Yitro 5781-2021
“Structural Secrets of the Decalogue” (updated and revised from Yitro 5762-2002) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Yitro, in Exodus 20, we…
The Power of Shabbat
Jewish life ebbs and flows around the celebration of Shabbat. The days of the week are labelled by a count toward Shabbat (Sunday is Yom Rishon, the first day; Monday is Yom Shaynee, the…
Cooked Wine
Among the discussions of the many details of Jewish life recorded in the Mishna, the first written compilation of the oral law, is the following: “If a Jewish laborer is hired by a…
Smashing the Tablets
The sages declare that five tragedies occurred on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, (Sunday, June 27) which is why the day is observed as a fast day. Days of what we might now call “bad karma”…
Mourning Jerusalem I: A Brief History of the First Temple
This coming Saturday night and Sunday, Jews the world over will be observing the fast of Tisha b’Av. It is on this day that the Jewish people mourn the destruction of both the First and…
The Power of Shabbat
Jewish life ebbs and flows around the celebration of Shabbat. The days of the week are labelled by a count toward Shabbat (Sunday is Yom Rishon, the first day; Monday is Yom Shaynee, the…
Re’eh 5781-2021
“The Elusive Blessing of ‘Peace’” (updated and revised from Re’eh 5763-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s Torah portion, parashat Re’eh, contains some of the most exalted…
Smashing the Tablets
The sages declare that five tragedies occurred on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, (Sunday, July 17th)* which is why the day is observed as a fast day. Days of what we might now call “bad…
Mourning Jerusalem I: A Brief History of the First Temple
This coming Saturday night and Sunday, Jews the world over will be observing the fast of Tisha b’Av. It is on this day of the Hebrew calendar that the Jewish people mourn the destruction…
Holiday Greetings
The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” (“May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly books that…