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…
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…
A Love Song For Shabbat
The relationship between God and the Jewish people is often compared to a marriage. This is one of the reasons why Lecha Dodi (Come My Beloved)*, the refrain of which refers to…
What Do You Call The Seventh Day?
What do you call the Seventh Day, the Day of Rest? Some people call it “Shabbat” and greet their friends and neighbors with a hearty “Shabbat Shalom.” Others refer to it as “Shabbos” and…
Cohen, Katz, Kagen
Meet a man named Cohen and it is fair to assume that he is a descendant of the priestly tribe, going all the way back to Aharon the High Priest. We all know that there are distinctly…
Kitniyot and Gebrouchts
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…
Italkim, the Italian Liturgy
It is believed by many, that the first Jews to have traveled to the land now known as Italy came to Rome as ambassadors sent by Judah Maccabee (of Chanukah fame). Certainly it was not…
Celebrating the Groom
A great deal of the wedding seems to focus on the bride. In fact, it is not uncommon to hear of a wedding referred to as “her day.” In Jewish tradition, however, there is one…
Kitniyot and Gebrachts
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…
The Indigo Guy of South Carolina
The fact that the constitution of the colony of Carolina (later North Carolina and South Carolina), which was authored by the philosopher John Locke, included a call for the freedom of…