But Wait…There’s More
Now that the Jewish people have repented on Yom Kippur and, hopefully, received Divine forgiveness, it is time to sit back and relax... Just kidding! It is time to celebrate! Just four…
The Harts of Quebec
The first Jewish settlers in the area now known as Quebec (but which was referred to as “Lower Canada” by the British) arrived with the British soldiers during the “French and Indian War”…
Go Wash Your Hands
Mothers always instruct their children to wash their hands before supper. After all, children play in unclean places, touch strange objects and suck their thumbs, so their hands…
The Feast of Weeks
Shavuot, which we begin celebrating next Tuesday night (June 7th), is the only holiday in the Torah not listed by the date on which it is to be observed. Rather, the Torah teaches that…
The Afikomen
Those who have attended a Passover Seder, know that one of the most beloved Seder traditions is the hiding* of the afikomen, a specially designated half-piece of matzah. But what exactly…
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which is famous for its month-long resistance struggle in April/May of 1943, actually began with an initial uprising on 12 Shevat 5703 (1943). When the Germans…
Putting Chanukah In Perspective
Tonight we will light the final Chanukah candles. Let us take just a few more moments to make Chanukah real in our minds by placing it in its historical context: The events of Chanukah…
Forget Custer
Hungarian immigrant and apprentice cigar maker, Sigmund Shlesinger (1848-1928) probably never expected to become a frontiersman. After he ended up in Kansas and had several business…
Judah The Prince
Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the Fathers, begins: “Moses received the Torah from Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua; Joshua to the elders; the elders to the prophets; and the prophets handed it…
The Mourner’s Kaddish
Jewish belief in the afterlife is affirmed in almost all of the Jewish rituals of mourning. Of these, by far the best known is the recitation of the Kaddish prayer by the mourner. In…