Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…
Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…
Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…
Three Steps Forward, Three Steps Back
While Jewish prayer has many aspects that are introspective, prayer is also designed to serve as a vehicle of communication with the Divine. The central focus of every prayer service is…
v’Zot Habracha-Simchat Torah 5770-2009
"The Confluence of v'Zot Habracha and the Holiday" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The festival of Simchat Torah, the rejoicing with the Law, is one of two major festivals during which we…
Yitro 5773-2013
"The Third Commandment: Against Perjury and Profane Swearing" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Yitro, we encounter the first of the two references to the Ten…
v’Zot Habracha-Simchat Torah 5776-2015
“The Confluence of v’Zot Habracha and the Holiday” (originally posted in 5770-2009) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The festival of Simchat Torah, the rejoicing with the Law, is one of two…
B’ha’alot’cha 5765-2005
"The Message of the Trumpets" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Beha'alotecha, the Torah (Numbers 9:15-23) describes the travel procedures of the…
Thou Shalt Not Steal A Person
The Eighth Commandment, lo tignohv, do not steal, appears to be an obvious law. Every civil code prohibits theft. However, in both syntax and placement, the Eighth Commandment appears to…
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…