Kindness to Animals
Animals are among the most important “educational tools” that God provided to humanity in order to teach them to be “givers.” While animals can’t communicate with the same ability as…
Honor The “Hoary Head”
Senior Citizen Day, an annual event observed on August 21st, is a day meant to both honor both older citizens and to remind the government that seniors are a large and powerful…
No Holiday as Joyous
Tu b’Av (The Fifteenth of Av), which is today, is no longer the well-known holiday on the Jewish calendar that it was in ancient times. In fact, the Talmud states that: “There were no…
A Whispered Line
The Shema is both a prayer and a statement of the most fundamental aspect of Jewish theology: God’s oneness. The words of the first line of the Shema are found in this week’s Torah…
Cover Your Ears
The Talmud, in tractate Yoma 9B states that the Second Temple was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred. Today, on Tisha b’Av, Jewish Treats takes a closer look at the…
The Book of Lamentations
On Tisha b’Av, the ninth of Av, one of the ways that the Jewish people demonstrate their mourning over the loss of both Holy Temples is by refraining from Torah study that brings pleasure…
Mourning Jerusalem I: A Brief History of the First Temple
Next Monday night and Tuesday (August 12th and 13th), Jews the world over will be observing the fast of Tisha b’Av. It is on this day of the Hebrew calendar that the Jewish people mourn…
Smashing the Tablets
The sages declare that five tragedies occurred on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, today's date which we observe as a fast day. Days of what we might now call “bad karma” (on which bad things…
Pinchas 5784-2024
"Whatever Became of the Sons of Korach” (updated and revised from Pinchas 5765-2005) by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Pinchas, opens with the Al-mighty’s…
Gummi Worms, Gelatin and Jews
Today is Gummi Worm Day, celebrating the popular sweet and sour candy, which was created by the German confectionary company, Trolli. Gummy Bears were created in 1922 by another German…