Jewish Treats

Rabin Shot

It has been 27 years since Yitzchak Rabin was assassinated on November 4, 1995. Born in Jerusalem on March 1, 1922, Rabin grew up in Tel Aviv. He entered the military service in 1941 when…

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Jewish Treats

The First Advisor on Jewish Affairs

In 1942, after first serving as a rabbi in Buffalo, New York, and then in Chicago, Illinois, Rabbi Judah Nadich (1912–2007) enlisted in the United States Army as a chaplain. A few months…

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Jewish Treats

Jewish Work in Diabetes

Today is World Diabetes Day. Not so long ago, diabetes was often thought of as a “Jewish disease.” This was before doctors and scientists understood genetics. The idea of diabetes as a…

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Jewish Treats

The Bird of Thanks

On Thanksgiving Day, it is customary in the United States to eat a turkey dinner. The Hebrew word for turkey is “tar’negol hodu,” literally, an “Indian Rooster.” It came by this name…

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Jewish Treats

Can You Say A Little Prayer For Me?

It states in the Talmud, “Rabbi Pinchas ben Hama gave the following exposition, ‘Whosoever has a sick person in his house should go to a tzaddik (righteous person) who will invoke…

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Jewish Treats

You Border on the Adriatic

For many Americans, knowledge of Albania may derive from a famous scene in the sitcom “Cheers,” where “Coach” helps “Sam” study geography via the use of songs. They did this by singing,…

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Jewish Treats

The Story of Chanukah

Around the year 167 B.C.E., the Syrian-Greek rulers of Judea tried to force the Jews to assimilate into Hellenic culture. They summoned the Jews to the town squares where they were forced…

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Jewish Treats

Dinah, The Daughter of Jacob

Dinah, the seventh and youngest child of Leah and Jacob, was born the same year as her half-brother Joseph. In fact, the Talmud (Brachot 60a) notes that Leah specifically prayed for her…

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Jewish Treats

Chanukah: What’s the Mitzvah?

Here’s a quiz: What is the primary mitzvah of Chanukah? a) Eating latkes (potato pancakes) b) Giving Chanukah gifts or gelt (money) c) Publicizing the miracle of the oil that lasted 8…

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Jewish Treats

Giving Gifts

“A person who is diligent in lighting Chanukah candles will have children who are scholars” (Talmud Shabbat 23b). The desire for scholarly children was actually one of the motivations for…

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