(This piece was for a mid-August 2025 copy of Mid Rivers Newsmagazine.)
Most long-time
St. Louisans know the vast majority of Jewish citizens used to be born and
raised within those city limits, University City, Olivette, and other parts of
that central corridor. From there, many of their offspring started to migrate
further west in St. Louis County.
Fast
forward to 2025 and August 10 was the day that the fifth annual St. Charles
Jewish Festival was held on the Lewis
& Clark Boat House parking lot just off Main Street.
One of the main forces behind the event is Rabbi
Chaim Landa. He, wife Bassy, and their children recently moved to St. Charles
from St. Louis County. Landa also serves as Co-Director at the nearby Chabad
Jewish Center of St. Charles County.
“Over the past bunch of years, families have
moved west for new housing, job opportunities, and a great quality of life,”
Landa noted. “With that came steady growth in the Jewish population out here.
Today, there are more than 6,000 Jews who call St. Charles County home, and the
number has been growing steadily. We are a vibrant and growing St. Charles
Jewish Community.”
Landa
recalled that when he and Bassy first visited St. Charles in 2019, the only
Jewish program in the area was Chabad of Greater St. Louis’ Roving Rabbis
program—a summer and Passover outreach initiative that brings rabbinical
students to smaller, more isolated Jewish communities.
Then came the 2021 birth of the St. Charles
Jewish Festival!
“We
identified the need to bring people together in a big way. Outside of St.
Charles County, people assumed there were no Jews here. Inside St. Charles,
many Jewish residents thought they were the only ones. The festival was a way
to change both of those perceptions—with joy, music, and pride.
“From its
inception, Mayor Dan Borgmeyer and the City of St. Charles championed this
celebration in a huge way. We chose Historic Main Street as the location,
brought in Jewish music, kosher food, cultural crafts, kids’ activities, and
made sure it felt both authentically Jewish and welcoming to everyone.”
Before
moving to St. Charles County, Landa’s work as a rabbi was always about creating
connections finding ways for people to celebrate their Judaism no matter where
they lived. But he went on to
stress that this event is not just for Jews, and only roughly half of the attendees
have been Jewish.
And the
highlights of this year’s event were numerous with the main focus on culture,
crafts, music, and especially for families with young children.
Regarding
the latter, this year’s event featured balloon art, rock painting, lots of bubbles
turned into foam, inflatables, and an Animals R Us petting zoo brought up from
Hillsboro, Missouri.
There was
also a Mitzvah (good deed) Corner, a Kosher pickle-making booth, and a Kosher
caterer of great food from Chicago. The wide array of fabulous music at the
festival featured Queens, New York-born singer, songwriter, and guitarist Aryeh
Kunstler.
Regarding
merchandise, the event featured the second year of the Shuk Experience—a popular
Israeli open-air marketplace selling a wide-variety of Judaica and other items.
There were also terrific t-shirts and hats for purchase that commemorated the
event.
“Every
year, the festival has grown—more food, more entertainment, more interactive
activities, and more people coming together -- with more than 4,000
this year,” noted Landa. “We also had about 100 volunteers and staff
working together to create a seamless, welcoming experience.”
For
context, Landa was one of only about six volunteers for the first year.
There was
also a message for the event nearly two years after the Hamas terror attack of
rockets that killed well over 1,000 Israelis and American visitors. That came on the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah, the
Jewish holiday that celebrates the conclusion of the annual cycle of public
Torah readings, and the beginning of a new cycle.
That attack initiated the ongoing Gaza war
and Israel’s fight back has fueled the anti-Semitism and anti-Israel rhetoric on college
campuses and on streets throughout the U.S. and the world.
“We talk
about hate a lot; maybe too much,” noted Landa. “This was bringing people
together to the other extreme.”
In
addition to Mayor Borgmeyer, several other dignitaries on hand included St.
Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann, Wentzville Mayor Nick
Guccione, St. Peters Mayor Len Pagano, and state representative Terri Violet.
There was also an unexpected guest at the center of the festival’s ribbon cutting. It was Polish Holocaust survivor Elza Drapacz. She is a survivor from 80 years ago, and was highlighted in the early spring St. Louis Jewish Film Festival.
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Drapacz was one of many to emphasize the motto, "Be kind to each other. Help make a better world."
