!

This will be our last post before the new year, so we wanted to outline some of the great things that have been happening and will happen in the coming year.

I'll be heading to Cincinnati to spend Rosh Hashanah with my family in an hour or so, and wanted to take the time to recap all of the amazing things that happened over the past year.

A little over a year ago, Moishe House opened it's singular door in a renovated synagogue in South City. Two moves later, Moishe House is attracting larger-than-ever crowds and it diversifying its events.

As our community has grown, we've been able to participate in larger and larger numbers of opportunities in St. Louis, including Habitat for Humanity builds, sessions with local and national politicians, leaders, and intellectuals.

We've been around the country several times and have had the opportunity to witness the energy that keeps bubbling up whenever we are able to connect with other Jewish young adults.

And our actions are getting noticed. The St. Lou Jew has surpassed 30,000 hits, with a large number of our activity coming from Facebook, Twitter, and Jewishinstlouis.

As we look towards the new year, we are excited for all of the possibilities Next Dor will bring. We've already connected with some great people, and look forward to meeting even more.

I personally see so many great things happening and look forward to 5770.

Shanah Tovah to all of you and may this next year be a sweet year filled with happiness, health, momentum!
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Another Salvo Against Institutional Judaism

Fellow JBloggers over at Jewschool.com just posted a really interesting piece that turns up the heat on the UJC. Read what they had to say below.

The argument is classic Jewish continuity, and the question of who represents us as a community is a fair one. The UJC/Federation system provide large numbers of social services, but are perceived by some as monolithic and unable to really represent the myriad opinions that exist in the community.

For the sake of not butchering their words, and letting the full thing sink in for effect, we are reposting the full article below. It can be found in its original form here.

All hail our leader William Daroff
by Kung Fu Jew [➚] · Wednesday, September 16th, 2009

If it was doubted before that social media breeds transparency, then the evidence is in Mobius‘ Twitter debates with William Daroff, head of the UJC. The summary: Daroff says the UJC represents all of and is entitled to speak for all of us, at least because they paid for grandma to move here from the old country; Mobius dissents. The juiciest part I excerpt below, but do read the whole thing:

Daroff: @mobius1ski Does Obama represent you? Did Bush? You might not agree w/everything we say or do – but we do represent you.

Mobius1ski: @Daroff Comparing UJC to elected officials is beyond hubris.

Mobius1ski: @Daroff My U.S. citizenship is a social contract w/ the gov’t. My Jewishness is not a social contract w/ UJC.

Daroff: @mobius1ski Didn’t mean to be hubrisy; simply stated: organized Jewish community endeavors to represent Jewish communal interests.

There’s more. Daroff needs a reality check. In his childhood, the federation may have been the be all, end all of Jewish communal life. But the past 20 years saw not just a boom of independent growth, but a decline of previous institutions. The federation system struggles to find not just funding, but a leadership that isn’t plauged with failure and embarassing turnover rates. (Worth mentioning here: yesterday the federation’s highest rising star Daniel Sokatch just left the SF Fed after less than a year to head the New Israel Fund.)

Meanwhile, after decades of stagnation, more than 300 new Jewish orgs have been founded in the past ten years alone, representing 400,000 Jews and $100 million, according to JumpStart’s 2009 social entrepreneurship report. These newcomers were founded to get away from the UJC and do work outside the consensus: AJWS, New Israel Fund, Jewish FundS for Justice, Progressive Jewish Alliance (founded by Sokatch), the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, J Street, the Limmuds, PresenTense, ad neaseum, all founded in the past 35 years. And of course, none of these orgs have a seat at the JCPA policymaking plenum or the Council of Presidents I might add further. Their umbrellas are pretty narrow.

It’s a product of our times as well as our generation, created to fulfill a vision for communtiy that the UJC didn’t have and wouldn’t seed. The UJC doesn’t represent me or anyone else who gives neither a dime nor a damn. (Okay, okay, I gave $5 to UJA-NY Fed once, but just so I could vote in the icky World Zionist Congress and undermine the right wing.) My money has gone to groups founded in the past 35 years and I’m hardpressed to find a legacy org worth saving. (Also an exaggeration, I like HIAS’ immigration work with non-Jews.)

Mobius was very kind to UJC to recognize the good work it did and does. But it’s not the model we need anymore, and I feel it’s not disrespectful to say “Thank you for your work, but it’s time to retire.” The federation is raising money from fewer and fewer donors, making Daroff’s claim to democratic mandate slimmer and slimmer. And personally, I find his haunty, self-important puffery the epitome of leadership I can’t admire.

Daroff, it’s a new era and you need to see your institution in relation to the changes afoot. Take it down a notch. Humility is in these days.

Daroff then responded to the post in a comment which read:

I appreciate the dialogue & have attempted to respond, in part, via twitter. So, as KFJ suggests, please check out my tweets at http://www.twitter.com/Daroff

As you’ll note, I’m on the Hill at the moment lobbying for more funding for social service programs for federation system agencies — agencies that care for millions of Americans, without regard for the level of their donations (if any), and in keeping with our moral mandate to care for the vulnerable among us & to care for our neighbors as we would care for ourselves.

