Simchat Torah 5767-2006
"The Evolving Holiday" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald The festival of Simchat Torah is one of the most joyous of the Jewish calendar. In Israel, following the conclusion of the festival of…
Mishpatim 5772-2012
"Capital Punishment: Revenge or Restitution?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With fifty-three commandments--thirty negative and twenty-three positive, parashat Mishpatim ranks fourth among…
Kee Tavo 5773-2013
"Not Rushing to Judgment" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tavo, we learn of the Jewish farmer’s obligation to bring Bikurim from the first produce of the…
Vayeishev 5774-2013
"Reuben is Credited with Saving Joseph’s Life" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Joseph is dispatched by Jacob on a fateful mission to check on the well-being of his brothers who had gone to…
Bamidbar 5774-2014
“Counting the Jews, Again!” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bamidbar, G-d speaks to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first…
Mishpatim 5775-2015
“Injuring a Fellow Human Being” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Among the 63 mitzvot that are found in this week’s parasha, parashat Mishpatim, are the fundamental laws regarding personal…
Vayishlach 5779-2018
“Jacob’s Challenging Life” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As this week’s parasha, parashat Vayishlach, opens, we find a fearful patriarch Jacob sending a huge tribute of flocks and…
Tzav 5780-2020
“Behold, I am Sending You Elijah the Prophet” (Revised and update from Tzav 5761-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald On this coming Shabbat, the Shabbat of Erev Pesach, we…
Emor 5768-2008
"Creed or Deed" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The two opening chapters of parashat Emor, Leviticus 21 and 22, deal with laws that pertain to the Kohanim (priests) and to safeguarding the…
Serach’s Serenade
When perusing the list of the generations of Jacob found in Genesis 46, one gets a strange sense that there was a powerful genetic predisposition in Jacob's family for male children.…