The Fate of Babel
Born on July 13, 1894, in Odessa, Isaac Babel’s life spanned a tumultuous time in Russian history. Raised in a middle class Jewish home, Babel had both a full Jewish education and a…
A Bit About Fiddler
On November 3, 1971, the film version of Fiddler on the Roof was released in theaters across the U.S. The wide distribution of the movie allowed the musical, which had already touched the…
Conscripted for Life?
On August 26, 1827, Czar Nicholas I set into motion the terrible ordeal of the cantonists. Cantonist schools, which had originally served as pre-military boarding schools for military…
Great Scots!
The story of the great masses of Eastern European Jews who arrived in New York and settled on the Lower East Side of Manhattan is now more than conventional history, but an ingrained…
President William Howard Taft – Friend of the Jews
In honor of Presidents Day, Jewish Treats presents a quick look at the relationship of President William Howard Taft (1857 - 1930) and the Jewish people. Taft’s presidency (1909 - 1913)…
The First World War and the Jews
A great deal has been written about the devastation that resulted from the First World War, which left millions dead, thousands maimed and a generation devastated. For those who have…
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi
While Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745 - 1812) did not come from a family of Chassidim, he would become not only a follower of the new movement, but also the founder of what is today…
The Jews of Finland
For most European countries, the history of its Jewish presence begins some time in or before the Dark Ages and is accented by varying periods of exile or oppression. Since Jews were not…
A Western Frontier
The pleasant temperatures of the short spring and summer of the fertile plains of the Canadian Midwest are a stark contrast to the winter, when temperatures can plummet to -40 degrees…
The Jews of Finland
For most European countries, the history of its Jewish presence begins some time in or before the Dark Ages and is accented by varying periods of exile or oppression. Since Jews were not…