Rashi and The Tosafot Commentaries
One of the most fascinating aspects of Jewish study are the layer upon layer of enlightening and edifying commentaries that can be found when studying texts of the Torah or the Talmud. Of…
These Lights We Kindle
While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah – which is why the menorah is lit in a window or doorway – it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the…
A Chanukah Heroine
Who is Yehudit (Judith), the daughter of Yochanan the High Priest, who saved her city, Bethulia, from destruction at the hands of the Syrian-Greek general Holofernes? As the Jews in the…
Vayikra 5782-2022
“Insights for the Contemporary Soul from Ancient ‘Primitive’ Rituals” (Updated and revised from Vayikra 5764-2004) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With this week’s parasha, parashat Vayikra,…
Israeli-German Relations
On May 13, 1965, Israel officially established diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of (West) Germany (FRG). This event is quite notable, since Israel was established in the…
Not So Freedom Summer
On June 21, 1964, one of the most heinous and scandalous murders took place in U.S. history, shocking the country. Andrew Goodman, 21, a native of the Upper West Side of Manhattan,…
Rashi and The Tosafot Commentaries
One of the most fascinating aspects of Jewish study are the layer-upon-layer of enlightening and edifying commentaries that can be found when studying texts of the Torah or the Talmud. Of…
Using A Live Virus
Mention the polio vaccine and most people think of Jonas Salk. The fact is, however, that the polio vaccine used today is actually based on the work of another Jewish physician, Albert…
An Interesting Philologist
Language is considered to be one of the unique characteristics of humankind. Lazarus (Eliezer Solomon) Geiger, who is recognized as one of the pre-eminent philologists of his time, made…
These Lights We Kindle
While the mitzvah of lighting the menorah is an outward-focused mitzvah – the menorah is lit in a window or doorway – it is also an opportunity for personal reflection on the deeper…