Jewish Treats

A Ship’s Tale

Well sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…Alas, this ship’s tale is no three-hour tour, but the story of the birth of Jewish life in North America. It is well-known that the first Jewish…

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Jewish Treats

Yente the Yiddish Writer

Yiddish literature entered its modern era in the 1860s, when Jewish writers began using the Germanic-Jewish language to compose stories and poems. Many of the early writers of this era…

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Jewish Treats

Put it Together

Enhance your celebration of the joyous holiday of Sukkot by building your own sukkah. One of the beautiful explanations about why we sit in a sukkah is that it represents an inherent…

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Jewish Treats

The Jews of Amsterdam

October 27, 1275 is noted as the first time the name “Amsterdam” was recorded as the name of a settlement in the Netherlands, near a dam on the Amstel River. That small fishing village…

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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…

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Jewish Treats

Placing A Veil

One of the most beautiful customs of a traditional Ashkenazi wedding is the ceremony known as the badeken. The term badeken* is Yiddish for covering, as this is the moment when the bride…

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Jewish Treats

The Bird of Thanks

On Thanksgiving Day, it is customary in the United States to eat a turkey dinner. The Hebrew word for turkey is “tar’negol hodu,” literally, an “Indian Rooster.” It came by this name…

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Jewish Treats

A Day That Will Live in Infamy

In one of the 20th century’s most memorable and impactful speeches, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt called December 7, 1941, “A day that will live in infamy,” due to the deadly…

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Jewish Treats

Dinah, The Daughter of Jacob

Dinah, the seventh and youngest child of Leah and Jacob, was born the same year as her half-brother Joseph. In fact, the Talmud (Brachot 60a) notes that Leah specifically prayed for her…

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Jewish Treats

Samuel Gompers, Labor Leader

Jewish Treats presents a brief biography of Samuel Gompers, a man who helped transform the early American Labor Movement. Born in London, England, on January 27, 1850, Gompers was the son…

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