Jewish Treats

The Last King of Judah

When Mattaniah, the son of King Josiah, was 13 years old, his brother King Yeho'yakim (who had succeeded Josiah) of Judah died after an open rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.…

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Jewish Treats

The Princes of Captivity

When the First Temple was destroyed., most of the Jews in Israel were exiled to Babylon. Even when the Jews were allowed to return, only about 40,000 Jews returned to the Holy Land. When…

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Jewish Treats

The Last King of Judah

When Mattaniah, the son of King Josiah, was 13 years old, his brother King Yeho'yakim (who had succeeded Josiah) of Judah died after an open rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.…

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Jewish Treats

The Book of Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah describes the final 40 years of the Kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah was a reluctant prophet, whose first prophecy came when he was still young, but God said that He would…

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Jewish Treats

What’s in the Book: Jeremiah

The Book of Jeremiah describes the final 40 years of the Kingdom of Judah. Jeremiah was a reluctant prophet, whose first prophecy came when he was still young, but God said that He would…

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Jewish Treats

An Earlier Siege

Today, the tenth of Tevet, is a fast day that commemorates the beginning of the Babylonians’ final siege on the city of Jerusalem, which served then as the capital of the Kingdom of…

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Jewish Treats

For Dew and Rain

As indicated by Jewish prayer, the rainy season in the land of Israel begins just after the holiday of Sukkot and ends at the start of Passover. During this time, there are two special…

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Jewish Treats

After Nebuchadnezzar

Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty King of Babylon, reigned for forty years. He was so commanding a figure that, according to the Midrash, his own son, Evil-Merodach, was afraid to assume his…

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Jewish Treats

What’s in the Book: Kings II (Part 2)

The last King of Israel, Hoshea, the son of Elah, did not send his annual tribute to Assyria and, instead, sent envoys to Shalmaneser, the king of Egypt, resulting in Sargon II of Assyria…

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Jewish Treats

How Pirates Spread Torah

From the 6th to the 11th century, the center of Jewish life was in Babylon under Persian rule. The Jewish community was headed politically by the Exilarch and religiously by a sage known…

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