Two Days of Festival
Leviticus 23:34-36: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Tabernacles ... On the first day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no manner of creative labor. For…
The History Around Purim
The story of Purim takes place at the very end of the era known in Jewish history as the Babylonian Exile. Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian empire destroyed the Temple and Jerusalem and…
Unexpected Sri Lankan History
Today’s Jewish Treat will take a brief look at an unexpected location for Jewish history: Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon). Located off the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka’s Jewish community…
Montana’s Jewish History
Montana is not a state known for its large Jewish community, and yet the early Jewish settlers made a distinct mark on the cities in which they lived. The first Jewish community developed…
The Hungarian Schism
The history of the Jews of Hungary reads much the same as that of the Jews in other areas of Europe. They were ever at the mercy of the nobility, with their favor waxing and waning…
In Arkansas
Jewish life in Arkansas began in 1825 with the arrival of Abraham Block to the town of Washington in Hempstead County. For Block and his family, however, it was a very lonely Jewish…
A Rabbi in Mexico
Mexico does not have a particularly long Jewish history due to the presence of the Inquisition, and its lingering influence. Today’s Mexican Jews are, in great part, the families of…
Fighting Against
In honor of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, Jewish Treats looks at some of the resistance effort of Jews against the Germans. Although partisans were only able to inflict limited…
Check Out The Horns
Have you ever heard the idea that Jews have horns on their head? It is one of the strangest anti-Semitic slurs, and yet it is one that continues to be issued by anti-Semites to this day.…
Haman’s History
According to the narrative in the Book of Esther, Haman’s plot to destroy the Jewish people appears to have been instigated by the fact that Mordechai refused to bow down to Haman. Talk…