You Say It’s Your Birthday
January, March, June or November (or any of the other months not listed)...Nope, that's not the birthday about which we are writing. Jewish Treats wants to know: Do you know your Hebrew…
Costume Time
Those who first hear about the custom of wearing Purim costumes might assume that the tradition began as an imitation of Halloween. Research, however, places the origin of Halloween…
Inauguration Oil
Elected U.S. presidents are inaugurated on January 20th. But, it wasn’t always that way. The Congress of the Confederation set March 4, 1789, as the date for “commencing proceedings” of…
Yiddishisms
On November 18, 2013, NASA launched an atmospheric probe to Mars, which initiated the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission. Its mission was to gather data to determine why…
The Jewish Holiday A Week before Chanukah
The Mishnah (Rosh Hashana 1:1) declares four calendar dates as “Jewish new years.” On the first day of Tishrei, we celebrate Rosh Hashana as the annual day of judgment…
An Egyptian Treasure Trove
The 12th of Kislev marks the 104th anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Solomon Schechter, who died on November 19, 1915 in New York City. Born in 1847 in Moldavia to a family of Chabad…
Jews in the Fold
Yesterday, November 11th, was celebrated internationally as National Origami Day. Origami is a compound Japanese term: ori means folding and kami means paper. Origami was created in the…
Holy Water
There are so many unique components to Jerusalem. Its holiness is celebrated by multiple religions. However, one primary difference between Jerusalem and other ancient cities is that it…
The Jewish Winter Palace
November 7, 1917, or October 25th on the Julian Calendar that was still used by the Russian Orthodox Church at the time, marks the climax of the Russian Revolution. On that day, the…
The Torah’s Thanksgiving
While the majority of the sacrifices enumerated in the Torah are related to atonement for sins or to celebrate feast days, the Sh'lamim, peace offerings, were unique because they…