As I tweeted, here are the Public Policy priorities of UJC/The Jewish Federations of North America (pdf): http://ow.ly/pD8o

So, before you dump the federation system as being obsolete, or out-of-touch, please consider that we are consensus-based and THE mainstream of the organized Jewish community. Before you reject our existence because of our support for sanctions on Iran’s energy sector, please also consider that we stand on that issue with the Reform movement, with the Reconstructionist movement, with the Conservative movement, and the Orthodox Union. It is the consensus position, those opposed to it are free to be opposed, are certainly within their rights, represent the views of many others, are fine people, but they are simply outside the mainstream of the position of the organized Jewish community.

Lastly, before you reject the federation system because of our position on Iran sanctions, please do not forget the vulnerable whom we assist through social service programs at our agencies — in a way that no other organization in the Jewish world is doing, in a way that no other organization in the Jewish world has the capacity, and in a way that too few outside the Jewish world are doing.

Now, I must run back into meetings. Thank you for reading - thank you for the dialogue - I think it’s very healthy, and look forward to catching up on more of every one’s thoughts later this evening.

Warmest regards and best wishes to you & all of kol yisreal for a sweet, happy, and healthy new year. K’tivah v’chatimah tovah.


—William Daroff · September 16th, 2009 at 3:13 pm

What's better than Jews arguing? How about more Jews arguing on the internet!
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High Holidays: A guide how not to get left out in the cold

For many of us, the High Holidays represent that special time of year where we'll brave our fears of being Jewy and take our chances by entering the hallowed walls of synagogues.

But if you are like a lot of the people we've been speaking to, you may have no idea of where to go for Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, even if you really want to attend services.

Fear not fellow co-religionist, The St. Lou Jew has your back.

A lot of people wait until the last minute and then flip out when they realize that they don't even know where the synagogues are, if they can go without a ticket, or what kind of service they can expect from which congregation. I usually fall pretty well into that group and end up at Hillel

A lot of the synagogues have something called reciprocity, which means that if you have paid (or your parents paid) for your membership back home, they will let you come to their services.

So, after a bit of research, here it is, the definitive guide (lifted straight from Jewishinstlouis.org) to High Holidays in St. Louis:

Conservative
• B’nai Amoona
• Brith Sholom Kneseth Israel
• Shaare Zedek Synagogue


Jewish Renewal
• Neve Shalom

Orthodox
• Agudas Israel of St. Louis
• Bais Abraham
• Nusach Hari B’nai Zion
• Young Israel

Reform
• B’nai El Congregation
• Central Reform Congregation
• Congregation B'nai Torah
• Congregation Kol Am
• Congregation Shaare Emeth
• Temple Emanuel
• Congregation Temple Israel
• United Hebrew Congregation

Reconstructionist
• Shir Hadash Reconstructionist Community

Traditional
• Traditional Congregation

Chabad

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Oh, Russians...

It’s been awhile since I’ve last posted, and even longer since I wrote a serious international affairs piece. A spate of disconcerting events and new comments from the Russians today prompted me push aside the LSAT studying for a bit to write down a few thoughts on how this new information now makes war more likely than not.

The comments today were those of Vladimir Putin, delivered via a spokesman, that Russia has no evidence to cast any doubt on Iran’s claim that its nuclear development is for anything other than peaceful ends, and therefore will continue to fight against sanctions.

Meanwhile, today’s news also reports that Iran now has enough material to produce a nuclear bomb. A week or so ago, there were reports that a boat full of Russian-made S300 missile systems destined for Iran was hijacked and then rescued by Russian forces. The theory goes that the S300 systems were being sold without government authorization to Iran by disgruntled current and/or former Russian generals. Israel’s Mossad, learning of this, hired mercenaries to hijack the boat, and then tipped off the Russian government so that the Russians could prevent the delivery and safe face. Israeli and Russian officials both denied this, though were S300 missiles on board, I’d bet money that this is more or less what happened.

Another bit of breaking news is the revelation of an alleged clandestine trip to Russia by Israel’s Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. Reports vary on details, but the just is that Bibi went to discuss the S300 matter.

The Iranian Defense Minister has led Europe to pay closer attention to the situation with recent comments that suggest Iran is now pursuing a missile system with a range of over 2,000 kilometers, making Iranian nuclear weapons a threat to the European continent. We now see France and Germany taking much stronger stands against Iran.

Iran, with the requisite material to produce nuclear weapons, a missile system capable of taking down Israel’s most advanced planes, another missle system with the reach to strike Europe, and the influence on the region Iran would attain from all this, along with Russia’s continuing to fight against sanctions, means war is on the horizon.

