Jewish Treats

Wearing White for Shabbat

It is a well-known custom that Jews wear white on Yom Kippur in order to reflect the purity of angels on that holy day. It is a lesser known custom that Jews wear white at the Passover…

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Jewish Treats

Tashlich

The Rosh Hashana tashlich ceremony is a tradition that is dear throughout the many diverse Jewish communities. Tashlich literally translates as "You will throw." But…

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Jewish Treats

The Afikomen

Those who have attended a Passover Seder know that one of the most beloved Seder traditions is the hiding* of the afikomen, a specially designated half-piece of matzah. But what exactly…

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Jewish Treats

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…

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Jewish Treats

Bound to The Torah – the German Wimple Custom

Among the many communities that are categorized as Ashkenazim (Jews originally from central and eastern Europe), the descendants of German Jewry have maintained a distinct culture of…

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Jewish Treats

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…

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Jewish Treats

Tashlich

The Rosh Hashana tashlich ceremony is a tradition that is dear throughout the many diverse Jewish communities. Tashlich literally translates as "You will throw." But…

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Jewish Treats

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…

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Jewish Treats

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…

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Jewish Treats

The Jews of Jamaica

As in many countries of the “New World,” the Jewish history of Jamaica begins with conversos, the secret Jews who fled Spain. They came to the New World seeking not only new…

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