The Girl in the Red Coat

Except for one girl's red coat depicted in a scene taking place in the Krakow Ghetto, and the opening and closing scenes in Steven Spielberg’s 1994 Academy Award winning “Schindler’s…

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Va’etchanan 5780-2020

“The Mandate for Parental Involvement in Jewish Education” (updated and revised from Va’etchanan 5761-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Va’etchanan, we…

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The Words Are The Things

In Hebrew, the Book of Deuteronomy is known as Sefer Devarim. Its name is derived from the fact that the Hebrew word devarim is the first noun that appears in the book, which begins with…

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Beauty and the Bess

On December 14, 2014, one of the most talked-about American Jews from the 1940s passed away. Bess Myerson, born in the Bronx on July 16, 1924, became the first and only Jewish "Miss…

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Kiss the Mezuzah

One might easily think of the mitzvah of mezuzah as a passive mitzvah. Simply recite the blessing before affixing the mezuzah to the doorposts of the house, and it is done. While affixing…

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Pinchas 5780-2020

“The Pain of Giving Reproof” (Updated and revised from Parashat Pinchas 5761-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald On Thursday, July 9th, Jews the world over will observe the fast of Shivah…

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Fleeing in the New World

The history of the conversos, those Spanish and Portuguese Jews who hid their identities by publicly behaving as observant Catholics, is tragic not only for the horrible auto-de-fes (mass…

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World Sauntering Day

In Jewish life there is great admiration for a character trait known as z'reezut, which is often translated as zealousness. The word z'reezut actually comes from the root…

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Kinnot

KinnotMany devastating events took place on the 9th of Av. This is why the Jewish people consider it the saddest day on the…

Tisha b’Av

Tisha b’Av The saddest day in the Jewish calendar, believed to be a day which is destined for tragedy.  Guide…