Jewish Treats

Building on Yom Kippur’s Momentum

With Yom Kippur in the rear view mirror, we find ourselves confronting the festival of Sukkot, beginning a mere five days after Yom Kippur. While we must transition quickly from the…

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Jewish Treats

Beating the Willows

During Sukkot, there is a mitzvah to wave the four species (lulav, hadassim, aravot and etrog - palm, myrtle, willow and citron) every day except on Shabbat. In…

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Jewish Treats

The Three Weeks

“When Av enters, we must lessen our rejoicing,” declare the Talmudic sages in Ta’anit 26b. In truth, however, this period of "sadness" begins on the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz (observed…

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Jewish Treats

The Truth About Mitzvot

It is recorded in the Midrash Rabbah that Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai was once confronted by a man who challenged him about the purifying ritual of the Red Heifer (click here for details)…

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Jewish Treats

It’s About the Relationship

Marriage, in the construct of Jewish law, is a practical agreement by which, at its most basic, a woman is guaranteed support and protection and a man has the prospect of progeny to carry…

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Jewish Treats

Sophie Udin, An Energy to Organize

There are some people who are born with a natural energy to do and to organize. Sophie Udin (1896 - 1960) was just such a woman. She was still a young child when her parents emigrated…

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Jewish Treats

OMG! Passover is Coming

The intensive physical and emotional preparations for Passover come from one seemingly simple commandment: "Seven days you will eat only matzah, but on the first day you shall have put…

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Jewish Treats

Thank You for Having Me

Giving an appropriate gift to a host or hostess is the topic of many an etiquette column. But when one is invited to a Shabbat meal, not just any gift will do.  Although “Miss…

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Jewish Treats

More Than Just Trees

Thousands of blue boxes and a dream that encompassed a nation...that was the foundation of the Jewish National Fund (JNF or Keren Kayemet L'Israel). Today, JNF is best…

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Jewish Treats

This Tomato Was Grown Where?

The view of Judaism is that humankind has the unique ability to synthesize the physical and the spiritual elements of life. Hence, Jewish law requires a person to recite a blessing over…

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