Naso 5778-2018
“Counting the ‘Special’ People” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In last week’s parasha, parashat Bamidbar, after conducting a census of all the tribes of Israel and assigning each tribe a…
Naso 5772-2012
"The Most Famous of All Nazarites--Samson" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald According to the Sefer Ha’Chinuch (the classic work on the 613 commandments, their rationale and their regulations,…
In the Wilderness
The Torah was given to the Jewish nation in the midst of the wilderness on a tiny mountain called Sinai. Throughout the Torah, however, there is much focus on the “Promised Land” and…
The Spiritual Harvest of the Ant
Are you familiar with Aesop’s Fable of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”? It’s a morality tale about hard work and planning ahead, and it might just have you picturing the original version of…
Singing About the “Woman of Valor”
Aishet Chayil, “The Woman of Valor,” which is traditionally sung at the Shabbat table on Friday nights, is actually a selection of verses from the Book of Proverbs (31:10-31) written by…
In the Wilderness
The Torah was given to the Jewish nation in the midst of the wilderness on a tiny mountain called Sinai. Throughout the Torah, however, there is much focus on the “Promised Land” and the…
If I Forget Thee
“If I forget thee O’ Jerusalem, let my right hand wither” (Psalms 137:5 -Im esh’kachech Yerushalayim, tishkach y’meenee)...poignantly expresses the Jewish people’s longing for Jerusalem.…
Philistines
Few nations play as dominant a role in biblical history as do the Philistines. Settled in the lands along the Mediterranean coast (the area of contemporary Gaza), they were a continual…
In the Wilderness
The Torah was given to the Jewish nation in the midst of the wilderness on a tiny mountain called Sinai. Throughout the Torah, however, there is much focus on the “Promised Land” and the…
If I Forget Thee
“If I forget thee O’ Jerusalem, let my right hand wither” (Psalms 137:5 -Im esh’kachech Yerushalayim, tishkach y’meenee)...poignantly expresses the Jewish people’s longing for Jerusalem.…