The Origin of the Word Antisemitism
Today, January 22, has been earmarked for an informal meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the growth of antisemitism. It would be impossible for Jewish Treats, in its…
Kitniyot and Gerbrouchts…Oh You Ashkenazim
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…
Kitniyot and Gerbrouchts…Oh You Ashkenazim
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…
Rabbi Joseph Ber Soleveitchik
Few personalities have done as much to define the Modern Orthodox Jewish community as Rabbi Joseph Ber Soleveitchik (1903-1993). Not only did “the Rav,” as he is referred to reverently by…
A Convert of the Inquisition
The first auto-de-fe (live human burning) of the Spanish Inquisition took place in 1481. The Inquisition was not, as many believe, an institution set to destroy the Jewish people, but…
Kitniyot and Gerbrouchts…Oh You Ashkenazim
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…
Waiting For Ice Cream
According to the Talmudic sage Mar Ukva, his father waited an entire day between eating meat and eating dairy in order to avoid transgressing the prohibition of eating milk and meat…
The Maharal of Prague
To the Jewish community and general population at large, the Maharal of Prague is the revered, mystical medieval rabbi who created the Golem to protect the Jews in the Prague ghetto. But…
Kitniyot and Gerbrouchts…Oh You Ashkenazim!
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…
Toledot 5767-2006
"The Unanswered Prayer" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Toledot, focuses on the life of the patriarch Isaac and his relationships with his wife, Rebecca and his…