Rosh Hashana 5771-2010
"G-d’s Struggle to Repent" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The Talmud, in Brachot 7a, reports two similar stories about prayer. Rabbi Yohanan asks in the name of Rabbi Yosi: How do we know…
Yitro 5775-2015
“I Shall Come to You and Bless You” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Yitro, after the dramatic pronouncement of the Ten Commandments at Sinai, the Torah, once…
Chukat 5777-2017
“Moses’ Painful Words of Comfort” Among the diverse themes found in parashat Chukat, we learn of the death of Aaron. According to tradition, on the first day of Av, in the fortieth and…
Vocation
“If a man ploughs in the ploughing season, sows in the sowing season, reaps in the reaping season (and etc.)...what is to become of the Torah?” (Talmud Brachot 35b). This question,…
Invitation To Give Thanks
The verse found in Deuteronomy 8:10, “You shall eat, be satiated and bless God,” is the source of the biblical mandate to recite the Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals, also known in…
A Day For Sleep?
Among the many festivals assigned to the final days of December and the first days of January, one of the newest and, perhaps, the most logical, is the anonymous designation of January…
Breaking The Glass
No respectable film-maker would record a Jewish wedding scene without including the dramatic moment of the breaking of the glass, followed by the joyous shouts of "Mazal Tov!" A moment of…
Thoughts for the Heart
February has been designated American Heart Month. For many years, heart disease was considered to be a mostly male affliction. In order to compensate for, and correct that misconception,…
In Honor of Doctor’s Day
If you enjoy television medical dramas, then you probably have certain pre-conceived notions about doctors. After all, we see the doctors on television far more often than we see our own…
Thoughts for the Heart
February has been designated American Heart Month. For many years, heart disease was considered to be a mostly male affliction. In order to compensate for, and correct, that…