Jewish Treats

At The Mercy Of British Kings

Most people recognize Richard the Lionheart and his brother John from the saga of Robin Hood. In these overly-romanticized tales, Richard is the hero king fighting in the Crusades, while…

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Jewish Treats

Grape Clusters and Rabbi Jossie

Rabbi Jossie (Joseph) ben Joezer was a Talmudic sage whose life marked the transition of one era to the next. According to the Talmud, when Rabbi Jossie and his colleague…

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Jewish Treats

Cruel and Unusual Punishment

One of the most repeated instructions in the Torah is that judges must do everything possible to provide equitable justice. In Deuteronomy 1, Moses reiterated this point once again,…

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Jewish Treats

Alas Poor Yorick

William Shakespeare used the imagery of the skull of Yorick as a means for Prince Hamlet to wax poetic about the futility of life. While Yorick’s may be the most famous skull in…

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Jewish Treats

A Convert of the Inquisition

The first auto-de-fe (live human burning) of the Spanish Inquisition took place in 1481. The Inquisition was not, as many believe, an institution set to destroy the Jewish people, but…

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Jewish Treats

Bruriah

Bruriah, the daughter of Rabbi Hanina ben Teradion and wife of Rabbi Meir, is one of the more intriguing personalities of the Talmud. The best known story involving Bruriah tells of the…

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Jewish Treats

Shakespeare’s Jew

From 1290 until the 1650s, Jews were not permitted to settle in England. However, marranos/anusim--Jews from Spain and Portugal who had converted to Christianity in name only in order to…

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Jewish Treats

Purim’s Villainess

Anyone familiar with the basic Purim story knows that the primary enemy of the Jewish people was Haman. What most people do not realize is that there are several other "lesser" villains…

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Jewish Treats

Abraham ben Abraham

Legend has it that Valentine Pototski, the son of a Polish nobleman, met an old Jew at a tavern and promised to convert to Judaism if the Jew convincingly argued the superiority of…

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Jewish Treats

The First Inquisition

Although it was not the first Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition* was unique from its very inception on November 1, 1478, because it was controlled by the monarchy rather than the…

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