Balak 5781-2021
"Words of Eternal Truth from the Evil Prophet Bilaam” (updated and revised from Balak 5761-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Balak, we encounter Balak,…
World Sauntering Day
In Jewish life there is great admiration for a character trait known as z’reezut, which is often translated as zealousness. The word z’reezut actually comes from the root…
Eat Your Vegetables
In Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 3:21), the sages declare that without flour, there can be no Torah. In Jewish texts, “flour,” meaning bread, often refers to material sustenance.…
The Disputation of Paris
The month of June in the year 1240 C.E. was not a good time for the Jews of Europe. The trouble began with a Jewish apostate named Nicholas Donin. Wanting, perhaps, to prove his loyalty…
In Arkansas
Jewish life in Arkansas began in 1825 with the arrival of Abraham Block to the town of Washington in Hempstead County. For Block and his family, however, it was a very lonely Jewish…
Making a Difference
Appreciate the actions taken by individuals and Jewish organizations to foster Jewish education and connect unaffiliated Jews within your own local community.
Chukat 5781-2021
“The Paradox of the Red Heifer” (updated and revised from Chukat-Balak 5762-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Chukat, we learn of the inscrutable law of…
Making it Transfusable
Today is World Blood Day, and Jewish Treats takes a brief look at the Jewish researchers who made safe blood transfusions possible. In 1901, Karl Landsteiner (June 14, 1868 – June 26,…
They Saved Lives
Learn more about Jewish researchers like Karl Landsteiner, Alexander Solomon Wiener and Philip Levine who made lifesaving blood transfusions possible.
It’s Not About The Status
In many, if not most, Jewish parables, the righteous and scholarly are often presented as living in a state of poverty. Indeed, it might often seem as if poverty is an attribute of…