Judaism at the Barber
On February 20, 1816, Rossini’s classic opera, The Barber of Seville, premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome. In tribute, Jewish Treats will address the Torah’s instructions for…
Don’t Shame The Name
The concept of “Chilul Hashem,” desecration of God’s name, is first mentioned in the Torah in Leviticus (22:32), when the Jewish people are commanded: “You shall not shame My…
Inside or Outside?
Seder night is an event pregnant with tradition and ritual. As the Hagaddah instructs, “we are obligated to see ourselves as if we ourselves were slaves in Egypt.” So much of the Seder…
North Star State’s First Jewish Senator
Rudolph Ely Boschwitz was born on November 7, 1930 in Berlin, Germany to his Jewish parents Lucy (Dawidowicz) and Eli. When he was 3, coinciding with Hitler’s rise to power, the Boschwitz…
Illegitimate
Today’s Jewish Treat starts off with a term that is sometimes considered a swear word: “bastard.” The term is often used in Western society to label a child who was born out of wedlock.…
The Charleston Synagogue(s)
Charleston, South Carolina is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States. The 1669 charter for the Carolina Colony explicitly included liberty of conscious for…
Remember
The Jewish nation has a long historical memory. Jewish history is replete with accounts of those who attacked Jews and Jewish communities, and the records of countless victims. On the…
The Trouble with Casual Blasphemy
On February 23, 1658, Jacob Lumbrozo was brought before a judge in the colony of Maryland and tried for blasphemy. In a world such as ours today, it is hard to imagine someone being taken…
The Real Thing
With a bit of creativity, one can easily think of reasons why a person might assume a new identity. Sometimes it is a need for safety, such as those who enter the Witness Protection…
Sitting in the House of Commons
On July 26, 1858, Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild entered the British House of Commons and took the oath required to serve as a Member of Parliament. His oath was a groundbreaking step…