Va’etchanan 5783-2023
"The Dialectic of Body and Soul" (updated and revised from Va’etchanan 5764-2004) In this week’s parasha, parashat Va’etchanan, we encounter several well-known and significant texts.…
Terumah 5769-2009
"The Delicate Balance" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Terumah, begins a series of four and a half parashiot that deal extensively with erecting the Mishkan,…
Pekudei 5784-2024
“Building an Everlasting Sanctuary” (updated and revised from Pekudei 5768-2008) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Pekudei, we are told that, at long last, all…
Bechukotai 5765-2005
"Achieving Peace and Security for the Jewish People" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Bechukotai, we encounter the first of the two tochachot--portions of…
Bamidbar 5770-2010
"The Meaning of the Wilderness" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The fourth book of the Torah, Bamidbar, opens with the following words (Numbers 1:1): "Vah'y'dah'bayr Hashem el Moshe…
Angelic Praises
During the morning and afternoon prayer services (Shacharit and Mincha), when prayers are recited in the presence of a minyan (quorum of ten), the Amidah (the central standing prayer,…
Shelach 5768-2008
"We Were like Grasshoppers in Our Eyes" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Shelach, Moses sends twelve representatives, one from each tribe, to scout the land…
B’ha’alot’cha 5762-2002
"Is This What the Torah Predicted?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Beha'alotecha, contains varied and interesting themes. The parasha speaks of the…
Pinchas 5769-2009
"Joshua, the Worthy Successor" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Pinchas, G-d informs Moses that he will soon die because he and Aaron rebelled against G-d's…
Rosh Hashana 5761-2000
"The Judgment of Ishmael and its Contemporary Implications for all of G-d's Creatures" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Because this coming Shabbat is Rosh Hashana, the normal weekly Torah…