Jewish Treats

The Sabbath of Remembering

This Shabbat is Shabbat Parashat Zachor, the Sabbath of Remembering.The Torah portion that is read as the Maftir (additional) portion, after the conclusion of the regular…

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Jewish Treats

The Origins of Formal Jewish Education in the United States

Today, thankfully, there are hundreds of Jewish elementary schools in the United States that teach both Judaic and general studies. The paradigm for this movement was the founding of…

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Pekudei,Weekly Message

Pekudei 5779-2019

"Honesty and Integrity in Public Life” (Revised and updated from Pekudei 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week’s parasha, parashat Pekudei, the Torah portion begins…

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Jewish Treats

Purim Katan

In a Jewish leap year, a second month of Adar is added to the Jewish calendar, creating Adar I and Adar II. The question that arises is, in which Adar does one celebrate the important…

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Jewish Treats

Jewish Law on the Breakdown Lane

The Torah records two similar verses, one of which can be found in this week’s parasha, Mishpatim, regarding helping travelers with animals and burdens. In parashat Mishpatim (Exodus…

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Jewish Treats

Baba Sali – Praying Father

Although it is not uncommon for Jewish sages to be known by a pseudonym, such names are most often either abbreviations of their full names (e.g. RaMBaM, an acronym for Rabbi Moses…

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Weekly Message,Bo

Bo 5779-2019

"Nothing Stands in the Way of Teshuva!" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As the parasha opens, G-d says to Moses, Exodus 10:1, בֹּא אֶל פַּרְעֹה:  כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ, וְאֶת…

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Jewish Treats

Beauty and the Greeks

What does Noah’s son Yaphet have to do with the story of Chanukah and the mitzvah of circumcision? When the Syrian-Greeks sought to force the Hellenization on the Judeans, one of the…

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Jewish Treats

These Lights We Kindle

While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah - the menorah is lit in a window or doorway - it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the deeper…

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Jewish Treats

A Ten-Light Chanukah Menorah?

In a summary of the Chanukah customs of Persian Jewry (Shlomo Tal edition, 1981, pg. 189-190), three options are offered regarding how to kindle the Chanukah lights. First, the common…

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