Jewish Treats

Paschal Lamb – A Unique Commandment

While most Jews have attended a Passover seder, no Jew in the last 1,900 plus years has tasted a Paschal lamb ("Korban Pesach"), the animal offering associated with Passover that shares…

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Jewish Treats

The Purim Story in Under 300 Words

At the end of a 180-day feast, the King of Persia-Medea, Achashverosh, banished (some say executed) his wife, Vashti, for refusing to appear at his banquet. He then staged an…

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Jewish Treats

What’s in the Book: I Samuel

The First Book of Samuel concerns the establishment of the Israelite monarchy. It opens with Samuel the Prophet, the last Judge, who was raised under the tutelage of Eli, the High……

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Jewish Treats

Closing Eyes

Can you murder a dying man? There is an interesting passage in the Talmud that states:“Our Rabbis taught, ‘He who closes [the eyes of a dying person] at the point of death is a murderer.…

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Jewish Treats

Beauty and the Greeks

What does Noah’s son Yephet have to do with the story of Chanukah and the mitzvah of circumcision? When the Syrian-Greeks sought to force Hellenization on the Judeans, one of the first…

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Jewish Treats

Al Hanisim, For The Miracles

Most Jewish holidays are marked not only by feasting and celebrations, but also by special prayers. On Biblical holidays, such as Passover and Rosh Hashana, these special prayers include…

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Jewish Treats

The Power of a Pronoun

The Book of Genesis contains many genealogical lists–the descendants of Adam and Eve, the descendants of Cain, the descendants of Noah, etc. In addition to chronicling the complete family…

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Jewish Treats

Cohen, Katz, Kagen

Meet a man named Cohen and it is fair to assume that he is a descendant of the priestly tribe, going all the way back to Aharon the High Priest. We all know that there are distinctly…

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Jewish Treats

The Seven Mitzvot

Jewish law places great emphasis on the way a Jew must live and the rewards for living according to Jewish law. Laws such as Shabbat and kashrut create a lifestyle in which Jews mingle…

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Jewish Treats

Vanity of Vanities

Most people are unknowingly familiar with the beginning of the third chapter of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) because of the 1962 hit song by The Byrds: "To everything - turn, turn,…

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