War is now likely to happen, with perhaps some variation, along these lines:

1. Israel obtains hard intelligence that Russia will sell Iran the S300 system, which makes an Israeli attack on Iranian nuclear facilities nearly impossible
2. Israel pre-empts the full operational capability of the S300s with attacks, pushing Iran a few years back down the nuclear time line
3. Iran responds by strengthening Hizbollah and Hamas, likely inciting them to launch attacks on Israel
4. Iran mines, or at least monitors, the Strait of Hormuz, through which 40% of the world’s oil is transported, causing a worldwide oil supply crisis
5. The U.S. and Europe are forced into the meat of the situation (when either they are unable or unwilling to enter another field of combat), testing the tenuous and slight diplomatic gains made between the U.S. and Syria through the pressure Iran will put on Syria to stir things up in Iraq
6. Instability in the Arab arc will be set lose, putting the United Arab Emirates, an ally of rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran as well as the U.S., in an extremely difficult position. The UAE will, with good reason, fear foreign attempts at occupation, whether politically or militarily, by any of their three “allies”
7. Iran will put pressure on Bahrain, a key ally of both Iran and the U.S., the later of whom has their Fifth Flee/t headquartered there, to force the Americans to leave, which would be catastrophic for the U.S. in its Near East operations (including the current war in Afghanistan). To keep their the base, the Americans will have to pledge military support - to keep Iran at bay when it comes to Bahrain’s territorial concerns – that it can’t logisitically provide

The instability and havoc this scenario creates is really only put into motion at step 7. It would likely expand beyond step 7 and could even reach South and North America via Venezuela and Bolvia and the growing al Qaeda cells operating in Central America, but that’s much harder to assess.

Here may be the most worring part of this scenario: from the perspective of the most likely country to act, Israel, this is, if you eliminate the sanctions options - the only responsible thing to do at this point - probably the best scenario. This is because Israel is more likely to receive international intervention with a war. If Israel does not attack and Iran secures the S300, it gives Israel’s enemies, near and far, the protection of a nuclear umbrella. This is the worst scenario for Israel, because it creates an Israel beholden to Iran’s whims. Iran could attack Israel with support from Hizbollah, Hamas, and Syria. More likely, though, is that Iran seriously arms its allies and gives them the green light to stage attacks against Israel. Once Israel responds, Iran can tell them to back off or receive the wrath of Iranian missiles. This is the Israeli nightmare.

From the American perspective, there isn’t an attractive option. At this point, we only enjoy support from 2 of the remaining 4 Security Council members. Neither China nor Russia are committed to the Iranian threat. For Russia, it is both economic and geopolitical, and arming Iran helps them achieve both those goals. For China, their motivations are less discernable. I’m not going to go into China much other than to say they share some of Russia’s motivations. Given that international sanctions are no longer feasible and that Russia is likely to eventually sell Iran the missile systems that will destabilize the Middle East, and that the scenario I outlined above guarantees terrible consequences, it is time for the Obama Administration to take a stand. There are unilateral sanctions that can harness the Iranian public’s discontent with its government should the U.S. levy heavy economic burdens on the country in ways that expose the poor governance of the Iranian regime.

These include oil and financial considerations. The first sanction would be to deny the right of any person, company, and nation to the ability to conduct transactions with any Iranian person, company, and government in U.S. dollars. The second sanction would be to levy debilitating actions against people, companies, and governments who supply Iran with oil or buy oil from them (Iran imports over 150,000 barrels of oil per day for domestic consumption because the Iranian government highly subsidizes petrol pump prices. Forcing Iran to function on only domestic oil would drive the price beyond what Iranians could afford, and force the regime to make a decision whether or not to divert oil from its oil-dependent military complex. However, 40% of Iran’s oil imports come from India, a U.S. ally, making this a politically difficult maneuver to make, however necessary it would be). Between these two sanctions, the Iranian economy and way of life would crumble within days. This might begin to turn the attitude of the Iranian government, which is exactly what needs to be done.

To caveat all this, I am aware that the U.S. is trying to work out a deal with Russia that would lead to Russia supporting sanctions. Putin’s comments are likely due to one of two things: they won’t make a deal, or they want more than the U.S. has been willing to offer thus far. Depending on how this plays out, the above scenario could change considerably.
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Next Dor Renovation Update 9/11/2009

Blazingly hot off the presses, here are the latest photos of the renovations going on at the Next Dor House.

Above shows the new wall and wiring behind which a restroom will be placed on the first floor.
Above shows work in the kitchen


Next Dor is also in the process of creating flyers to pass along to rabbis with the hope that they will make them available to their congregants at high holiday services .

If you wanna get involved, help make this happen, or just be kept in the loop, nextdorstl at gmail dot com is how to reach the group.

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Go Ahead, Make my High Holiday

You know what the difference between paranoia and Jewish paranoia is? Paranoia is when you think someone is out to get you. Jewish Paranoia is when you know someone is out to get you.

Some New York-area congregations can rest easy during these High Holidays: as the New York Post reported, "a group of badass rabbis has developed a program to turn your average shul-goer into a lean, mean fighting machine." I have always noticed a modest uniformed police presence during the High Holidays at my family's St. Louis-area reform congregation. But, unlike some congregants in New York (who call themselves the International Security Coalition of Clergy), I do not believe that members at my family's place of worship are "packing heat" in preparation for potential jihadists.

Check out the video below to see how Rabbi Gary Moscowitz "leads fellow heat-packing holy men in a self-defense drill at a Queens synagogue." Plus points if you notice the blooper toward the end.

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Moishe House Hosts Rabbi Kerber, a recap

Last night, a group of young adults gathered at the Moishe House to talk to Rabbi Justin Kerber, the new Rabbi at Temple Emmanuel. Topics of conversation ranged from Sex to Jesus, Homosexuality, as well as stereotypes of Jews. Not only did the event manage to bring out a decent number of people, but it marks the first time that Moishe House in St. Louis has hosted an event with a Rabbi.

