Tetzaveh 5771-2011

"Do Clothes Make The Man?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Tetzaveh, we learn about the four basic priestly vestments that were worn by all priests, and the…

Read More

Terumah 5773-2013

"Form Over Content, or Content Over Form?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Terumah, is the first in a series of five parashiot that deal with the design,…

Read More

Matot-Masei 5773-2013

“Pinchas Avenges the Midianites” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In last week’s parasha, parashat Pinchas, we read of how Pinchas the son of Elazar kills Zimri and Cozbi, who had performed a…

Read More

Cutting Through Stone

By all accounts, the First Temple was a magnificent edifice built with cedars from Lebanon and enormous quarried stones. When contemplating the manner in which the Temple was constructed,…

Read More

The Ba’al Ha’turim

Spain in the Middle Ages was home to scholars of great renown such as Abraham ibn Ezra (1089 - c. 1164), Judah ha-Levi (1086-1145), Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides/Rambam 1135-1204)…

Read More

The Flags of the Tribes

On June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress resolved that: “the flag of the 13 United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white: That the union be thirteen stars, white…

Read More

The Ba’al Ha’turim

Spain in the Middle Ages was home to scholars of great renown such as Abraham ibn Ezra (1089 - c. 1164), Judah ha-Levi (1086-1145), Rabbi Moses ben Maimon (Maimonides/Rambam 1135-1204)…

Read More