Jews and Chocolate Chips
Happy National Chocolate Chip Day, not to be confused with National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, which falls annually on August 4th. Legend maintains that chocolate chips, also known as…
The Don’s Commentary
Don Isaac Abrabanel (1437-1508) was one of the greatest statesmen of his time (the second half of the 15th century). He was a financial genius who served in the royal courts of Portugal,…
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…
Progress for Women
On August 26, 1920, the 19th amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect, prohibiting all U.S. states and the Federal government from denying the right to vote to any…
The Harts of Quebec
The first Jewish settlers in the area now known as Quebec (but which was referred to as “Lower Canada” by the British) arrived with the British soldiers during the “French and Indian War”…
Joosiers
Individual Jews first came to what is known today as the State of Indiana in the early years of the 19th century. Jacob Hays, who moved to Cahokia (now situated in Illinois) in 1822 was a…
Virginia is for Lovers… of Israel
While cities like Charleston, Philadelphia and New York contained Jewish communities during the pre-revolutionary period, Virginia, the largest of the colonies, did not. Individual Jews…
The Jewish Holiday A Week before Chanukah
The Mishnah (Rosh Hashana 1:1) declares four calendar dates as “Jewish new years.” On the first day of Tishrei, we celebrate Rosh Hashana as the annual day of judgment for all humanity…
Earthshattering Moments in One of Israel’s Holiest Cities
Tzfat (Safed), the Israeli city in the rolling hills of the Galilee, is known as one of the four holy cities of Israel, along with Tiberias, Hebron and, of course, Jerusalem. It was the…
The Great Shabbat
The Shabbat immediately preceding Passover is known as Shabbat HaGadol, the Great Shabbat. It is best known for being the Shabbat on which the rabbi of the community (or another…