Uprising At Treblinka
The heinous plans of the Nazis seemed too horrible to be credible. Who could imagine “civilized” men conceiving of Operation Reinhard, a plan to oversee the building of Belzec, Sobibor…
Bnei Brak: A Unique City
In Israel, there are any number of towns that identify themselves as primarily religious. There are none, however, that are as distinct or well-known for being as intensely religious as…
Entry Point
Although immigrants from around the world came through Ellis Island, the immigration station in the harbor of New York had a distinctive impact specifically on Jews and on American-Jewish…
The First Moshav
Have you ever been to a kibbutz? If you have toured Israel, or thought of touring Israel, then you know that a kibbutz is a collective agricultural settlement based on a…
The Old City
New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Jerusalem is the “City of Gold.” This description usually refers to the city’s physical appearance (casting a golden light at dusk due to…
Heading to the Catskills
As the summer holiday season begins, Jewish Treats presents a mini-biography of Jennie Grossinger, who was once called “the best-known hotel keeper in America.” Her drive and her hosting…
Unlucky 13?
Our culture has planted in our minds that 13 is a particularly unlucky number (Triskaidekaphobia = fear of 13). “Friday the 13th” (Paraskevisekatriaphobia = fear of Friday the 13th) is a…
The House of Assembly
Did you know that the Greek word 'synagogue' is actually a translation of the Hebrew term Beit K'nesset (English = House of Assembly). The 'assembly' referred to is…
Shabbat Elevator
In the days when the Talmud was compiled (and certainly in the times of Moses), there were no high rise apartment buildings. Families lived on farms or in small villages, and those who…
Heroine of the Old City
When the official U.N. Partition Plan went into effect in May 1948, the 1,700 residents of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City were cut off from the rest of Jewish Jerusalem. Their…