About The In-Laws
An often stated comment by parents of newly married children is that they have “gained a son or a daughter.” And while much has been written about the commandment to honor one’s mother…
What’s Mine Is Whose
On September 17, 2011, Zuccotti Park, in downtown Manhattan, became the center of what would become an international protest movement. Occupy Wall Street was organized as a statement…
A Poet and A Martyr
Hannah Senesh (Szenes) was born in Budapest, Hungary, to an assimilated, middle-class family. An avid diarist from the age of 13 until her death, Hannah maintained a personal journal that…
Read This Blueprint Please
Most people can understand the layout and basic measurements of a building from its blueprint. But it takes an expert--an architect or an engineer--to use those blueprints to build a…
Come My Beloved
The Talmud (Shabbat 116a) describes how the sages would greet Shabbat: “Rabbi Chaninah would wrap himself in his cloak and say: ‘Come, let us go and greet the Shabbat Queen.’ Rabbi Yannai…
How Israel Got A King
The first king of Israel, Saul, the son of Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin, was anointed by Samuel the Prophet approximately 400 years after the Israelites conquered the land of Israel.…
Working for a Living
It often seems as if people today, especially in Western societies, are defined, and define themselves, by their work or their profession. When people meet for the first time, one of the…
Tithe Means Tenth
Ideally, people would have no qualms about supporting those in need. The Torah, however, recognized that charity is not necessarily a person’s first instinct and therefore specifies a…
Re’eh 5767-2007
"Prohibition Against Excessive Grief" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Re'eh, we learn of the prohibition of excessive mourning and grief for those who pass…
Vayeira 5781-2020
“Mount Moriah: Building for the Future through Love” (updated and revised from Vayeira 2000-5761) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Last week’s parasha, parashat Lech Lecha, began with G-d…