Love in the Liturgy
Most people would identify prayer as a vertical endeavor: Mortals communicating with God. Yet, as we will learn, there is a beautiful custom to begin our prayers by thinking horizontally,…
Kee Tisah 5771-2011
"The Thirteen Attributes of G-d’s Mercy" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tisah, we encounter the dramatic episode of the Golden Calf. Moses comes down…
Chayei Sara 5766-2005
"Who Is Keturah?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Chayei Sarah, soon after Isaac marries Rebecca, we learn that the elderly Abraham marries a woman named…
Toledot 5762-2001
"The Deception of Isaac" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Toledot, we encounter in Genesis 27 the well known story of Isaac's attempt to bless Esau.…
Toledot 5763-2002
"The Deeds of the Fathers are Signposts for the Children" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Toledot, we read, for the third time, the story of our…
Eikev 5769-2009
"Feeding the Animals–Beasts and Humans" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Eikev, we encounter the well known second paragraph of the daily Shema prayer…
Va’eira 5762-2002
"Can We Question G-d and Get Away With It?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Va'eira, opens with G-d's response to Moshe's complaint that things have…
B’shalach 5763-2003
"Bringing G-d Home" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat B'shalach, contains many historic and dramatic moments. The narrative describes the departure of the…
Passover 5761-2001
"The Final days of Pesach - Days of Unity" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald That the Jews happened to find themselves in Egypt and were enslaved by the Egyptians was not at all coincidence.…
Toledot 5774-2013
"A Revolutionary Definition of Parenthood" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, opens with a genealogy of the family of Isaac and his wife Rebecca, and the…