Jewish Treats

The Fast of Gedaliah (Tzom Gedaliah)

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

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Jewish Treats

Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…

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Jewish Treats

The Three Mitzvot of Sarah

Jokes about dominant Jewish mothers are abundant and frequent. Perhaps this is because, historically, Jewish mothers have been responsible for building the foundation for passionate…

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Jewish Treats

Rachel’s Tomb?

Kever Rochel, the Tomb of Rachel, in Bethlehem is considered to be the third holiest site in Jewish tradition, after the Temple Mount and The Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron. The…

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Jewish Treats

Chanukah and Divine Order

Chanukah always overlaps with at least one Shabbat (if not two), and since Chanukah begins on the 25th of Kislev and lasts for eight days, the holiday always coincides with the…

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Jewish Treats

This is Chanukah

Tonight is the eighth and final night of Chanukah. After the flames die down, many people will pack up the menorah and think little about the holiday again until next year. However, the…

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Jewish Treats

Painting Our People

Born on December 26, 1902, in Rahachow, Belarus (in the Pale of Settlement), Anatoli Lvovich Kaplan was a Jewish painter who celebrated his Jewish heritage and the Jewish world in his…

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Jewish Treats

Shabbat Coffee

Do your mornings look something like this? You wake up startled by your alarm clock and practically crawl to your kitchen, desperately searching for your favorite mug and your go-to…

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Jewish Treats

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…

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Jewish Treats

Who Was Mordechai?

There are some people in this world who always seem to be right in the thick of the action. As described in the Book of Esther, this was Mordechai. It is Mordechai’s cousin, Esther, who…

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