Jewish Treats

These Lights We Kindle

While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah – the menorah is lit in a window or doorway – it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the deeper…

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Jewish Treats

Hail the Holy Pomegranate

The pomegranate is a funny sort of fruit. Rather than eating the flesh and throwing away the seed, as a person does when eating an apple or orange, pomegranate seeds are eaten and the…

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Jewish Treats

Name Change

It is not a coincidence that cultures around the world share a belief in the power of given names. In Judaism, it is believed that parents are granted a flash of ruach hakodesh, Divine…

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Jewish Treats

The Great Hoshana

Rosh Hashana is known as the Day of Judgment (Yom Hadin), the day on which God judges every person. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is the day on which God finalizes His verdict on the…

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Jewish Treats

Whosoever Is Wise

“Return, O Israel, for you have stumbled in your sin” (Hosea 14:2). Let’s face it, none of us really want to hear a fire-and-brimstone reproof of all of the things we’ve done wrong and…

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Jewish Treats

Improve Your Odds

Use this Shabbat, known as Shabbat Shuva, to contemplate how to repent for prior transgressions and how to improve going forward. The famous Talmudic statement; "In a place where…

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Jewish Treats

Avinu Malkeinu

No prayer so thoroughly captures the Jewish people’s dual relationship with God as Avinu Malkeinu, “Our Father, Our King.” While Avinu Malkeinu is a prayer widely known to be part of the…

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Jewish Treats

Our Father, Our King

As described in the beautiful prayer, Avinu Malkeinu, recognize God as both our Father and our King, and make the most of the opportunity presented to us during these Aseret Y’mei…

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Jewish Treats

The Fast of Gedaliah (Tzom Gedaliah)

The Fast of Gedaliah is observed to commemorate the assassination of Gedaliah, the son of Achikam, which is described in the last chapter of the Second Book of Kings. This murder resulted…

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Jewish Treats

Tashlich

The popular Rosh Hashana tashlich ritual is a tradition that is dear throughout the many diverse Jewish communities. Tashlich literally translates as “You will throw.” But what, exactly,…

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