Noah 5763-2002
"The Story of Noah--Fact or Fantasy?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's Torah portion, Parashat Noach, the famous "Flood story," is a truly intriguing portion. Academic and…
Noah 5762-2001
"The 'Myth' of the Great Flood" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat Noah, the story of the flood, is a truly intriguing Torah portion. Secular scholars speak of the story of the flood…
Noah 5782-2021
“The ‘Myth’ of the Great Flood” (updated and revised from Noah 5762-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat Noah, the story of the flood, is a truly-intriguing Torah portion. Secular…
The Torah’s Thanksgiving
While the majority of the sacrifices enumerated in the Torah are related to atonement for sins or to celebrate feast days, the Sh'lamim, peace offerings, were unique because they…
Surviving Via Shanghai
In his youth, Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz probably never imagined that he would visit Shanghai, let alone take care of the finances for several yeshivas in that Chinese city. Thanks to visas…
The Morning Blessings-Blessing #15: Strength To The Weary
Every morning, a set of 15 blessings is recited to express our thanks to God for all the things that we, as healthy human beings, are capable of doing. Ba’ruch Ah’tah Ah’doh’nai…
The Morning Blessings-Blessing #1: Night and Day
Every morning, a set of 15 blessings are recited to express our thanks to God for all the things that we, as healthy and capable human beings, are capable of doing. The blessings start…
Devarim 5763-2003
"The Gentle Reproof" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week, we begin reading the fifth book of the Torah, known as Deuteronomy, or Devarim in Hebrew. The book of Devarim is also called…
Shelach 5765-2005
"Bread Alone" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As the name of the parasha, "Shelach lecha"--send for yourself, indicates, this week's parasha focuses on the 12 scouts that were sent by the…
Shavuot 5762-2002
"Beyond the Book of Ruth: The Untold Story" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Beginning this Thursday night, May 16th and continuing through Friday and Shabbat, May 17th and 18th, Jews…