A Grain of Salt

When reading the news, always take what you are reading with a grain of salt.

Read More

Mikeitz 5765-2004

"Pharaoh's Dream: Learning Through the Nuances" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Mikeitz, we are presented with a unique opportunity to see the…

Read More

Emor 5774-2014

“The Sadducees and the Counting of the Omer” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Among the 63 mitzvot (24 positive and 39 negative) found in this week’s parasha, parashat Emor, is the mitzvah of…

Read More

The Original Employee Discount

Those who work in retail are often compensated with a special employee discount on goods sold in the store. In the days before retail, when the majority of the population worked in…

Read More

After A Snack

After eating a meal with bread, Birkat Hamazon/Bentching/Grace After Meals is recited as a way to thank and acknowledge God’s gift of sustenance. But what does one recite after eating a…

Read More

Behar-Bechukotai 5766-2006

"The Economics of Torah" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald The very last chapter of the book of Leviticus chapter 27, which concludes this week's double parashiot Behar-Bechukotai, focuses on…

Read More

Mikeitz 5770-2009

"Pharaoh's Dream: The Variations and Nuances" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Mikeitz, Pharaoh's dream is repeated three times. The dream is first recounted in…

Read More

Shavuot 5766-2006

"Appreciating Shavuot" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Of all the major holidays and festivals of the Jewish people, the one that is least known and least appreciated is the festival of…

Read More

Vocation

“If a man ploughs in the ploughing season, sows in the sowing season, reaps in the reaping season (and etc.)...what is to become of the Torah?” (Talmud Brachot 35b).  This question,…

Read More

Acts of Nature, with a Little Help

Our Rabbis have taught: On entering the barn to measure the newly harvested grain one shall recite the benediction, ‘May it be Your will O Lord, our God, that You may send blessing upon…

Read More