The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service
While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately find their source in Judaism.…
Mikeitz-Chanukah 5782-2021
“What is Chanukah Really About?” (updated and revised from Mikeitz 5761-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Mikeitz, continues the magnificent saga of…
Passover II 5782-2022
Passover II 5782-2022 “Counting the Omer” (Revised and updated from Passover II 5768-2008) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In parashat Emor, we learn of the mitzvah of counting the Omer. In…
Israel’s Memorial Day
The State of Israel’s independence, as well as its continued survival, is a modern-day miracle. But it has come at great cost in human lives and to its citizens. Therefore, before Israel…
Va’etchanan 5782-2022
“Why the Sh’ma?” (updated and revised from Va’etchanan 5763-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Va’etchanan, we encounter, in Deuteronomy 6:4-9, one of…
Maccabees In Africa In July?
Forty-two years ago today, on July 4, 1976, the Israeli military freed 106 hostages, consisting of 94 passengers and 12 crew members, whose Paris-bound Air France Airbus, which originated…
Let’s Hear Your Shpiel
Traditional Jewish life is rarely associated with theater or satire, but Purim is a time for turning things on their head. The Spiel (pronounced/also written: shpiel or schpiel), best…
Moving Plans
It is not uncommon to picture the era of the rabbis of the Talmud as a world in which the vast majority of Jews still lived in all Jewish environments. In reality, however, the sages…
Water, Water Everywhere
Sukkot is considered the holiday on which God determines the world’s water allotment for the year to come. During the time of the Temple, the week of Sukkot was highlighted by the Water…
A Ship’s Tale
Well sit right back and you'll hear a tale...Alas, this ship’s tale is no three-hour tour, but the story of the birth of Jewish life in North America. It is well-known that the first…