Jewish Treats

The Song of Songs

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Because of the fragrance of your goodly oils, your name is ‘oil poured forth.’ Therefore, the maidens…

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Jewish Treats

The Charleston Synagogue(s)

Charleston, South Carolina is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States. The 1669 charter for the Carolina Colony explicitly included liberty of conscious for…

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Jewish Treats

Changing Ukraine

Kiev, Odessa, Zhitomyr, Uman…these cities in Ukraine are places marked in Jewish history for both horror and hope. Jews have lived in Ukraine for well-over a thousand years, and there is…

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Jewish Treats

Vanity of Vanities

Most people are unknowingly familiar with the beginning of the third chapter of Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) because of the 1965 hit song by The Byrds: “To everything – turn, turn, turn/There…

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Jewish Treats

Hail the Holy Pomegranate

The pomegranate is a funny sort of fruit. Rather than eating the flesh and throwing away the seed, as one does when eating an apple or orange, pomegranate seeds are eaten and the flesh…

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Jewish Treats

Chanukah and Divine Order

Chanukah always overlaps with at least one Shabbat (if not two), and since Chanukah begins on the 25th of Kislev and lasts for eight days, the holiday always coincides with the…

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Jewish Treats

A Pleasant Song Composed

The liturgy of the synagogue has developed over the span of Jewish history. Some parts of the service– such as the Shema, which is a recitation of Biblical text – originate from Judaism’s…

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Jewish Treats

What Are Tefillin?

“And you shall bind them [the words that I command you today] for a sign upon your arm, and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes… (Deuteronomy 6:8)”. The above verse refers to…

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Jewish Treats

Parasha of The Month

This Shabbat we will read Parashat HaChodesh, the Sabbath of “The Month.” The Torah portion that is read as the Maftir (additional reading) after the conclusion of the reading of the…

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Jewish Treats

The Song of Songs

“Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine. Because of the fragrance of your goodly oils, your name is ‘oil poured forth.’ Therefore, the maidens…

Read More