Jewish Light features Eli Sharabi appearance at St. Louis Jewish Book Festival

Avi Holzman, Jewish Light Staff Intern, writes about hostage Eli Sharabi in the October 9th article entitled, At St. Louis JCC, Israeli hostage survivor Eli Sharabi shares his story of survival.

Excerpt:

“Hostage,” Sharabi’s memoir, details his time in Hamas captivity; the book came out last week. On Oct. 9, an audience of more than 1,000 gathered at the Jewish Community Center to hear Sharabi, whose appearance was part of the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival and one of five stops in the United States on his book tour. At the J, they listened for a little more than an hour to radio host Charlie Brennan ask Sharabi about his experiences and answer some questions from audience members selected before the event.”

St. Louis Friends of Israel was humbled to have been a part of this special sold-out event.

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Jewish Light spotlights new initiative for local support of Israel

Bill Motchan, Special to the Jewish Light, published the article entitled, St. Louis Friends of Israel Announces New Grant Program, in the Local News section of the Jewish Light.

Excerpt:

St. Louis Friends of Israel is offering an incentive grant for local support of Israel through a new initiative. The Nathanne Senturia, z”l – Israel Grant will offer matching gift funding of up to $2,000 for any St. Louis-based organization that holds a pro-Israel event or engages a speaker that advocates for Israel or educates the St. Louis community about Israel.

Funding is provided by Richard Senturia, in memory of his late wife Nathanne. Senturia, a philanthropist, is a member of U. City Shul and one of the founding members of St. Louis Friends of Israel. The grant is intended to create awareness and understanding of Israel’s role as the Jewish state and its complex geopolitical status.

The grant application is open to any St. Louis-based congregation or organization, according to Galit Lev-Harir, co-president (along with Traci Goldstein) of St. Louis Friends of Israel.

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Jewish Light interviews St. Louis Friends of Israel speaker, Mark Lavie, ahead of May 13th visit

Bill Motchan of the Jewish Light, interviewed Mark Lavie, Mideast journalist, in It’s a solid F+” — reporter slams media for failing Israel ahead of St. Louis visit.

Excerpt:

A veteran journalist who covered the Middle East for the Associated Press for years now claims AP and other news outlets engage in ongoing media bias against Israel. Mark Lavie, who also worked for NPR, NBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, will visit St. Louis for a May 13 presentation at the Jewish Federation. Lavie recently told the Jewish Light he grades media coverage of Israel a solid F+.

“I started seeing this as early as 1988, that journalists think they’re supposed to be helping the Palestinians,” Lavie said. “And in fact, we’re not. We’re supposed to be reporting the news and explaining it. That’s our job. Israel is complicated. The conflict is complicated, but a good journalist can get his head around that and put it in context. I did it for decades.”

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‘Ribbon of Hope’ to stand tall in St. Louis until hostages released

Nearly 100 members of the St. Louis community gathered in Creve Coeur Monday to mark 150 days since the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. They gathered for the unveiling of “Ribbon of Hope,” a display that depicts the faces of the approximate 130 hostages still being held in Gaza.

A large blue-and-white ribbon paying tribute to the Israeli hostages will be unveiled at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 4 at 11557 Olive Blvd. in Creve Coeur. A community ceremony will accompany the introduction of the “Ribbon of Hope,” a 15-foot by 10-foot installation. The ribbon depicts the faces of all of the hostages still being held in Gaza.

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He lost 18 friends and his right arm in Hamas war, now Rohn Harir is coming to St. Louis to tell his story

Everyday life changed radically for all Israelis on Oct. 7, and especially for Rohn Harir. The 21-year-old IDF medic was seriously injured in an attack on his unit. With only one week remaining on his military service, Harir was called in help evacuate a kibbutz. He was in a military jeep when a missile hit the vehicle.

The missile grazed Harir and tore his right arm off. He was thrown from the jeep and was lying helpless in a field for 30 minutes until he was extracted. After waking from a coma at Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, he immediately asked to rejoin his unit. That’s when he learned the extent of his injuries.

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500 Strong: St. Charles community unites for Israel

Nearly 500 Israel supporters gathered in Frontier Park in St. Charles on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 19 to call attention to the hostages held by Hamas and demand their safe return. “Bring them home” was the rallying cry at the event, which moved from the park to a march down Main Street. Speakers included Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham from Congregation B’nai Amoona, Rabbi Chaim Landa from Chabad Jewish Center of St. Charles and Adam Schwadron, Missouri state representative.

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St. Louis unites Sunday with resounding support of Israel

A rally in support of Israel drew about 500 people on Sunday afternoon, Oct. 15. The event was held on Schuetz Road near the Jewish Federation building.

As St. Louisans held up Israeli flags and signs, cars drove by honking to show their support. The rally was organized in just a few days by Kalanit Chappell, Traci Goldstein, Orna Bitton Dar, Angie Rosenberg and Galit Lev-Harir (who has been in Israel since the Hamas attack).

According to Dar, “We decided last week we had to do something. There was a need for the community to do this and we got the help of the Federation.”

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Hundreds of St. Louisans rally to show support for Israel

Approximately 350 supporters of Israel gathered outside Jewish Federation’s Kaplan Feldman Complex on Wednesday evening to sing, cheer, fly the Israeli flag and wave at supportive passing cars on Schuetz Road.

Itta Boyko, principal of H.F. Epstein Hebrew Academy, said she came to the “Stand With Israel Rally” to “show our support of Israel.”

Richard and Michelle Goldstein said they went to the rally to make sure there were enough people to send a message of support to the St. Louis community.

“Since it was kind of a last-minute thing, I wanted to make sure the Jewish community was well represented,” Richard said.

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