The group spanned both young adults who work for Jewish organizations and temples, to Jews who have never been to Israel and work on Yom Kippur, and even a few non-Jews.

The group seemed particularly interested in where stereotypes of Jews and money came from, and the legacy of not being able to own land, and being forced into roles as money-lenders was discussed.

After speaking about pikuach nefech, the special circumstances under which you can break Jewish laws to save a life, the question of who is a Jew surfaced.

Once participant with a Jewish father, and a non-Jewish mother, had a hard time dealing with the fact that religious Jews do not view her as Jewish.

Rabbi Kerber then pointed out that, not only is it more and more rare to find a reform Rabbi that won't perform intermarriage, it is also likely that within a decade, there will be intense outreach to children of mixed marriages to 'bring them into the fold'.

The event was facilitated well by Moishe House and kept generally on topic. I think that the event proved that young adults will come out to an event that explicitly talks about Judaism and includes a Rabbi. This gives further credence to the theory that, so long as the atmosphere is comfortable, people will come.

A bottle of Muscato was enjoyed by several participants at Sasha's afterwards.
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When Is A Bagel Just A Bagel?

The bagel means a lot of things to a lot of people. To those Jews whose identity is more ethnic than religious, the bagel is often a badge of that identity and pride, like Guinness to the Irish.

Maria Balinska, Author of “The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread” (Yale University Press, 2008), found some digital space in the New York Times to answer questions about this most illustrious of (Jewish) foods. Find the answers to your deepest darkest questions about bagels http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/03/answers-about-the-history-of-the-bagel-part-2/. Read More......

The Death Of The Jewish Deli?

A terrifying and critical new update, masquerading as a book review, has just come in from the Jerusalem Post.

In the article, we are introduced to a man who has made it his life mission to catalog these disappearing treasures. Read it here, and don't forget about local delis like Kopperman's, Diamant's, and Proetzel's. Support Local Schtick. Read More......

Synagogue 3000 Retreat: A great extended weekend in NY

New York is pretty Jewy. In fact, it might be argued that of all of the cities in the world, New York might just have the most yiddishkite, eclipsing even Jerusalem. Monday and Tuesday of this week, however, New York hosted a different kind of conversation about Judaism. . . namely, how to make synagogues relevant for the Next Dor, the next generation of Jews, who are now in their 20's and 30's.

The trip to New York started off normally enough, with a trip to Marcus Garvey park in Harlem to check out the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, a hotel party in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and a chance street meeting with a cousin who I didn't think I'd have a chance to see.

The retreat itself was very interesting. Synagogue 3000 chose 5 congregations, from the 1,200 or so 'liberal Jewish' congregations in the US to work with as part of its Next Dor initiative, which awarded a 1-year, $40,000 grant to be used towards outreach to and engagement of Jewish young adults.

Each congregation had a different approach, both in terms of structure, and in terms of ideas for outreach.

I thought it was odd that I was the only 20-something represented as a part of the project, and that we seemed to be the only project in which the sponsoring congregation had taken a hands-off approach to letting us build our own idea and community. (for a video of some of the other young adults involved with Next Dor STL, as well as shots of the house in progress, check out this video)

Still, we heard about some great ideas, met some great people, including Steven Cohen, the pre-eminent Jewish sociologist, and Michelle Citrin, an up-and-coming singer/songwriter made famous by her parody of Obama Girl, entitled, "Rosh Hashanah Girl".

Everyone there gets that opportunities to connect need to be authentic, and not a thinly veiled opportunity to preach, chastise, or pass along propaganda. They get that our sole goal in life isn't just to get married and join a synagogue, and this is good news (that they get it, I mean).

There was so much information packed into the two days, that I'm still trying to sort it out.. and it didn't help that in my haste, I left my notepad at the hotel.

The upshot of this whole thing was that it is really apparent that there is a wide base of support and resources for us to call upon as we move forward with Next Dor in St. Louis.
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Next Dor Update: Synangogue 3000 Meeting

Monday and Tuesday, representatives of Next Dor will be hosted by Synagogue 3000 in Westchester NY. The retreat will bring together all five recipients of the Synagogue 3000 grant to talk about our plans and learn about each other as well as the program. The pre-work included some pretty interesting articles, which I've included below.

The retreat comes at a great time, considering that construction is well on its way. What will be interesting to see is how the other projects selected will be making use of their grant money.

To see where Synagogue 3000 is coming from, in terms of the research they are using to guide their program, check that out here here and here

We'll do our best to report back to you about what was said and how other cities are handling some of the issues we've talked about.

Shabbat Shalom
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Jewish Community Survey

I got an email from the Executive Director of Moishe House today cluing me in to a community survey that is being run by a professor at NYU. Read on for the Scoop

Everyone loves a survey, especially when it helps them to write research on what is going on in the Jewish community (particularly around the question of, "what is the deal with this new generation?").

See the email below and if you feel like it, participate in the survey and let your voice be heard:

American Jewish leaders have been changing – but we don’t exactly know how. We think that leaders in their 20s and 30s are different from those in their 50s and 60s. And we imagine that the Boomers today differ from the Boomers two or three decades ago.

