Jewish Treats

Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah

Tonight begins the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, literally the Gathering of the Eighth, a connected, yet independent holiday, that immediately follows Sukkot. During the seven days of…

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Jewish Treats

The Great Hoshana (Hoshana Rabbah)

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

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, turn/There…

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Weekly Message,Sukkot

Simchat Torah 5781-2020

“Celebrating Torah” (Updated and revised from Simchat Torah 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Because of the festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, we do not read…

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Jewish Treats

Holiday Decorating

During the holiday of Sukkot, Jews live in sukkot (temporary dwellings with a roof of branches or wooden boards) for seven days. Although the bare minimum required for a kosher sukkah is…

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Jewish Treats

Build Your Own Sukkah

Webster’s Dictionary defines a Tabernacle as a temporary dwelling, which is why the Jewish holiday of Sukkot is known as the Feast of the Tabernacles. A sukkah, however, is a lot more…

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Sukkot,Weekly Message

Sukkot 5781-2020

"I'm Dreaming of a Warm Sukkot" (updated and revised from Sukkot 5762-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The joyous festival of Sukkot, which begins Friday evening, October 2nd,…

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Primary,Evergreen Feature,Shavuot Feature,Summer Feature

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Jewish Treats

A Dictionary for the Days of Awe

In Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance, he invokes five important and pertinent terms in the first paragraph, that are worth defining. Teshuva – means return, but connotes repentance or…

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Yom Kippur,Weekly Message

Yom Kippur 5781-2020

“The Thrill of Coming Home” (updated and revised from Yom Kippur 5761-2000) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald There are certain times in the Jewish calendar that are regarded as propitious…

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