Vayigash 5773-2012
"Is My Father Still Alive?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayigash, we read of one of the most dramatic moments in the Torah, when Joseph finally reveals…
Giving Gifts
"One who is diligent in lighting Chanukah candles will have children who are scholars" (Shabbat 23b). The desire for scholarly children was actually one of the motivations for the…
Chief Rabbi of Egypt
On 13 MarCheshvan, 1960, Rabbi Haim Nahum Effendi passed away in Cairo, and thousands of people - Jews, Muslims and Christians - attended his funeral.
Vayeilech,Yom Kippur,Weekly Message
Vayeilech-Yom Kippur 5773-2012
“The Limits of Free Will” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald During the period of the Ten Days of Penitence, and especially with the imminent arrival of Yom Kippur, it is most appropriate to…
The Educator
Community day schools have played a vital role in maintaining Jewish life in America, particularly in communities outside of the major Jewish population areas. The graduate of such…
Opening England
Menashe ben Israel (Manoel Dias Soeiro, 1604 -1657), whose family fled Portugal after the Lisbon auto-de-fe of 1603, was raised in Amsterdam where he received a full Jewish education and…
The Soviet Jewry Movement
May is Jewish American Heritage Month. At first glance, a discussion of the Soviet Jewry Movement may seem like an odd choice for Jewish American history, but the movement had a powerful…
Rebecca Gratz
Raise your hand if you attended Hebrew school, whether after school or on Sunday mornings. Did you know that you have a Jewish Pennsylvania native, Rebecca Gratz (1781-1869) to thank for…
Giving Gifts
“One who is diligent in lighting Chanukah candles will have children who are scholars” (Talmud Shabbat 23b). The desire for scholarly children was actually one of the motivations for the…
The Rabbi’s Mountain
Few rabbis have been honored with having a mountain named for them. But, tucked away in the Laurentian range of Quebec, Canada, stands Mont le Rabbi-Stern (Mount Rabbi Stern). This 2,250…