Ethics of the Fathers
Ethics - it’s a big word in our day and age. Between political corruption and financial misdeeds, it is easy to wonder what ever happened to even the most basic ethical standards.…
Baron Edmond James de Rothschild
Although he came from a prominent banking family and was employed in the family bank, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild (August 19, 1845 - November 2, 1934) was best known for his love of…
Locate Your Friend and Ask for Forgiveness
Whether it was the creation of the wheel, and tools to create and advance civilization, or the discovery of penicillin or the polio vaccine, our lives have changed profoundly because of…
A Dictionary for the Days of Awe
In Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance, he invokes five important and pertinent terms in the first paragraph, that are worth defining. Teshuva – means return, but connotes repentance or…
First On The Court
Born in 1856, in Louisville, Kentucky, Louis Dembitz Brandeis was the child of European immigrants who maintained a minimal Jewish identity. However, his maternal uncle, Lewis Dembitz,…
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…
Hail The Accuser
In the era of social media, it is almost an everyday occurrence to be asked to sign a petition or to “like” a cause. When Emile Zola, the celebrated French novelist, published J’Accuse on…
Kosher in Gracie Mansion
Although New York has one of the oldest Jewish communities in the United States (the first Jews arrived in 1654), the first openly Jewish mayor of New York City was not elected until…
Ethics of the Fathers
Ethics – it’s a big word in our day and age. Between political corruption and financial misdeeds, it is easy to wonder what ever happened to even the most basic ethical standards.…
Vayikra 5781-2021
“The Lesson of the Mincha Offering--Giving with a Full Heart” (updated and revised from Vayikra 5762-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This Shabbat, we begin to read the book of…