All That’s Left
August 13th is annually celebrated as “Left Hander’s Day.” Most Lefties, also known as “southpaws” due to the orientation of baseball stadiums in regard to the sun, are proud of their…
The Poles of the Ark
The second half of the book of Exodus commences with parashat Terumah. Nachmanides suggests that while the first half of the Book describes the physical redemption of the Children of…
“Kafkaesque”
Franz Kafka was born into a Jewish family on July 3, 1883 near the Old Town Square in Prague, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Franz was the eldest of six children (two tragically died in…
Illegitimate
Today’s Jewish Treat starts off with a term that is sometimes considered a swear word: “bastard.” The term is often used in Western society to label a child who was born out of wedlock.…
Perception of the Eye
Within Jewish law there is a concept known as maarit ayin, which translates to “perception of the eye.” It is a shorthand term for the rabbinic prohibition of doing a permitted act that…
Citations
In 2000, the World Intellectual Property Organization declared April 26th the day on which they would raise awareness about the importance of patents, copyright, trademarks and designs.…
The Seven Mitzvot
Jewish law places great emphasis on the way a Jew must live and the rewards for living according to Jewish law. Laws such as Shabbat and kashrut create a lifestyle in which Jews mingle…
Parsing Pilpul
In the world of academia, there is a constant pressure to “publish or perish,” which serves as motivation for scholars to look at their particular specialties in new and innovative ways.…
Protecting Widows
June 23rd is the official date recognized by the United Nations as International Widows Day. The day was first observed in 2005, and, in 2010, it was ratified by the U.N. to address “the…
Wash and Dry
The miracles of modern science have made us aware of the vast world of micro-organisms that previous generations never knew existed. We now know that there are good bacteria that help us…