The Great Disputation
Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban/Nachmanides c. 1194-1270) was one of the great personages of the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry. He authored commentaries on the Torah and the Talmud and was…
Get Out
The history of the Jews in Europe can almost be read as a timeline of expulsions. At one time or another, Jews have either been expelled from, or prohibited to settle in, almost every…
The Fast of the 17th of Tammuz
Everyone knows about fasting on Yom Kippur. There are, however, several other fast days on the Jewish calendar that are not nearly as well known. One of the prominent fasts is the Fast of…
Yiddish in Shanghai
During World War II, Japanese-occupied Shanghai, China, became a haven for Jewish refugees, most notably the students of the Mirrer Yeshiva. After the “Battle of Shanghai” in 1937, the…
Smashing the Tablets
The sages declare that five tragedies occurred on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, (Sunday, July 17th)* which is why the day is observed as a fast day. Days of what we might now call “bad…
Written for Their Sons
Imagine traveling forward 500 years in time and discovering multitudes of people studying something you had written for your child. Imagine walking into a bookstore and finding multiple…
Balak 5782-2022
“How Goodly Are Your Tents O’ Jacob” (updated and revised from Balak 5764-2004) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Balak, we read the dramatic story of the…
Magen David Adom
The opportunity to save a life (hatzalat nefashot) is one of those unique events that may never occur in a person’s lifetime. Today, Jewish Treats salutes those who often risk life and…
Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…
After an Incident
Jewish Treats acknowledges the life-endangering incident that resulted in tragic loss of life and multiple injuries that occurred as a result of the horrific shooting at the Independence…