Leaders may vary in their hopes and fears; in the issues that capture their interest, and that drive them to act; and in the ways in which they see Jews, Judaism, and the world. They may differ in terms of their life experiences that have led them to be who they are today.

But, with all this said, we’re not sure of the extent of differences; and we certainly know little about the diverse views and interests of Jewish leaders across America.

To explore these issues, concerns that are critical to policy makers, philanthropists, and the Jewish public, I am inviting you to participate in, “The 2009 Survey of Leadership and American Jewish Life.” Whether you see yourself as a “Jewish leader” or not, and however old or young you may be, I’d like you to participate.

The survey is part of a larger effort to explore these and related issues, entitled, “The 2009 Avi Chai Study of American Jewish Leaders.” That effort draws upon the talents of six social scientists – younger and older, throughout the US – led by Prof. Jack Wertheimer, with a grant from the Avi Chai Foundation.

Please open the survey with this link. Simply hit Cntrl+Click: Jewish Leaders Survey

Or, you cut and paste this link in your browser: http://researchsuccess.qualtrics.com/SE?SID=SV_eqSZoS4lhWjrdU8&SVID=Prod

As you begin to answer the questions, I think you’ll find that this survey is unlike any you’ve taken before, certainly any you’ve taken on Jewish matters. We raise some fairly complex issues in ways which I hope are both clearly articulated and genuinely stimulating.

How long will the survey take to complete? We think that you’ll get through the bulk of the questionnaire and arrive at the Demographics section within 15 minutes. If you’re willing and able to continue, we have 5-7 minutes of additional questions, after Demographics. Of course, you are free to stop at any time, but I hope you will complete as much of the survey as possible.
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Politics in St. Louis get interesting

St. Louis is often accused of having an inferiority complex vis-a-vis Chicago and it looks like, if the latest political scandal is to be believed, that St. Louis is taking a few pages from the 'Chicago-style politics' we keep hearing about.
-Update Both Jeff Smith and Steve Brown have just announced their resignations.

First, State Senator Jeff Smith, a professor at Washington University and a politician for whom a number of my college buddies worked, is apparently under federal investigation for actions undertaken during the 2004 campaign.

Next, State Representative Steve Brown is expected to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy stemming from the same race for being involved in distributing anonymous information critical of Russ Carnahan (now a Representative from MO).

Finally, a Democratic political operative (what the hell is a political operative?) Milton H. "Skip" Ohlsen III, is being connected with a bombing that occurred in Clayton last year.

Just what the hell is happening?!

I understand how politicians could get tripped up in those pesky campaign finance laws, and might even want to write anonymous hate mail about their competition, but a Democratic operative who makes points with explosives?

This is St. Louis, not Kabul...

We'll keep our ears to the ground, but in a a small-town big-city like St. Louis, it shouldn't be long before more information comes out.
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Welcome (back) To St. Louis

Over the past two weeks, graduate students at St. Louis' institutions of higher learning have been moving in and getting situated. Many of them start classes this week. So now that you are here... or back for another year in St. Louis, you probably want to know what's happening.

A quick overview of St. Louis: For those of you from the East Coast, it is a real city, beyond the barriers of campus. There are a number of great areas in which to spend your time and money, and getting to know all of them can take some time.

We recommend South Grand, Tower Grove, Soulard, Lafayette Square, Benton Park, and the Central West End for urban destinations.

For those of you from smaller communities, St. Louis is unique in that it maintains a small-town city feel. People are friendly, helpful, and generally not totally self-absorbed. If someone invites you over for Shabbat, they are serious about the offer.

Nearly any activity that you are looking to get involved with, you will be able to find and there are a host of organizations in and outside of the Jewish community that can help you connect with those activities.

St. Louis isn't the largest Jewish community in the world, but it does have some incredibly Jewish neighborhoods. If you aren't from the area, it can seem like a daunting task to meet people who share your interests and level of observance (or lack thereof).

To connect with other grad students and young professionals, check out the Young Professionals Division of the Federation, Gesher City, JGrads, and Moishe House. Once the Next Dor house opens up, that should also be a fantastic resource to meet other people who share your interests.

To learn more about Israel Advocacy, hit up the St. Louis Israel Connection (SLIC)

For a community directory, listing congregations and basically anything else, check out jewishinstlouis.org

You can also send questions to thestloujew @ gmail.com

Welcome to St. Louis. Let us know how we can help make your transition easier.


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Renting in St. Louis, Part Duex

While there are big stories brewing, involving Jeff Smith, the only Jewish State Senator in MO, and two new Jewy apps for the Palm Pre, we should check back in on our friends and see if all is well in new apartment paradise.

When we last left off with our protagonists, they had just signed a 2-year deal on a fantastic apartment in the Central West End at a great price.

My friend returned to Israel to finish up his service in the IDF, and his girl friend was back in Colorado for a week before joining him.

All seemed well in the world until. . .

I get a frantic text from the friend still in Colorado. I call her and she is clearly upset. The owner fired the woman he had hired to manage the leasing of the apartment, and she had called indicating that, since she had been fired, and the owner wanted to sell, not rent, that the deal was off.

