Practice a Relaxed Temperament
Since Maimonides, (Rambam) taught that becoming angry is compared to worshiping idols, if there is a situation in which you consistently lose your temper, rehearse ways to avoid getting…
Balak 5785-2025
“The Enemy Within” (updated and revised from Balak 5767‑2007) by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald One of the most intriguing and perplexing patterns found in Scripture is the frequent emergence of…
Menashe and Ephraim
Joseph’s two sons, Menashe and Ephraim, are familiar names because they each became the forefather of a tribe when Jacob divided the tribe of Joseph into two tribes, and because of the…
A Jazz Master
While known later in his career as the "King of the Clarinet", some are surprised to learn that Jewish jazz legend Artie Shaw actually got his start playing the saxophone. Today's Jewish…
Toledot 5780-2019
“A Lesson from Jacob and Esau: Understanding and Accepting Differences” (Updated and revised from Toledot 5760-1999) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha,…
A Jazz Master
On a day dedicated to the appreciation of the saxophone, Jewish Treats presents the biography of a jazz musician whose musical career began with a sax (but was mostly on the clarinet, for…
Personality Assessment
The fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers contains an interesting assortment of lists. Among these listings are several that compare, contrast and label human behavior…
Helping Others
How well do you know your neighbors? One of the most common comments about society today is how much more isolated people are from one another than they were in the days of a more…
Menashe and Ephraim
Joseph’s two sons, Menashe and Ephraim, are familiar names because (a) they each became the forefather of a tribe when Jacob divided the tribe of Joseph into two tribes, and (b) because…
Chukat 5773-2013
"Striking the Stone: the Parameters of Anger" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Among the many topics in this week’s parasha is the report of Miriam’s death and the subsequent lack of water.…