Lancaster Jews
Many people do not realize that Lancaster, Pennsylvania, home to the famous Amish community, was one of the few active Jewish communities during the colonial era and has the fourth oldest…
The 25th of Kislev
It is not uncommon to find that significant events in Jewish history occurred in different years, but on the same date on the Jewish calendar. For instance, Tisha B’Av (9th of Av), the…
Humiliation Day
In an effort to make the calendar more interesting, there are many days on the calendar that have been designated as “holidays.” Many of these so-called “holidays” are intended to be cute…
Presidents’ Day: The Jews and Martin Van Buren
In 1840, the news of the terrible fate of the Jewish community of Damascus (Syria) reached the shores of America and brought the disparate Jewish communities of the young American nation…
The Origins of Formal Jewish Education in the United States
Today, thankfully, there are hundreds of Jewish elementary schools in the United States that teach both Judaic and general studies. The paradigm for this movement was the founding of…
Surviving and Leading
Although born in Hungary in 1904, Rabbi Yehoshua (Joshua) Menachem Ehrenberg was living in Cracow when the Nazis began their systematic destruction of European Jewry. The city of Cracow,…
Vayikra 5783-2023
“The ‘Sacrifice’ that Lasts Forever” (updated and revised from Vayikra 5765-2005) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald On this Shabbat, synagogues around the world, commence reading of the book…
The Occident
In honor of World Press Freedom Day, commemorated annually on May 3rd, as declared by the United Nations General Assembly, Jewish Treats takes a quick glance at the first general Jewish…
On the Canadian Prairie
Thirty-three years old at the time of his immigration, Grodno-born Rabbi Israel Isaac Kahanovitch (1872-1945), was called to Winnipeg, Manitoba, after spending a year Pennsylvania. He had…
Serving the Public
As proclaimed by the United Nations, June 23rd is “Public Service Day.” In honor of this designation, today’s Jewish Treat introduces Sherut Le’umi, the National Public Service system of…