The Second Passover
On the first anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel prepared to celebrate their first Passover as free people. God decreed that they should eat matzah and maror…
Development of the Haggadah
On Passover night we are commanded "v'hee'ga'd'ta" and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover Haggadah serves as a…
The Purim Story in Under 300 Words
At the end of a 180-day feast, the King of Persia-Medea, Achashverosh, banished (some say executed) his wife, Vashti, for refusing to appear at his banquet. He then staged an elaborate…
The Second Passover
On the first anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel prepared to celebrate their first Passover as free people. God decreed that they should eat matzah and maror…
Malchut-Kingship
The seventh and final week of Sefirat Ha’Omer, the counting of the days between Passover and Shavuot, is dedicated to the Sephirah of Malchut - Kingship. (For an explanation of the…
Development of the Haggadah
On Passover night we are commanded v'hee'ga'd'ta and you shall tell, the story of the Exodus. (Notice the shared root of hee'ga'd'ta and Haggadah.) The Passover Haggadah serves as a…
The Second Passover
On the first anniversary of the exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel prepared to celebrate their first Passover as free people. God decreed that they should eat matzah and maror…
Who Was Rabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Yosef was once an ignorant and illiterate shepherd. So poor and downtrodden a figure was Akiva that his extremely wealthy father-in-law disinherited Akiva’s wife, Rachel, for…
The Purim Story in Under 300 Words
At the end of a 180-day feast, the Persian-Medean King Achashverosh executed his wife, Vashti, for refusing to appear at his banquet. Achashverosh staged an elaborate beauty contest to…
Yitro 5766-2006
"Sanctify Them, Today and Tomorrow" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Yitro, we read of the great Divine Revelation that took place at Mt. Sinai in the year…