So there they were, without an apartment, and about to both be thousands of miles away.

Now, I'm not a law school student, but I've spent enough time around them to understand the concept of contracts, and more specifically, breach of contract.

I was able to contact a friend who has the three of the most useful letters after his name: Esq. and fill him in on the situation.

He agreed that the whole thing was fishy and that the owner and leasing lady were in the wrong. So he went to work to restore a little bit of order and sanity to this ridiculous situation.

After several rounds of letters, emails, and conversations. . . not to mention a few months, the owner relented and decided to honor his contract.

Good news for my friends, who will be moving in tomorrow.

Good new for me, cuz I always need an extra place to crash in the West End.
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Renting in St. Louis Part 1

Renting an apartment can be stressful. Worries over the condition of the building, the location, safety vs. cost... it can be a real nightmare. The following is the true, and unfolding story of two young adults and their adventures in apartment hunting in St. Louis.

A good friend (the girlfriend of a childhood friend) just moved to St. Louis (from Israel) to begin her Masters in Social Work at Washington University (the top ranked program in the country).

Her boyfriend has been serving in the Israel Defense Forces for the past two years, but was able to get a few weeks off, during which they visited St. Louis and looked at apartments.

Knowing that she would be at Wash U, they scouted the usual locales, University City, Clayton, Richmond Heights, the Central West End, etc. They probably looked at 15 or 20 places and were growing disheartened that nothing looked good enough to them.

Finally, they day before they were going to leave, I got a call while at work from my ecstatic friends indicating they had found the perfect place.

I joined them to look it over and to read through the lease as a third pair of eyes. The place was pretty fantastic. Located at Maryland and Newstead, the large two bedroom has a fantastic open dining/living space in a building with a pool.

Not only had they found a place they were excited about, they had also managed to get it at a price under market value by signing a two-year lease.

But the joy would be short lived. Tune into tomorrow to hear what happened.
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Signs Of The Times: The Professional Leaders Project

Over the past year or so, I've had the opportunity to join other Jewish Young Adults in speed mentoring, studying Jewish ethics, discussing issues vital to the American Jewish community, and fantastic networking. All of this was organized and paid for by the Professional Leaders Project, which just announced that, due to lack of funding, it would no longer be able to hold the events for which it had become known.

I was first connected to PLP through Moishe House. We were asked if we wanted to participate in an 8 month program which would consist of monthly flights to Washington, D.C. for which our only expense would be a fairly small registration fee.

Zuz and I jumped at the opportunity to get free flights to a city in which a number of friends lived. It was only after attending the events that we began to realize their true value.

Now, I won't say that the program was perfect. Sessions consisted of approximately 5 hours on a Sunday, beginning with discussions, culminating in a satellite broadcast of Donniel Hartman from Jerusalem, followed by more discussions.

For the several hundred dollars they spend on us per session, one might have expected a richer program, perhaps consisting of longer hours, deeper discussions, and fewer breaks. That being said, the true value that emerged, for me personally, was in the network of interested and engaged emerging Jewish leaders that I had the opportunity to meet. Their energy and perspective was a welcome change and I always felt re-enthused upon returning to St. Louis. We met other Moishe House residents from D.C., Philly, and elsewhere, and got to hear about all of the interesting programs and movements emerging all over the country.

Now, falling victim to both the economic situation and the unfortunate passing of one of the main donors to the organization, PLP is being forced to figure out how to maintain the connections and spirit of the organization without the capital it had counted on.

PLP has responded to the crises by creating a 'Virtual ThinkTank', which it hopes will keep the embers burning until the current crisis blows over. We certainly hope to see the organization get back on its feet and continue the great work they began.

Learn more about the Professional Leaders Project here.
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Hockey at the Hebrew Academy, Who Knew?

Last night, after a 5 hour drive back from Cincinnati, a good meeting with the Next Dor Board and Michael Staenberg, and a solid dinner at Pi, I was ready to call it a night.

That is, of course, until I got a phone call asking if I wanted to play some floor hockey at 9:30 PM.

There are certain things that I am often accused of. Chief among them is probably the inability to say no. But, when offered the opportunity to play hockey, it was only a matter of getting enough details to make it work.

Where was it? I don't have a stick, can you provide one? etc.

Turns out, not only was the venue Epstein Hebrew Academy, the game goes down every Sunday night.

For a pickup game, it was pretty legit; real goals, goalie equipment, 15 minute halves. . . I got pretty worn out pretty quickly.

Getting home close to midnight (on a work night), drenched in sweat, exhausted, bruised, and sore. . .I'm still pretty pleased with the decision to play. In fact, I may make it a part of the Sunday routine.
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Moishe House Reopens!

This Friday night, Moishe House St. Louis will be reopening in its new location in Clayton. What does that mean for you?

Well, if you are like most of the MOT in STL, it probably means the location is a bit closer to where you live, and may even be walkable... no word yet if it is in the Eruv or not.

With Shabbat dinner this week, Moishe House in St. Louis will continue to provide informal opportunities for Jewish young adults to connect and build community in a comfortable environment.

The deal is this, you bring the drinks, appetizers, or dessert, and Moishe House provides the main course. Not a bad deal, right?

