Toledot,Weekly Message

Toledot 5776-2015

"Rebecca Inquires of G-d" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we learn of the births of Jacob and Esau. Isaac is forty years old when he marries…

Read More

Shelach,Weekly Message

Shelach 5776-2016

“A Name Change Becomes a Game Changer" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shelach, we read the well-known story of the scouts who are sent into the Land of…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The Birth and Death of Moses

One of the 13 principles of faith according to Maimonides is believing that Moses was the greatest of all the Jewish prophets. He was so great, that God feared he would be…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service

While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately find their source in Judaism.…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Fathers and Time

Of the three patriarchs, the one with the briefest of appearances and the fewest mentions in the Biblical verses is certainly Isaac, son of Abraham and father to Jacob. A Talmudic passage…

Read More

Jewish Treats

For The Sin We Committed

One of the main steps in the process of teshuva (repentance) is confessing one’s sins and verbalizing one’s errors. In so doing, a person admits committing a sin, not so much to…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Symbolic Foods

Since Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment, it is customary to eat simanim,* foods with symbolic meanings that invoke God's blessing. We also recite a short prayer before eating them.…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Do you Shukle?

If you’ve ever watched a traditional prayer quorum, or even just the prayers of a traditional Jew, you might wonder what all the motion and bodily movement is about. Forward-back,…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The Birth and Death of Moses

One of the 13 principles of faith according to Maimonides is believing that Moses was the greatest of all the Jewish prophets. He was so great, that God feared he would be worshipped…

Read More

Jewish Treats

For The Sin We Committed

One of the main steps in the process of teshuva (repentance) is confessing one’s sins and verbalizing one’s errors. In so doing, a person admits committing a sin, not so much…

Read More