Which Day Of The Week Were You Born?
Do you know on which day you were born? Not your birthday...which day of the week. It doesn’t appear to be a relevant fact, but more of an interesting bit of personal trivia. According to…
To Dust You Will Return
Death is a big business, and the business of the funeral industry is geared toward comforting the mourner and helping them accept the passing of their loved ones. Therefore, most funeral…
Bruriah
Bruriah, the daughter of Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion and wife of Rabbi Meir, is one of the more intriguing personalities of the Talmud. The best known story involving Bruriah tells of the…
Fences
The Bible commands the owner of a home with a flat roof to put up a ma’akeh - a fence - around the roof, so that blood will not be on the owner’s hands (Deuteronomy…
A Salute to Rabbi Alexander Goode
Today, Jewish Treats brings you the sad but heroic story of Rabbi Lieutenant Alexander D. Goode. Ordained by Hebrew Union College in 1937, Rabbi Goode took his first position in Marion,…
The Morning Blessings: Eh’lo’hai N’shama/The Soul That You Created
Expressing gratitude to God for our lives and our souls is an essential part of the morning prayers. Eh’lo’hai n’shama sheh’na’ta’ta bee t’hora hee. Ah’tah v’ratah Ah’tah y’tzar’tah,…
Torah And The Stars
The Torah is considered to be the blueprint of the entire creation. It is therefore not surprising that the great sages took an interest in the movement of the heavens, both from an…
An Act of True Kindness
Death is one of the unquestionable facts of life. Yet, most people would admit being uncomfortable with the idea of being in a room with a dead body. Seeing a corpse is a “too close”…
Put On A Happy Face
"When one shows his teeth [smiles] to his fellow man, it is better than giving him milk to drink" (Talmud Ketubot 111b). How does the song go? “When you’re smiling the whole world smiles…
Anger Management
Rabbi Moses Maimonides (Rambam) writes that when a person becomes angry, it is regarded as if he had worshiped idols and that Gehenna (where souls are purified) will have dominion over…