One Hundred Blessings
Brachot, blessings, that start with the phrase Baruch Ah’tah...(Blessed are You...), are recited over many aspects of Jewish life. There are brachot before one eats, and brachot after…
Shabbat Shmooze
Linger over Shabbat dinner tonight and converse about your favorite aspects of Jewish life.
Learning Kindness
Today is marked on the calendar as World Kindness Day, a fact that Jewish Treats celebrates annually because kindness, known in Hebrew as chesed, is one of the foundations of Jewish…
Spiritual Compass
Today, November 6, brings us to yet another odd, seemingly random, holiday that has grown out of the internet age. Today is “Marooned without a Compass Day.” While the name of…
“For Yourself”
One of the arguments posed by those opposed to organized religion is that religion requires people to act mindlessly. Judaism, however, strongly encourages questioning, and “Free…
Opulent on the Outside Only
Dressed in fancy clothes with silver buttons and a hat of golden fur, Rabbi Israel Friedman (1797-1850) of Rhuzin was a unique figure among the chassidic leaders. He surrounded himself…
The Power of Shabbat
Jewish life ebbs and flows around the celebration of Shabbat. The days of the week are labelled by a count toward Shabbat (Sunday is Yom Rishon, the first day; Monday is Yom Shaynee, the…
Holiday Decorating
During the holiday of Sukkot, Jews live in sukkot (temporary dwellings with a roof of branches or wooden boards) for seven days. Although the bare minimum required for a kosher…
Yom Kippur 5775-2014
“The High Priest’s Dilemma–What to Wear on Yom Kippur?” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The Torah reading from Leviticus 16:1-34 that is read on Yom Kippur morning in synagogues throughout…