If you or someone you know might be interested in getting connected, email moishehousestl at gmail dot com.


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Hershey Novack, St. Louis' Chabad Rabbi on Campus

The St. Lou Jew sat down with Rabbi Hershey Novack to discuss talk about Chabad and the life of a Shaliach. All I knew about Chabad before coming to St. Louis was that they are very religious and like to drink. To see how my preconditions held up, read on!


Rabbi Hershey Novack is pretty ubiquitous in St. Louis. I first met him around my Birthright trip to Israel (he has since lead trips for over 500 students), during which we debated theology, philosophy, and why Ashkenazi Hebrew makes my skin crawl. While Chabad's (Rohr center for Jewish Life) programmatic offerings tend to center on the undergraduate and graduate student populations at Washington University, he has also been involved outside of this realm, supplying a Sukkah to Moishe House, and doing a L'Chaim or two for Simchat Torah at Bais Abe.

Born in Chicago, Hershey grew up in LA, as spent time as a Yeshiva student in something like 15 countries teaching and learning, meeting broad range of Jewish people of all ages. Hershey was married to Chana in NYC 1 week before 9/11/01.

The St. Lou Jew: How did you end up with this gig?

Hershey Novack: It was last day of Shevah Brachot, there was this black pall of ash above NY, and I wanted to do something so I found an outlet with the American Red Cross as a chaplain. I worked at the family center where all these organizations set up shop for victims’ families and later at Ground Zero. The campus rabbi piece was at the encouragement of my wife. We looked at a number of opportunities, and St. Louis was the best fit. I Came to STL in Fall 02. I was 24 or 25 at the time. It was an incredible entrepreneurial experience.

SLJ: How did you come to Chabad in the first place?
HN: My parents did not grow up Chabad, although my some of my grandparents did and rejected it. I grew up and studied in the Chabad educational system.

SLJ: So what is Chabad?
HN: Chabad is a branch of the Chasidic movement, which was founded by Rabbi Israel Ball Shemtov about 300 years ago. “Chabad” is a philosophical approach to Jewish belief and practice. It is an acronym for chochma, binah, daat which means the spark, the articulation, and the physical action.

Most recognizably in the modern era, Chabad is an organization within the global Jewish community, with full-time reps (we call them Shluchim) in something like 80 countries, almost 50 states, and serving 150 campuses. I’m frankly unaware of another organization that parallels Chabad in scope, which can make it hard for people to grasp what Chabad is today. On one foot, it’s like combining a Chasidic intellectual movement with an Israeli youth movement, adding a serious social services component. Couple this with a philosophy based on the inherent sacred value of every individual and offer it pretty much wherever Jews are.

Typically, Chabad’s don’t have membership dues, because if you are Jewish you automatically belong. This is the parish model as opposed to the membership model.

SLJ: What do you see as your goals in the community?
HN: There is an inheritance to every generation of Jews and I want to connect people to that. At any given moment, I want to make Judaism one hair more relevant for each individual person. I would love to see people move Judaism up in importance in their lives. We live in an individualistic age. Just as our faces are different, so are our opinions. We've never had these many choices as Jews in terms of how to live our lives, and I think there is a greater responsibility that comes with that. I think that we Jews have an incredible message for 2009. We can provide meaning and substance to people's lives, and we need to do this in an accessible way.

SLJ: What are your boundaries as a movement?
HN: We have the opportunity to connect people with their heritage as opposed to a way of limiting or putting up walls. In terms of the identity of Chabad, we obviously believe there was a revelation at Mount Sinai and we measure our actions by the code of Jewish law. In terms of participants we are blessed with an incredibly rich and diverse community; there is no litmus test at the door. At Chabad you can meet students from virtually every part of the campus, democrats, republicans and anarchists, Zionists and people who are convinced that Hamas is just. Seriously. I think that part of the reason for this diversity is because we look past the labels and hyphens.

SLJ: There are a number of people who have some vague negative feelings towards Chabad. Where do you think that comes from?
HN: The best way to dispel myths is with light and love, and I invite readers of this blog to contact me directly with any and all questions. I can be found all the usual ways, FB, email etc.
Probably the biggest misconception about Chabad is that people perceive Chabad as an all or nothing type of movement. You are either in or out. I don't think our beliefs or practices are an all or nothing system. I actually found reference to this notion in Maimonides’ letters which is cool. Some people could interpret outreach (or “engagement”) as intrusive. Which is obviously not anyone’s goal. We strive to see each person as an individual and calibrate our actions accordingly.
There are also two opposing sets of misconceptions – some people say that Chabad is for uninvolved or unaffiliated Jews only, while others think that is for religious people. Similarly, some think that the goal is to make people orthodox, while others say that it is not orthodox enough. As I see it, when it comes to our core Jewish identity we are exactly the same. If I would have my way, I would like to remove the label of “Orthodox Jew” and similarly conservative and reform Jew from our collective Jewish psyche. I suppose these are useful tools to distinguish philosophies and practices, synagogues and summer camps, however, they do not accurately reflect our core connection and our shared sense of Jewishness. Instead they divide. This plays out for us that we have a challenge in getting people through the door the first time. We have a data set about people who participate in Chabad, and that the likelihood of repeat participation is very high, our challenge is lowering the barrier for the first encounter.

