Emor 5765-2005
"Priests and Death: An Unusual Relationship" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Emor, continues the theme of holiness from last week's parasha, parashat Kedoshim,…
Emor 5762-2002
"Death and the Kohanim--the Children of Aaron" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Emor, the parasha begins with the laws of the sanctity of the Kohanim,…
B’ha’alot’cha 5762-2002
"Is This What the Torah Predicted?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Beha'alotecha, contains varied and interesting themes. The parasha speaks of the…
Masei 5765-2005
"The Role of Witnesses and Testimony" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As last year was a leap year, this year is one of the rare occasions where, outside of Israel, parashat Masei is read…
Matot-Masei 5762-2002
"Does the Torah Allow Its Citizens to Take the Law Into Their Own Hands?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In parashat Masei, the second of this week's double parashiot, Matot-Masei, we…
Sukkot 5765-2004
"Worshiping G-d Wholeheartedly" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald There is a wonderful Sukkot story told about the Gaon of Vilna, Rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, 1720-1797, who was the foremost…
Mishpatim 5772-2012
"Capital Punishment: Revenge or Restitution?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With fifty-three commandments--thirty negative and twenty-three positive, parashat Mishpatim ranks fourth among…
Shoftim 5777-2017
“Judaism and the Principle of the Sanctity of Human Life” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Shoftim, focuses, for the most part, on the principle of the…
Holy Times and Places
Tonight is the twenty-fourth annual SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA program, sponsored by NJOP (National Jewish Outreach Program). Tonight, SHABBAT ACROSS AMERICA AND CANADA is being…
This Surgery Is Elective
In the late twentieth century there was, according to anecdotal evidence, an epidemic of “deviated septum” among American Jewish girls. The implication, along with many not-so-funny…