Devarim 5775-2015
“Looking Through the Pain, Toward a Bright Future” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With this week’s parasha, parashat Devarim, we begin reading the fifth and final book of the Torah, the…
Bnei Brak: A Unique City
In Israel, there are any number of towns that identify themselves as primarily religious. There are none, however, that are as distinct or well-known for being as intensely religious as…
More Than a Financier
Known as the Juden Kaiser (the Jewish Emperor), Rabbi Samson Wertheimer was a man of incredible accomplishment. Born in Worms in 1658, he was educated in the yeshivot of Worms and…
The Hijacked Sage
Born in Warsaw, Poland, in 1906, Rabbi Yitzchak Hutner was raised in a family that had roots in both the world of Chassidut (Ger) and Lithuanian Jewry. After receiving a private…
The Elder of Slabodka
One who chooses to study the history of the development of the twentieth century rabbinic leadership will likely come across the name “Slabodka.” The town for which the renowned yeshiva…
Reb Yaakov
In traditional circles, leading rabbinic personalities are often referred to as gedolim, which can best be translated as “great ones.” Those who acquire this title are usually renowned…
Rabbi Aharon Kotler
Rabbi Aharon Kotler, whose 50th yahrtzeit is today, arrived in the United States in 1941. The Va'ad Hatzalah brought Rabbi Kotler out of Nazi controlled Europe, where he had been a highly…
The Netziv
At most yeshivot, the primary focus of study is on the Oral Law (as compiled in the Talmud and later legal compendiums), leaving the study of the written Tanach (the five books of…
A Modern Sage
Medieval scholars such as Maimonides and Gersonides were famous for both their Torah scholarship as well as their scientific knowledge. While not as famous, there are also modern examples…
The Council of the Four Lands
While Jews suffered greatly as societal outsiders in many of the lands in which they lived throughout history, sometimes there were beneficial perks--such as a moderate level of communal…