Re'eh,Weekly Message

Re’eh 5772-2012

“The Gift of Self Esteem” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Re’eh, contains many fascinating themes. Among the most fascinating and challenging are the laws…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Duties of the Heart

The concept of “being spiritual” is often assumed to be a fairly recent one, resulting, perhaps, from the enlightenment’s deconstruction of organized religion.  The idea of…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Duties of the Heart

The concept of “being spiritual” is often assumed to be a fairly recent one, resulting, perhaps, from the enlightenment’s deconstruction of organized religion.  The idea of…

Read More

Devarim,Weekly Message

Devarim 5777-2017

“The Transformation of Moses is Completed” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With this week’s parasha, parashat Devarim, we begin reading the fifth and final book of the Torah, known as…

Read More

Bechukotai,Behar,Weekly Message

Behar-Bechukotai 5767-2007

"Reward and Punishment" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In the second of this week's double parashiot, Behar-Bechukotai, we encounter the very challenging concept of Divine reward and…

Read More

Jewish Treats

A Sephardi Gaon

Because of the dedication of Rabbi Ezra Attiya (1885-1969), hundreds of Sephardic Jews chose to extend their education, scores decided to dedicate their lives to Torah study and dozens of…

Read More

Jewish Treats

A Sephardi Gaon

Because of the dedication of Rabbi Ezra Attiya (1885-1969), known as a Gaon, a great Torah scholar, hundreds of Sephardic Jews chose to extend their education, scores decided to dedicate…

Read More

Jewish Treats

A Famous Family of Translators

In the early Middle Ages, the global Jewish community was basically divided between those living in lands controlled by the church and those in lands controlled by the Arabs. The dominant…

Read More

Sources Commentators

Abarbanel (1437-1508, Spanish statesman, philosopher and commentator) Israel Abrahams (1858-1925) Achad Ha’Am (Asher Zvi Hirsh Ginsberg, 1856-1927) AJOP (Association for Jewish Outreach…

Shelach,Weekly Message

Shelach 5773-2013

"Tzitzit: The Unpretentious Mitzvah" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald At the conclusion of this week’s parasha, parashat Shelach, we learn of the mitzvah of Tzitzit, the fringes that are…

Read More