Shavuot 5780-2020

“The Anonymous Holiday” (updated and revised from Shavuot 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This Thursday night, Friday and Shabbat, the joyous festival of Shavuot will be…

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Shavuot 5760-2000

"The Anonymous Holiday" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald This Thursday night, Friday and Shabbat, we will celebrate the joyous festival of Shavuot. On the Hebrew calender it is the sixth and…

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Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5775-2015

"Having Thoughts About False Gods" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In parashat Kedoshim, the second of this week’s double parashiot, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, the Torah strictly prohibits Jews…

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Kedoshim 5776-2016

“Tattoos" In Parashat Kedoshim the Torah proclaims the prohibition of making cuts on one’s skin as a sign of mourning and forbids drawing permanent tattoos on the body. Scripture, in…

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Eikev 5776-2016

“Caring for the Weak and the Vulnerable" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Among the important mitzvot found in this week’s parasha, parashat Eikev, the Torah bids the Jew to be G-dlike by…

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Symbolic Foods

Symbolic Foods There is a certain meaning and prayer behind each kind of symbolic food. See if one of the foods holds a deeper…

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.…

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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

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

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