The Tribe of Asher
As the forefathers of the tribes of Israel, the lives and personalities of each of the twelve sons of Jacob impacted on the history and behavior of the tribe members who descended from…
Vayikra 5781-2021
“The Lesson of the Mincha Offering--Giving with a Full Heart” (updated and revised from Vayikra 5762-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This Shabbat, we begin to read the book of…
Thank You Nurses
Today, May 12th, is International Nurses Day, and so, Jewish Treats honors a woman who made a tremendous impact on the world of public health. Lillian D. Wald (1867 – 1940) was born to…
Who Was Rabbi Akiva?
Akiva ben Yosef was once an ignorant and illiterate shepherd. So poor and downtrodden a figure was Akiva that his extremely wealthy father-in-law disinherited his own daughter, Rachel,…
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…
Sir Moses Montefiore
Sir Moses Montefiore (1784-1885) had an extraordinary impact on the world. Beginning a career in general business, Montefiore quickly gained one of the 12 brokers licenses allowed to Jews…
No Holiday as Joyous
Tu b’Av (The Fifteenth of Av) which is tomorrow, is no longer the well-known holiday on the Jewish calendar that it was in ancient times. In fact, the Talmud states that: “There were no…
Splitting the Atom
When asked to name a theoretical physicist, the first name to come to many young Americans would be “Sheldon Cooper,” the fictional lead character on the former hit show, “The Big Bang…
Territorial Strife
The sages wisely noted in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 4:1) that a truly wealthy person is one who is happy with his/her lot. Alas, dissatisfaction, and the sense of being entitled…
The First Inquisition
Although it was not the first inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition* was unique from its very inception on November 1, 1478, because it was controlled by a monarch rather than the church.…