An Advocate for Mothers
In honor of Women’s History Month, Jewish Treats presents a brief biography of Flora Suhd Hommel, a woman whose lifework benefited thousands of other women. Hommel was one of the primary…
Rabbi Eliezer Silver
Historians have noted the seemingly underwhelming response of the American Jewish community to the Holocaust as it unfolded in Europe. Among the few who were prominent activists was Rabbi…
Freedom Caps
While an internet search can bring up many different statistics about the number of Jews involved in the civil rights movement, it is fair to say that it was a significant percentage when…
Sophie Udin, An Energy to Organize
There are some people who are born with a natural energy to do and to organize. Sophie Udin (1896 - 1960) was just such a woman. She was still a young child when her parents emigrated…
A Twentieth Century Jewish Poet
In honor of National Poetry Month, Jewish Treats presents a brief biography of Muriel Rukeyser (December 1913-February 1980). Born and raised in New York City, Rukeyser attended Vassar…
A Math Teacher’s Life
If Irving (Isaac) Adler had not lived during the fervent era of the rise and decline of Communism, his personal story might have been the simple life of a mathematician dedicated to the…
Yente the Yiddish Writer
Yiddish literature entered its modern era in the 1860s, when Jewish writers began using the Germanic Jewish language to compose stories and poems. Many of the early writers of this era…
Barry Commoner for President
In 1980, Barry Commoner, a prominent biologist, environmentalist and author of Jewish parentage, ran as a candidate for the President of the United States. As the third party candidate…
Conservationist First
In the early 1900s, those who are now called “environmentalists,” would have been known as “conservationists.” Of the great conservationists of the era, New York State benefited from the…
The First Neighborhood
Until the end of the 19th century, the barren hills outside of the 16th century walls of Jerusalem’s Old City were the territory of marauders and wild animals. Inside the walls,…