Tu b’Av and the Offering of Wood
Tu b’Av, the fifteenth of Av, which is today, was celebrated in ancient times by unmarried maidens who went out on this day to dance in the vineyards hoping to be chosen by an unmarried…
I Am To My Beloved
The Torah verse that most epitomizes the emotion of love is: “Anee l’dodi v’dodi lee” – I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me (Song of Songs 6:3). The ideal love relationship,…
Vanity of Vanities
Most people are unknowingly familiar with the beginning of the third chapter of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) because of the 1965 hit song by The Byrds: “To everything – turn, turn, turn/There…
The First Inquisition
Although it was not the first inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition* was unique from its very inception on November 1, 1478, because it was controlled by a monarch rather than the church.…
These Lights We Kindle
While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah – the menorah is lit in a window or doorway – it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the deeper…
National Freedom Day
Today, February 1st, is both National Freedom Day and the first day of Black History Month. National Freedom Day was initially advocated for by Major Richard Robert Wright Sr.…
Blue Laws and the Supreme Court
In honor of the first session of the United States Supreme Court (February 2, 1790), Jewish Treats looks at one of the first Jewish issues brought before the Supreme Court Justices: Blue…
Yitro 5783-2023
Yitro 5783-2023 “Why G-d Can Not Share the Limelight” (updated and revised from Yitro 5764-2004) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Yitro, the Al-mighty…
Mishpatim 5783-2023
“The Al-mighty’s Concern for the Dignity of the Human Being” (updated and revised from Mishpatim 5764-2004) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As we have previously noted, parashat Mishpatim…
Israel’s Memorial Day
The State of Israel’s independence, as well as its continued survival, is a modern-day miracle. But it has come at great cost in human lives and to its citizens. Therefore, before Israel…