Israeli-German Relations
On the 11th of Iyar, 5725, corresponding to May 13, 1965, Israel officially established diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of (West) Germany (FRG). This event is quite…
“A Day that will Live in Infamy”
In one of the 20th centuries most memorable and impactful speeches, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called the previous day, December 7, 1941, “A day that will live in infamy” due to…
Navy Man
Jewish Treats presents a biography of Uriah P. Levy, the U.S.’s first Jewish commodore. Today is Levy’s yahrtzeit on the Jewish Calendar. Born in Philadelphia in…
The Chazon Ish
Rabbi Avraham Yeshaya Karelitz, known as the Chazon Ish, was considered to be one of the most important rabbinic voices in Europe and Israel in the period before World War II and its…
Israel’s First Spy
While religious Jews acknowledge that the creation and continued existence of the State of Israel is a Divine gift, God appoints his messengers to facilitate His work, including…
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 opportunities,…
Maryland’s Jews
While the mid-Atlantic State of Maryland is often associated with un-kosher seafood, Maryland has a vibrant history of Jewish settlement. The state of Maryland’s “Act to Extend to the…
The Heel and the Parachute
The title of this week’s parashah, Eikev, is one of the more difficult parashah names to properly translate. The word eikev connotes the word “therefore,” so the opening three words of…
Evian!
Before Evian became a popular brand of natural spring water, the French resort of Evian was host to an international conference to address the mounting crisis of Jews seeking to escape…
Jews in Mauritius
In the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of Africa, is the island nation of Mauritius. Despite the general absence of Jews in Mauritius in the past, there is enough of a Jewish community…