Day Of Distinction
On the first day of Sivan in the year 2448 (Jewish calendar), only seven weeks after leaving Egypt, the Israelites reached the Wilderness of Sinai. On the desert plain around the…
Give Them A Choice
There is an oft-cited Midrash (Sifrei, Dvarim 343) describing how God offered the Torah to the other nations of the world before He gave it to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. According…
The Feast of Weeks
Shavuot, which we begin celebrating Saturday night (May 26th), is the only holiday in the Torah not listed by the date on which it is to be observed. Rather, the Torah teaches that this…
Keeping Ethical
Pirkei Avot is commonly translated as Ethics of Our Fathers because many of its statements focus on ethical behavior. For those striving to be ethical, “Nittai the Arbelite says: Keep far…
Jerusalem Day
In 1947, when the United Nations approved the plan to partition the British Mandate of Palestine (Israel) into a Jewish state and an Arab state, they determined that Jerusalem would be…
The Soviet Jewry Movement
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. At first glance, a discussion of the Soviet Jewry Movement may seem like an odd choice for Jewish American history, but the movement had a powerful…
Continual Presence
The tumultuous record of Jewish history has led many to wonder how Jews can remain faithful to the Torah. But the very exiles and persecutions that might shake our faith are mentioned in…
Thank You, Mom
In honor of all our favorite Jewish Mothers, we've decided to re-Treat this special Mother's Day edition of Jewish Treats! Don’t forget to call your mother today, or send her flowers or a…
Flowers and Poems
The tradition of Mother's Day flowers began with Anna Jarvis, the woman who successfully petitioned Woodrow Wilson to make it into an official holiday (which he did in 1914). To honor her…
Lag Ba’omer
The period of mourning* (for the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died of plague) associated with Sefirat Ha’omer is not observed on the 33rd day of the Omer, a day known as Lag…