Chayei Sarah 5781-2020
“The Personality of Isaac: The Passive Patriarch” (updated and revised from Chayei Sarah 5761–2000) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Chayei Sarah, we learn…
Celebrating with a Parade
Name a Jewish celebration, that is not a wedding, but includes a chuppah, music and dancing. The answer is a Hachnassat Sefer Torah, literally “Welcoming the Torah Scroll,” the ceremony…
Women of Vision
Our sages teach that there were seven women famed for their prophecy. (Talmud Megilla 14a states that only prophecies with a message for the future were recorded. In reality, there were…
The First Inquisition
Although it was not the first Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition* was unique from its very inception on November 1, 1478, because it was controlled by the monarchy rather than the…
Dear Yenta: The Matchmaker (Shadchan)
With the widespread proliferation of internet dating sites such as eharmony, Match.com and JDate, the idea of a shadchan, a matchmaker, sounds archaic and primitive to most modern Jews.…
Military Trappings
On October 22, 1973, the tenuous ceasefire between the Israelis and the Egyptians attempting to end the Yom Kippur War, was broken. As a result, the Israel paratroopers captured the road…
All-American Giver
Mervin Pregulman earned his initial fame as a college football star, but his real success was achieved later as a man of business and as a philanthropist. Born in Lansing, Michigan, on…
Connecting the Words
In honor of “Dictionary Day,” Jewish Treats looks at a renowned Jewish dictionary that has served scholars and students since the turn of the 20th century. A Dictionary of Targumim,…
Bloomies
When one thinks of the common denominator of many of the upscale national clothing store chains in the U.S., one finds that many have Jewish names, such as Macy’s, Neiman Marcus, Saks…
Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah
Tonight begins the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, literally the Gathering of the Eighth, a connected, yet independent holiday, that immediately follows Sukkot. During the seven days of…