Until 120!
Gertrude Baines, age 114, is currently the oldest living human being. That is quite amazing, and yet, it has always been a custom of Jews to wish each other “ad meah v’esrim” - until……
The Book Of Jonah
The Book of Jonah is one of the best known stories in the Bible and is read during Mincha (the afternoon service) on Yom Kippur because of its powerful message of repentance. God…
Is Chanukah Really Eight Days?
Tonight is the eighth night of Chanukah, known as “Zot Chanukah,” a reference to the Torah portion that is read on the eighth day of Chanukah. Chanukah is set apart as an eight-day…
The Babylonian Talmud Completed
Around the year 200 C.E., Rabbi Judah Ha’Nasi (Judah the Prince) completed editing his great work of Jewish law, the Mishnah. Although Jewish tradition, for close to 1,500 years, forbade…
Until 120!
According to Wikipedia, “The oldest verified person on record was French woman Jeanne Calment (1875 – 1997), who lived to the age of 122 years.” This fact is an excellent opportunity to…
What Happened in SHUM?
While most people know about the horrors of the Crusades, many do not realize that there were, in fact, many Crusades over a period of four hundred years, and that most of these crusades…
Passover 5781-2021
“The Final days of Pesach - Days of Unity” (updated and revised from Passover 5761–2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The fact that the ancient Israelites happened to find…
Rashi and The Tosafot Commentaries
One of the most fascinating aspects of Jewish study are the layer upon layer of enlightening and edifying commentaries that can be found when studying texts of the Torah or the Talmud. Of…
Uprising At Treblinka
The heinous plans of the Nazis seemed too horrible to be credible. Who could imagine “civilized” men conceiving of Operation Reinhard, a plan to oversee the building of Belzec, Sobibor…
The Jews Of Jamaica
As in many countries of the New World, the Jewish history of Jamaica begins with conversos, the secret Jews who fled Spain. They came to the New World seeking not only new opportunities,…