Toledot 5778-2017
“Isaac’s Unconditional Love for Esau” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we read of the birth of Esau and Jacob. Isaac was 60 years old when his wife,…
Naso 5778-2018
“Counting the ‘Special’ People” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In last week’s parasha, parashat Bamidbar, after conducting a census of all the tribes of Israel and assigning each tribe a…
Celebrating Bar Ilan University
Would you believe that the founding of Israel’s second largest university (33,000 students) was conceived “deep in the heart of Dixie"? Two years after Israel’s founding in 1948, the…
Spying: Take Two
The Book of Joshua begins with God appearing to Joshua, Moses’ prime disciple and successor, and informing him to prepare to lead the Children of Israel into the Land of Israel. Joshua…
Happy National Hugging Day
On January 21, 1986, Kevin Zaborney of Clio, Michigan, created “National Hugging Day”. It is observed annually on January 21st. Zaborney felt that “American society is embarrassed to show…
The Workmen’s Circle
One probably associates Yiddish with a language spoken by East European immigrants to the United States in the early decades of the 20th century, and the lingua franca of insular…
The Jewish Reveille
The first day of the Hebrew month of Elul, just two days away, brings with it a few changes to the prayer service, one of which is the blowing of the shofar every morning (except Shabbat…
Celebrating Bar Ilan University
Would you believe that the founding of Israel’s second largest university (33,000 students) was conceived “deep in the heart of Dixie”? Two years after Israel’s founding in 1948, the…
Visiting Graves
Graveyard tours are often promoted in the month of October as an opportunity for spookiness. Judaism, however, encourages visiting the burial sites of relatives and holy people at all…
“For Yourself”
One of the arguments posed by those opposed to organized religion is that religion requires people to act mindlessly. Judaism, however, strongly encourages questioning, and “Free…