Bo 5784-2024
Urgent message: Given the most challenging situation in Israel at this time, I urge all to pray for the bereaved families, the hostages, the missing and the many casualties. Please try to…
Mishpatim 5767-2007
"The Hebrew Maidservant is Alive and Well" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, Parashat Misphatim (literally, "laws"), G-d sets much of the structure of Jewish civil…
Shemot 5773-2012
“The Role of Exile in Jewish History” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shemot, the book of Exodus opens with the story of the people of Israel’s enslavement…
Emor 5773-2013
"Sanctifying G-d’s Name" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Emor, we find the seminal commandments to sanctify G-d’s name and the prohibition of desecrating…
Pekudei 5776-2016
“The Mishkan--the Tabernacle, as Collateral” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Pekudei, opens with a reckoning and accounting of all the precious materials that…
Mishpatim 5779-2019
“From Seemingly Obscure Laws, the Torah Teaches the Ultimate Value of the Sanctity of Human Life”(Revised and updated from Mishpatim 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming…
Kee Tisah 5767-2007
"Making Each Person Count" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, Parashat Kee Tisah, we read of the machatzit ha'shekel, the half shekel that was donated by all adult male…
Naso 5764-2004
"Our Brother, Our Sister--the Proselyte" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Naso, we learn of an interesting law concerning a person who takes possession of…
Rosh Hashana 5770-2009
"The Unexpected Joy of Rosh Hashana" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In the first of last week's double parashiot, parashat Nitzavim, we read Moses' forceful charge to the People of Israel…
Kee Teitzei 5773-2013
"The ‘Mitzvah’ of Divorce, Revisited" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Kee Teitzei, speaks of the "mitzvah" of divorce. Although we have previously discussed the…