SLJ: What is the largest issue we face as Jews today?
HN: I think so much of what is alleged to ail the Jewish community (declining affiliation, philanthropic shrinkage, etc) are really symptoms of a larger problem which boil down to the lack of education, Jewish specifically. It sounds cliché but more Jewish Americans know the name of Jesus' mother than Moses'. It is scary when People of the Book couldn’t even identify the names of these books in a police lineup. Instead of fixing symptoms, we need to fix Jewish education across the board—formal, informal, experiential—and I think that women and men of Chabad play a vital role in this. It is our responsibility to acknowledge the difficulties and try to work through them. The great sages have grappled with our tradition throughout the ages and now it’s our turn. Let’s do it together.

If you have questions for Hershey about Chabad, how to get a free meal, what the place of women is in the movement, or why Chabadnikim have pictures of the Rebbe on the wall, he can be reached at @ rabbi@chabadoncampus.org.

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Ok, so maybe you are interested in what Representative Carnahan had to say last night... That's why guest blogger @mrgeller wrote up what he heard last night.

A public option for healthcare coverage seems inevitable as part of the reform, according to Rep. Russ Carnahan, who greeted representatives of the Jewish community Wednesday evening. Healthcare reform and Middle East policy dominated discussion when the congressmen met with constituents in the Clayton home of Carl and Lynn Lyss, long-time activists of the Jewish community. After a brief introduction, and special note of involvement with the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, those in attendance were allowed to ask questions.
While the topics covered, including preventing a nuclear Iran and President Obama's statements on settlements in Israel, were some of the heated issues in the news, the congressman steered clear of any firm position statements. His commitment to Israel was evident; however, the congressman balanced this support by stressing the importance of Obama's engagement of the Muslim community through his speech in Cairo, Egypt, in early June.
The congressman is holding town-hall meetings to hear from constituents on issues related to health reform. He noted that this process has been interesting due to the interruptions now caused by protesters. He joked that it was an unofficial badge of honor among members of Congress to have made it onto several news programs and Internet video clips.
The next town hall meeting is tonight, August 6, at Bernard Middle School, 1054 Forder Road, St. Louis, Mo. The doors open at 6 p.m.
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Autiomadic at the Gramophone Tonight

While, in any other week, meeting Congressman Russ Carnahan last night would have been the highlight of of the week, The St. Lou Jew is looking forward to the debut of the local group Autiomadic at the Gramophone tonight.

I'm sure everyone wants to hear about how cool Congressman Carnahan was, how he came across as reasonable and thoughtful, and it's true, but that was last night, tonight, The Gramophone is the place to be to hear the musical equation that postulates that a DJ plus a drummer equals a good time.

With Alex "Kahn-man" Kahn on the wheels of steel and one of our own on drums, the show is going to be fun.

With no cover, at one of St. Louis' best places to catch live music (not to mention smoke free), the Gramophone is definitely what is happening tonight.

Doors at 9.


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A Night Downtown

For as much as we love talking about and being in the city, The St. Lou Jew spends fairly little time downtown. So when we heard that Lupe Fiasco would be performing at the final 'Live On The Levee' show, we figured it was about time to get back into the heart of the city.

Being the responsible citizens that we are, we decided to take the Metrolink down to Laclede's landing, where the show was already underway.

The turnout was immense. There were several thousand people under the arch. For those of you who don't know Lupe's music, some of the more well-known songs include Paris Tokyo and Superstar.

Lupe had the crowd surging, and the fireworks over the river were a nice finale to the show.

Not wanting to call it a night that early (plus having to deal with a packed Metrolink), we decided to hoof it to Mosaic, a tapas bar on Washington Avenue.

When we first arrived, it had the typical Washington Avenue vibe going on. That is to say that people were standing around trying to look blasé and cool. So we took matters into our own hand and started a dance party that lasted until the bar closed down.

Unfortunately, once Mosaic started closing down, we realized that there weren't many other options. Rue 13 is known for its 80's night, but also its cover, which took it out of contention. We wanted to hop back on the Metro, but past midnight, there is no service, which makes it awfully hard to use as a designated driver service.

While waiting on the corner of Tucker and Washington Avenue for a ride, we were treated to a St. Louis spectacle. Everyone driving by had their stereos bumping, sub-woofers thumping, trying to look cool. We saw the same motorcycles drive by several times, and a few SUVs with girls sitting on top of the roof, or hanging out the windows.

I've seen a bit of this on the Loop before, but it was magnified on Washington. It would be kind of funny to do some type of live broadcast from down there to put that scene on exhibit.

Another interesting thing about standing at that corner is that if you are standing on the North East corner looking South, you can't tell that you are in St. Louis. What I mean is that all you see are large buildings in all directions, it really feels like a much more metropolitan area. Too bad you can walk just a block North and see nothing on three sides.

The downtown portion of the night ended pretty early, cuz there just wasn't that much of interest on Wash Ave it we couldn't convince everyone to check out the Broadway Oyster Bar (a St. Lou Jew Favorite).

We'll probably head back there soon, though, now that that rooftop of the City Museum is open.

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