Rosh Hashana,Weekly Message

Rosh Hashana 5783-2022

“Making Each Day Count” (updated and revised from Rosh Hashana 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter (1847-1905), the second Gerrer rebbe and leader of Polish…

Read More

Bereshith

Bereshith 5783-2022

“The Book of Humankind” (updated and revised from Bereshith 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald More than 2000 years ago, the rabbis of the Babylonian Jewish community divided the…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Jewish Work in Diabetes

Today is World Diabetes Day. Not so long ago, diabetes was often thought of as a “Jewish disease.” This was before doctors and scientists understood genetics. The idea of diabetes as a…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Pidyon Ha’ben – Redeeming the Firstborn

“You must redeem the firstborn of a person…when he is one month old, for the value of five silver shekels” (Numbers 18:15-16). God sanctified the firstborn male Israelites when He…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Focus on Your Blessings

Transform feelings of jealousy by focusing on the blessings you have in your life. According to the Midrash, the Matriarch Rachel, referred to in in Hebrew as Rachel Emeinu, and in…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Random Acts of Kindness

An entire generation of North Americans hear the words “random acts of kindness” and immediately think of Oprah Winfrey. Without question, the former queen of afternoon television has…

Read More

Jewish Treats

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…

Read More

Jewish Treats

A Twentieth Century Jewish Poet

In honor of World Poetry Day, Jewish Treats presents a brief biography of Muriel Rukeyser (1913-1980). Born and raised in New York City, Rukeyser attended Vassar College and Columbia…

Read More

Weekly Message,Naso

Naso 5783-2023

“Our Brother, Our Sister--the Proselyte” (updated and revised from Naso 5764-2004)  By, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Naso, we learn of an intriguing law…

Read More

Jewish Treats

A Tale of Texas

In 1968, the State of Texas decided to honor the deeds of Jacob Raphael De Cordova (June 6, 1808 – January 28, 1868) by reinterring De Cordova and his wife from their original burial…

Read More