Jewish Treats

Say It with Satire

Politicians - love them or hate them, they have been inescapable over the last several months.  There are many ways to stay on top of the latest political news, but perhaps the most…

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Jewish Treats

Jews In Maine

The state of Maine, which on this day in 1820 became the 23rd state of the United States of America, is not known for its bustling Jewish population. Small as the state's Jewish…

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Jewish Treats

The Second Commandment

You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, nor any manner of likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, that is in the earth beneath, or…

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Jewish Treats

The Itsy Bitsy Spider

While the Torah tells us that God cursed the descendants of Eve with a natural hatred for snakes, there is no innate reason for people to fear spiders...and yet we do. Big or small, male…

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Jewish Treats

Here’s To The Positive

In Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers, Rabbi Joshua is quoted saying, “An evil eye (ayin harah), the evil inclination (yetzer harah) and hatred of other people (sinat habree’ot) remove a…

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Jewish Treats

One! Two! Three! Feel The Burn!

Some people love to exercise, others hate it, but everyone knows that it is a vital component of properly maintaining one’s physical health.    While the Torah does not…

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Jewish Treats

How To Be Holy

God instructs Moses to tell the Jewish people: “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2). How does one make oneself holy? The remaining 35 verses of…

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Jewish Treats

The Question of the Van

Philosophically, one might debate whether the mitzvah of helping unload the overburdened donkey of one’s enemy is applicable to a more modern day situation of assisting one’s enemy with a…

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Jewish Treats

The Leader Is

Torah and civil law are the two legal codes that shape the lives of the Jewish people. While the Jews have often been accused of living “outside” civil law (of maintaining a separate…

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Jewish Treats

Art for Art’s Sake

If there were a Cliff Notes version of the Ten Commandments, Commandment #2 would simply read: “You shall have no other Gods before me.” But, in truth, the commandment itself is more…

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