Watch Your Words
The Mishna Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) is filled with wise advice and insightful statements. Among those of the first chapter is a fascinating instruction given by Avtalion, a…
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…
Costume Time
Those who first hear about the custom of wearing Purim costumes might assume that the tradition began as an imitation of Halloween. Research, however, places the origin of Halloween…
The Jews of the New Mexico Territory
On January 6, 1912, New Mexico became the 47th state of the United States of America. The majority of the state’s territory was acquired by the United States from Mexico in the late…
A Lost Language of Scholarship
When most people think about Jewish language they think of Hebrew or Yiddish, and sometimes of Ladino. In honor of UN Arabic Language Day, Jewish Treats would like to recognize the…
The Crémieux Decree
On October 24, 1870, The French government issued a decree to recognize the Jews of Algeria as French citizens. The law had been written and passed after much campaigning by powerful…
Shabbat Day Songs
Zmirot are the songs that celebrate the holiness and beauty of Shabbat. There are designated zmirot for each of the three Shabbat meals, and even post-Shabbat zmirot. Two of the most…
Harem Power
The place: Istanbul/Constantinople. The Time: The Sixteenth Century In the sixteenth century, the…
Algerian Purims
Previously, Jewish Treats has presented the history of “Minor Purims,” days on which particular communities commemorate being saved from tragedy. (See Purim of…
Sing the Songs of Shabbat
Music is said to raise a person’s spirit (Berachot 57b), and there is no time more appropriate for joyousness than Shabbat, the day of rest. To honor Shabbat, and to bring it more…