Holiday Greetings

The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” (“May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly books that…

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Rosh Hashana 5783-2022

“Making Each Day Count” (updated and revised from Rosh Hashana 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter (1847-1905), the second Gerrer rebbe and leader of Polish…

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World Hello Day

In 1973, Brian and Michael McCormack created World Hello Day as a reaction to the Yom Kippur War (what is this reference to YK war?). College students at the time, the brothers started a…

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Can You Say A Little Prayer For Me?

It states in the Talmud, “Rabbi Pinchas ben Hama gave the following exposition, ‘Whosoever has a sick person in his house should go to a tzaddik (righteous person) who will invoke…

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Mother Rachel

The patriarch Jacob had four wives (all at the same time): Leah and Rachel and their handmaidens, Bilha and Zilpah. Rachel, however, was the wife that Jacob truly loved. In this week's…

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Humiliation Day

In an effort to make the calendar more interesting, there are many days on the calendar that have been designated as “holidays.” Many of these so-called “holidays” are intended to be cute…

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Calligraphy

In honor of National Handwriting Day, which is today, Jewish Treats explores the unique calligraphy practiced by a Jewish sofer (scribe). The Hebrew letters used in a Torah scroll, as…

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Your Jewish Life Coach

Do you have a life coach? For those unfamiliar with the term, life coaches work to help their clients determine and achieve their personal goals. While life coaching as a profession in…

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Oh, My Aching Tooth

On some lists of quaint holidays celebrated in the month of February, today is marked as National Toothache Day. Anyone who has ever suffered the trauma of an aching tooth may wonder why…

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Mishpatim 5783-2023

“The Al-mighty’s Concern for the Dignity of the Human Being” (updated and revised from Mishpatim 5764-2004) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As we have previously noted, parashat Mishpatim…

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