Everyone Does the Wave
One of the main mitzvot of the holiday of Sukkot is the waving of the four species: citron (etrog), palm, myrtle and willow. Trying to understand this mitzvah metaphorically, our sages…
A Day for Publishers
The American world of books and letters owes a great deal to the date of September 12th, for on this date, in 1891 and 1892, two giants of the American publishing industry were born:…
What A Player!
Today marks 171 years since the first official game of baseball was played on June 19, 1846. In honor of this anniversary, today’s Jewish Treat presents a brief biography of a unique…
The Sustenance of Beauty
Cosmetics have been a part of civilization since...well, research cannot pinpoint where or when people started using products to paint their faces or subtly alter their appearances,…
Green Cheesecake At Midnight
The holiday of Shavuot has three well-known, and well-loved, customs: Decorating our Homes and Synagogues with Plants and Flowers: According to the Midrash, at the time of the…
The First Ten
If the children of Israel received the Torah at Mount Sinai, why did Moses come down bearing only “the two tablets of the testimony” luchot ha’aidoot (Exodus 32:15), on…
Bowing Down
Because it was customary for idol worshippers to bow fully to the ground before their idols, Jews refrain from bowing down (with the exception being during the Yom Kippur service).…
A Rabbi in Mexico
Mexico does not have a particularly long Jewish history due to the presence of the Inquisition, and its lingering influence. Today’s Mexican Jews are, in great part, the families of…
The Tale of Tel Aviv
In honor or Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, Jewish Treats presents a very brief history of a very well-known city: Tel Aviv. Known as the first all-Jewish city of modern times,…
Purim’s Villainess
Anyone familiar with the basic Purim story knows that the primary enemy of the Jewish people was Haman. What may not be as well-known is that there are several other…