The Holy Ari: Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon Luria
When Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon Luria arrived in Safed, in 1569, the town had already become a center of Jewish learning, with a particular emphasis on the kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). By…
Toledot 5771-2010
“Isaac, the Man of Commitment” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we once again learn that a famine, like the one in the time of Abraham, afflicts the…
Toledot 5782-2021
“The Deception of Isaac” (updated and revised from Toledot 5762-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we encounter the well-known, and rather…
Wayward Sons
While the Biblical canon has many stories of redemption and miracles, it also records narratives that demonstrate the true struggles of real people. Real people know of the commonly…
Moses’ Sons
The inherent desire to have one’s legacy last into the future is, most likely, the root of the laws of primogeniture (the special inheritance of the firstborn son). And while the laws…
Respect of the Sons
In the twenty-first century, rebelling against one’s family is all-too-often presented as a right of passage, a natural part of growing up and as a means of declaring one’s independence.…
Chayei Sarah 5774-2013
"Yitzchak Establishes a Home with His New Wife" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Chayei Sarah, we read of the death of the matriarch Sarah at age 127. Rashi…
Toledot 5781-2020
“The Ancient Origins and Practice of Anti-Semitism” (updated and revised from Toledot 2000-5761) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we learn that…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is a story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E. When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…
Hannah and Her Sons
The story of Hannah and her seven sons is a story of the Jewish resistance to Antiochus' attempts to Hellenize the Jewish people around 166 B.C.E.When Antiochus demanded that Hannah's…