Naso 5762-2002
"The Challenge of the Priestly Blessings" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Naso, we encounter the very beautiful and well known "Priestly Blessings,"…
Re’eh 5772-2012
“The Gift of Self Esteem” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Re’eh, contains many fascinating themes. Among the most fascinating and challenging are the laws…
Re’eh 5778-2018
"The Torah’s Definition of True Wealth” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Re’eh, we read some of the most exalted statements ever recorded in human…
It’s Not Vanity
“Mirror, mirror on the wall, whose the fairest of them all?” Snow White’s wicked step-mother is the perfect example of how society associates mirrors with vanity and wickedness. Believe…
The Tribe of Issachar
As the ancestors of the tribes of Israel, the lives and personalities of each of the twelve sons of Jacob significantly impact the history and behavior of the tribe members who descended…
Forgiven Love – A Parable
The last parasha (weekly Torah reading) of the Book of Exodus focuses almost exclusively on the conclusion of the building of the Mishkan (Tabernacle). Already though, a fair number of…
With What May We Light
The Friday night synagogue service is actually two separate services, Kabbalat Shabbat (Greeting the Shabbat) and Maariv (Evening Service). Those attending Friday night services in…
With What May We Light
The Friday night synagogue service is actually two separate services, Kabbalat Shabbat (Greeting the Shabbat) and Maariv (Evening Service). Those attending Friday night services in…
And You Shall Teach
Do you know the phone numbers of all of your siblings and your three closest friends? Since the advent of the PDA (personal digital assistant), and perhaps even since the beginning of…
Haazinu 5760-1999
"The Final Song" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Haazinu, contains the final song which Moshe sings before his death. This is the song to which Moshe alluded in…