B’shalach 5769-2009

"Pharaoh Sends the People of Israel out of Egypt" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat B'shalach opens with a well-known verse describing Israel's dramatic exodus from Egypt. The Bible,…

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Mikeitz/Chanukah 5777-2016

“Pharaoh Was Agitated” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Mikeitz, Pharaoh dreams two well-known dreams, the dream of seven fat cows that emerge from the Nile…

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Mikeitz 5767-2006

"A Jew Rises to Power" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Mikeitz, we learn of Joseph's successful interpretation of Pharaoh's dream and his appointment to the…

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Va’eira 5760-2000

"G-d Hardens Pharaoh's Heart: Reconciling Omniscience and Free Will" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Va'eira, we encounter one of the fundamental…

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Shemot 5779-2018

“Getting the Jews Out of Egypt-–Two Views” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shemot, we read of the enslavement of the Jews in Egypt by Pharaoh, as well as the…

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Va’eira 5780-2019

“G-d Hardens Pharaoh's Heart: Reconciling Omniscience with Free Will” (revised and updated from Va’eira 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Va'eira,…

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Shemot 5771-2010

“Pharaoh’s Three Counselors” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shemot, the intense suffering of the Israelites in Egypt begins. The rabbis of the Midrash are…

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Bo 5779-2019

"Nothing Stands in the Way of Teshuva!" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As the parasha opens, G-d says to Moses, Exodus 10:1, בֹּא אֶל פַּרְעֹה:  כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ, וְאֶת…

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Bo 5776-2016

“How Impactful was the Plague of Locusts?” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bo, the Al-mighty visits the plague of locusts on Pharaoh and on the land of…

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Bo 5773-2013

"Interfacing with the Non-Jewish World" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bo, we read of the last three plagues--locusts, darkness and the death of the…

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