Mikeitz 5760-1999

"Who is Osenath the wife of Joseph?" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Mikeitz, Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream and is elevated to be mishne la'melech,…

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Opening England

Menashe ben Israel (Manoel Dias Soeiro, 1604 -1657), whose family fled Portugal after the Lisbon auto-de-fe of 1603, was raised in Amsterdam where he received a full Jewish education and…

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Vayechi 5778-2017

“Blessing the Children--Revisited” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   This week’s parasha, parashat Vayechi, is chock-full of blessings. Before his passing, Jacob not only blesses his…

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Birkat HaBanim (Blessing the Children)

Birkat HaBanimBlessing the Children “May G-d make you like Ephraim and like Menashe.” “May G-d make you like Sarah, Rebecca,…

Vayechi 5767-2007

"Lessons in Child Rearing from the Patriarch Jacob" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Vayechi, Jacob's life draws to a close. Jacob insists that his son,…

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Based in Burma

Today’s Jewish Treat presents the unexpected Jewish history of Myanmar (formerly Burma), which gained its independence from the United Kingdom on January 4, 1948.  A synagogue is…

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The Bene Israel of India

Early in the era of the Second Temple, a terrible shipwreck occurred on the Indian coast. Fourteen survivors, seven men and seven women, made it to shore. Settling in the Indian village…

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Va’etchanan-Tisha B’Av 5769-2009

"Tisha b'Av: Never Beyond Redemption" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Va'etchanan, we read the portion from Deuteronomy 4:25, which is read on Tisha b'Av,…

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Vayechi 5769-2009

"Blessing the Children" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Blessing children plays a crucial role in parashat Vayechi. First, old Jacob blesses Joseph's children, Ephraim and Menashe, and then…

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Mikeitz-Chanukah 5764-2003

"Chanukah--The Struggle of Joseph and Judah" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald It is not at all a coincidence that parashat Mikeitz coincides with the festival of Chanukah. After all, Joseph's…

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