Ellen Futterman

1 week ago | stljewishlight.org | Ellen Futterman

TEL AVIV — On the morning of Oct. 7, 2023, Reut Karp was staying with a friend outside Tel Aviv when she was awakened by sirens. It was Simchat Torah, and she was about two hours from home at Kibbutz Re’im, a close-knit community of 435 residents just a couple of miles from the Gaza border. So, when she got a text from her ex-husband, Dvir Karp, saying their children were safe at the kibbutz with him and his girlfriend, Stav Kimchi, “I felt relieved,” Reut said.

2 weeks ago | stljewishlight.org | Ellen Futterman

Annie Klein will step into the spotlight as a bat mitzvah at Congregation B’nai Amoona on June 28. That evening, friends and family from around the world will gather at the Shack in Chesterfield for a disco-themed celebration. Why disco? Annie’s not entirely sure. Maybe it’s the glittering mirror balls. Maybe it’s the groovy ABBA beats. Or maybe she just really wants to see certain family members attempt the Hustle in bell bottoms and platforms. Either way, it promises to be a night to remember.

1 month ago | stljewishlight.org | Bill Motchan |Ellen Futterman

Categories: Published March 24, 2025 The Jewish population of the St. Louis metropolitan area is now estimated at approximately 45,800, according to the 2024 Greater St. Louis Jewish Community Study, set to be released today, March 24. The study, conducted by the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and NORC at the University of Chicago, highlights key demographic and engagement trends within the community.

1 month ago | stljewishlight.org | Ellen Futterman

While it wasn’t exactly my big-screen debut — I had a brief stint as an extra in “A League of Their Own” in the early 1990s— it was my first time with a speaking role. And in a truly fitting bit of casting, I played myself. Journalist Shula Neuman and I appear in the documentary “Names, Not Numbers,” a project in which juniors and seniors from Kadimah High School, a division of Epstein Hebrew Academy, interviewed local Holocaust survivors to preserve their stories.

1 month ago | stljewishlight.org | Ellen Futterman

The Missouri Alliance Network (Mo Alliance) will officially launch March 25 with a focused mission: to combat antisemitism in Missouri, especially among elected officials. “We’ve already begun meeting with officials, from local mayors and school board presidents to state legislators and other elected leaders in the St. Louis area,” said Stacey Newman, who is serving as Mo Alliance’s volunteer director.