Yom Hashoah,Weekly Message,Shemini
Shemini-Yom Hashoah 5767-2007
"Never Again!-Again!" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Two great events have shaped Jewish life in the last 65 years: the Holocaust and the rise of the State of Israel. Ironically, sixty…
Emor 5761-2001
"The Gift of Celebration" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In the second half of this week's parasha, parashat Emor, there is a review of most of the Biblical festivals of the Jewish…
Naso 5760-2000
"Traditional Judaism: Fundamentalist or Ascetic" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Naso, we encounter the curious law of the Nazir, the Nazarite. In…
Yom Hashoah 5762-2002
"Reflections on The Holocaust" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Yom Hashoah is observed on the 27th of Nisan, which this year will be on Monday evening, April 8 and Tuesday, April 9. I have…
Emor 5779-2019
“The Gift of Celebration” (Revised and updated from Emor 5761-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The second half of this week’s parasha, parashat Emor, presents a review of most of the…
A History of Religious Freedom in North America
On September 12, 1695, the small Jewish community of what would become New York City, petitioned Governor Thomas Dongan for the right to exercise their religion in public. Because of the…
Maryland’s Jews
While the mid-Atlantic State of Maryland is often associated with un-kosher seafood, Maryland has a vibrant history of Jewish settlement. The state of Maryland’s “Act to Extend to the…
The Law of Return
On July 5th, 1950, corresponding to the 20th of Tammuz, the Israeli Knesset unanimously passed the “Law of Return ”(LoR). The timing of the bill’s passage was intended to coincide with…
In God We Trust
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution famously begins: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Known as “The…
Three Times Strong
The beauty of Jewish living is that it often strives to bring together the spiritual and the practical. Judaism is a growth-oriented religion. At the same time, it is also a religion of…