Jewish Treats

Divine Presence

As God is everywhere, try and remember that all of our actions are performed in the presence of the Divine. To appreciate the Divine presence in the Mishkan, but perhaps more importantly,…

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Jewish Treats

Grab the Opportunity

Perform an extra good deed or mitzvah on Hoshana Rabbah to improve your chances of being granted a year full of blessing. To learn more about the significance of Hoshana Rabbah as the…

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Jewish Treats

A Tale from Texas

In 1968, the State of Texas decided to honor the deeds of Jacob Raphael De Cordova (June 6, 1808 - January 28, 1868) by reinterring De Cordova and his wife from their original burial…

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Jewish Treats

The Disputation of Paris

The month of June in the year 1240 C.E. was not a good time for the Jews of Europe. The trouble began with a Jewish apostate named Nicholas Donin. Wanting, perhaps, to prove his loyalty…

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Jewish Treats

Development of the Haggadah

On Passover night we are commanded "v'hee'ga'd'ta" and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover Haggadah serves as a…

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Jewish Treats

A Song of Nature

According to the introduction of Perek Shirah (A Chapter of Song), after King David finished composing the Book of Psalms, he cried out to God: “Is there any creature that You have…

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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

The Beauty of the Book

Illuminated manuscripts inlaid with gold or silver leaf and spectacularly illustrated are most often associated with the Medieval church (the Gospels, Psalters, etc), where texts were…

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Jewish Treats

The Might of the Pen

The fact that today is National Ballpoint Pen Day offers Jewish Treats the opportunity to introduce Lazlo Biro, the Hungarian-Jewish inventor of the now ubiquitous ballpoint writing…

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Jewish Treats

An Encyclopedic Work

When Rabbi Yaakov Culi arrived in Constantinople, Turkey, in 1714, he did not expect to find a Jewish community lacking Jewish knowledge. While the city was home to some of the great…

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