Sukkot 5771-2010

“A Turning Point for Humankind” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald To most observers, Sukkot is a festival that is closely associated with the celebration of nature. The Torah (Exodus 34:22)…

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Haazinu-Sukkot 5779-2018

“The Challenges of Poverty and Wealth” by Ephraim Z. Buchwald   In this week’s parasha, parashat Haazinu, we read the beautiful song that Moses sang to the Jewish people on the final…

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Take A Sabbatical

It is interesting that the two most common professions which offer sabbatical leaves are academia and clergy. These two professions are fields in which practitioners devote a great deal…

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Whose First Fruits

When the Oral Law was first codified, most Jews lived in agrarian settings. Today, being less familiar with agrarian culture, some people find it difficult to relate to some of the…

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Whose First Fruits

When the Oral Law was first codified, most Jews lived in agrarian settings. Today, being less familiar with agrarian culture, some people find it difficult to relate to some of the…

Read More

Whose First Fruits

When the Oral Law was first codified, most Jews lived in agrarian settings. Today, being less familiar with agrarian culture, some people find it difficult to relate to some of the…

Read More

Whose First Fruits

When the Oral Law was first codified, most Jews lived in agrarian settings. Today, being less familiar with agrarian culture, some people find it difficult to relate to some of the…

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The Shemittah Food Co-Op

In the land of Israel today,  they are well into the year of Shemittah (the sabbatical seventh year during which farmers let the land lay fallow). Since last Rosh Hashana, many Jewish…

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What is Shemittah?

We have now completed the fall holidays and have fully entered the new year, 5775. Beyond the quaint palindrome nature of its numbers, this new year is distinct from the past few years in…

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Whose First Fruits

When the Oral Law was first codified, most Jews lived in agrarian settings. Today, being less familiar with agrarian culture, some people find it difficult to relate to some of the…

Read More