How Now, Red Cow
Every year, on the Shabbat following Purim, a special reading from Numbers 19, is added to the regular Shabbat Torah reading. Known as Parashat Parah, the Torah reading concerns the…
Metzorah,Weekly Message,Tazria
Tazria-Metzorah 5777-2017
“Insights to be Gleaned from the Metzorah, the Person Stricken with the Tzaraat Disease" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s double parasha, Tazria-Metzorah, we learn of the…
Cycles of Seasons
While the Jewish calendar is lunar based, meaning that each month is independently calculated by the cycle of the moon, the rabbis of the Talmudic era also used the solar cycle and the…
Shoftim 5761-2001
"Security for Citizens and Caring for Guests" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Shoftim, Deuteronomy 21, we encounter the ritual of the Eglah Arufah,…
Sukkot I 5767-2006
"Sukkot - The Festival of Joy" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald The festival of Sukkot is regarded as the most joyous of all the Jewish holidays. In fact, there is not a single reference in the…
Metzorah,Tazria,Weekly Message
Tazria-Metzorah 5773-2013
"Ritual Impurity and Tzaraat: A Contemporary Understanding" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s double parashiot, Tazria and Metzorah, are among the most complex Torah portions for…
Weekly Message,Naso,All Audience
Naso 5780-2020
The Ordeal of the Sotah -- Barbaric or Enlightened? (Revised and Updated from Parashat Naso 5761-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s Torah portion, Naso, with 176 verses, is…
Shoftim 5780-2020
"Security for Citizens and Caring for Guests” (updated and revised from parashat Shoftim 5761-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shoftim, we encounter…
Metzorah 5779-2019
“The Ultimate Value and Sanctity of Human Life in Judaism” (Revised and updated from Metzorah 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Metzorah, continues the…
Naso 5761-2001
"The Ordeal of the Sotah - Barbaric or Enlightened?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's Torah portion, Naso, with 176 verses, is the longest parasha of the Torah, and always…