Jewish Treats

Celebrating with a Parade

Name a Jewish celebration, that is not a wedding, but includes a chuppah, music and dancing. The answer is a Hachnassat Sefer Torah, literally “Welcoming the Torah Scroll,” the ceremony…

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Jewish Treats

The Little Terror

While some athletes are known to be Jewish only because of their Jewish-sounding last names, others wear their Jewish identity on their shirtsleeves – or, in the case of Alphonse Halimi,…

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Jewish Treats

The Longest 250 Miles: Sadat’s Bold Flight

Imagine America’s foremost enemy addressing a joint session of Congress? You can’t; it’s almost impossible to envision such a scenario actually taking place. But, such a miraculous event…

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Jewish Treats

Baba Sali – Praying Father

Although it is not uncommon for Jewish sages to be known by a pseudonym, such names are most often either abbreviations of their full names (e.g. RaMBaM, an acronym for Rabbi Moses ben…

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Jewish Treats

West Point

Several years ago, the Jewish news media delightedly reported that Rachelle David was the first female graduate of an Orthodox Jewish high school to be accepted to West Point. It is a…

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Jewish Treats

Yom Ha’atzmaut – Israel’s Independence Day

On the fifth day of the Hebrew month of Iyar, in the year 5708, corresponding to May 14, 1948, the State of Israel was born. On that day, the British Mandate was terminated and David…

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Jewish Treats

Berlin’s Hildesheimer Rabbinical Seminary

On May 11, 1820, a child was born in Prussia who would, as a grown man, almost single-handedly change the face of German Jewry. Rabbi Azriel Hildesheimer attended yeshiva in Hanover, and…

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Jewish Treats

Latrun: Battles for the Hilltop

Today, the hilltop of Latrun, just 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem, is a popular commemorative site that features an armored corps museum. This landmark, which was once the location of a…

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Jewish Treats

The Fast of Gedaliah (Tzom Gedaliah)

The Fast of Gedaliah is observed to commemorate the murder of Gedaliah, the son of Achikam, which is described in the last chapter of the Second Book of Kings. This murder resulted in the…

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Jewish Treats

The Jews of Panama

The history of the Jews in Panama is similar to Jewish history in other South and Central American countries. Conversos (Jews who publicly recanted the Jewish faith and adopted…

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