Mourning Jerusalem I: A Brief History of the First Temple
On Tuesday, Jews all over the world will observe the fast of Tisha b’Av. It is on this day that the Jewish people mourn the destruction of both the First and Second Temples. The…
The Little Synagogue on the Prairie
Once upon a time, around 1916, a small community of Jewish settlers on the Canadian prairie built a synagogue. Like many other edifices of that time and place, it was small, sparsely…
Loyalty, A Prayer for the Government
Today, May 1st, is International Workers' Day, which is a celebration of the labor movement. It is also, officially, Loyalty Day, a federally sanctioned day for affirming one’s loyalty to…
What Not To Buy
The joyous holiday of Passover is now over. While one’s instinct might be to immediately run out to the supermarket and restock the pantry shelves with bread, snacks and all the desserts…
How Pharaoh Enslaved the Israelites
While reading the Book of Exodus, one might wonder at the swift descent of the Jewish nation from being the privileged family of the Viceroy, Joseph, to becoming downtrodden and abused…
The Beauty of the Book
Illuminated manuscripts inlaid with gold or silver leaf and spectacularly illustrated are most often associated with the Medieval church (the Gospels, Psalters, etc), where texts were…
There’s A Key In My Challah
It's a fact that many people spend much time thinking and even worrying about par'nassah (livelihood). Jewish tradition teaches that different seasons have different spiritual…
Navy Man
In honor of the anniversary of the founding of the United States Navy in 1794, which is tomorrow, March 27th, Jewish Treats presents a biography of Uriah P. Levy, the U.S.’s first…
Publishing A Solution
While Theodor Herzl is generally credited as the father of modern Zionism, he was not the first to call for the modern, political rebirth of a Jewish nation. Only in 1895 did Herzl come…
Tu b’Shevat is Coming
While it has been a difficult winter for many of us, it may be time to look beyond the turbulent weather and see that spring is just around the corner. You might wonder how one can…