It’s Not About The Status
In many, if not most, Jewish parables, the righteous and scholarly are often presented as living in a state of poverty. Indeed, it might often seem as if poverty is an attribute of…
The Final Analysis
After the soul departs, it journeys to the gates of heaven where it must present its case for entry. The Talmud (Shabbat 31a) states, “When an individual is brought before the Heavenly…
Magen David Adom
The opportunity to save a life (hatzalat nefashot) is one of those unique events that may never occur in a person’s lifetime. Today, Jewish Treats salutes those who often risk life and…
Why is Jerusalem Not Mentioned in the Torah?
In the first aliyah of parashat Re’eh, the Torah mentions 16 times an unknown place where God will choose to rest His Presence. Now, thousands of years later, we know that place to be the…
Bloomies
When we think of the common denominator of upscale national clothing store chains in the U.S., we often find that many have Jewish names, such as Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue……
Territorial Strife
The sages wisely noted in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers 4:1) that a truly wealthy person is one who is happy with his/her lot. Alas, dissatisfaction, and the sense of being entitled…
Connecting the Words
Jewish Treats looks at a renowned Jewish dictionary that has served scholars and students since the turn of the 20th century. A Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi and…
Hail the Holy Pomegranate
The pomegranate is a funny sort of fruit. Rather than eating the flesh and throwing away the seed, as one does when eating an apple or orange, pomegranate seeds are eaten and the flesh…
Favoritism
“A person should never discriminate among his children even to the extent of a thread [garment] weighing only two weight-measures of silk, similar to that which Jacob gave to Joseph but…
The Jew Who Played for Germany
It is impossible to imagine what the thoughts of Rudi Victor Ball were when high ranking Nazi officials asked him to rejoin his German ice hockey teammates and play for Germany in the…