Jewish Treats

Resuming Normalcy

With Tisha b’Av and its restrictions behind us, we can now resume our every-day lives.Tradition teaches that the enemies of Israel lit the Holy Temple aflame at the very end of the 9th of…

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Jewish Treats

A Synagogue Tour

Throughout history, synagogue architecture has been as varied as the latest styles and the laws of the land (for instance, many cultures prohibited building synagogues taller than…

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Jewish Treats

Kitniyot and Gebruchts

Are you Ashkenazi or Sephardi? Hungarian, Yekke (German), Litvak (Lithuanian)?At no other time on the Jewish calendar is it so important to know your ancestry as it is on Passover. What…

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Jewish Treats

Kitniyot and Gebruchts

Ashkenazi or Sephardi? Hungarian, Yekke (German), Litvak (Lithuanian)? At no other time on the Jewish calendar is it so important to know your ancestry as it is on Passover. What one…

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Jewish Treats

The Jews of Amsterdam

October 27, 1275 is noted as the first time the name “Amsterdam” was recorded as the name of a settlement near a dam on the Amstel River. That small fishing village grew into a vibrant…

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Jewish Treats

A Synagogue in Mozambique

Mozambique is not the first place one would expect to find a stately Portugese-Baroque synagogue. Nevertheless, there is. And while for many years it was used for other purposes, there…

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Jewish Treats

Tashlich

The Rosh Hashana tashlich ceremony is a tradition that is dear throughout the many diverse Jewish communities. Tashlich literally translates as "You will throw." But…

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Jewish Treats

Kitniyot and Gebruchts

Ashkenazi or Sephardi? Hungarian, Yekke (German), Lithuanian? At no other time on the Jewish calendar is it so important to know your ancestry as it is on Passover. What one does or does…

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Jewish Treats

The Jews of St. Estatius: A Story of the American Revolution

The story of St. Estatius, a small Caribbean Island, brings together a remote location, the American Revolution and Jewish history. It is one of those strange tales Jewish Treats loves to…

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Jewish Treats

Crazy for Coffee

It is a fact fit for any game of trivia that the first coffee house, known as The Angel, in England was opened in Oxford by a man known as Jacob the Jew around 1650. Coffee has its origin…

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