Weekly Message,Tetzaveh

Tetzaveh 5783-2023

“Keeping the Priests Humble” (updated and revised from Tetzaveh 5764-2004) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week’s parasha, parashat Tetzaveh, we read, in rather minute…

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Jewish Treats

The Buttonwood Jews

On the 17th of May, 1792, 24 businessmen met under a buttonwood (sycamore) tree and made an agreement to deal only with one another and to set a .25% commission rate on all…

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Jewish Treats

“That’s All Folks…”

Melvin Jerome Blank, known as “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” was born on May 30, 1908, in San Francisco, CA, to Frederick and Eva Blank. While in high school in Portland, OR, Mel changed…

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Jewish Treats

Hail The Accuser

In the era of social media, it is almost an everyday occurrence to be asked to sign a petition or to “like” a cause. When Emile Zola, the celebrated French novelist, published J’Accuse on…

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Jewish Treats

The Great Rae Landy

To Rachel “Rae” Landy, nursing was far more than a job, it was a “calling.” Born in Lithuania on June 27, 1885, she came to America when she was 3 and was later part of the first…

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Jewish Treats

Out of the Park

“This is not what a nice Jewish girl should be doing,” is a phrase that Thelma (Tiby) Eisen probably heard a lot when she was a young girl. Eisen was a passionate athlete with a plethora…

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Jewish Treats

The Buttonwood Jews

On the 17th of May, 1792, 24 businessmen met under a buttonwood (sycamore) tree and made an agreement to deal only with one another and to set a .25% commission rate on all transactions.…

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Jewish Treats

Catch-22

In honor of National Novel Writing Month: Joseph Heller is best known for his novel Catch-22, a satiric work whose title has become an idiom referring to a situation in which one cannot…

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Jewish Treats

Hail the Accuser

In the era of social media, it is an almost everyday occurrence to be asked to sign a petition or to “like” a cause. When Emile Zola, the celebrated French novelist, published J’Accuse on…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The Dreyfus Affair

The Dreyfus Affair is a story of intrigue and espionage, false accusations and hidden biases. It was also a demonstration that the so-called “enlightened” world of the late 19th century…

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