Bo 5760-2000
"Rational Love and Emotional Love: A Lesson from T'fillin" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, Parashat Bo, we read of the concluding three plagues: locusts,…
Chukat 5772-2012
"It is a Decree Before Me–-You Have No Right to Question It!" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Chukat, we encounter one of the most enigmatic laws of the…
Chukat 5775-2015
“Accepting the Inscrutable” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Chukat, we learn of the statute of the Red Cow, also known as the Red Heifer. The ashes of an…
B’shalach 5768-2008
"Finding Meaning in the Lost Verses" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald There can hardly be a more dramatic or more exciting parasha than parashat B'shalach! The parasha features the actual…
Chukat 5767-2007
"The Excesses of Rationality" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald One of the most common issues raised when analyzing a Torah text is the question of juxtaposition: why a particular parasha…
Kee Teitzei 5771-2011
"Sending the Mother Bird Away" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Kee Teitzei, we learn of the fascinating mitzvah of "Sheeluach Ha’Kayn," sending the mother…
Bechukotai 5779-2019
“The Big ‘IF.’ The Gift of Free Choice” (Revised and updated from Bechukotai 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week’s parasha, parashat Bechukotai, is one of the…
Acharei Mot 5763-2003
"The Jewish Method of Achieving Moral Perfection" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Acharei Mot, we read one of the resounding exhortations of the…
Data Privacy: Yesterday and Today
The Council of Europe’s Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data was passed on January 28, 1981. “Data Privacy Day,” established…
Bechukotai 5760-2000
"The Big 'IF': The Question of Free Choice" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Bechukotai, is one of the two parashiot of the Torah that are known as the…