Kee Teitzei 5779-2019

“Polygamy, Illegitimacy and Punishing the Innocent” (Revised and updated from Kee Teitzei 5760-2000)   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   This week’s parasha, parashat Kee Teitzei,…

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Noah 5771-2010

“Man’s Struggle with Evil” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Noah, we learn much about man’s ongoing struggle with evil. As the parasha opens, the Torah…

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Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5772-2012

"Respect for Elders" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The double portions of Acharei-Mot and Kedoshim together contain a total of 79 mitzvot, more than one seventh of all the mitzvot in the…

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Kee Teitzei 5772-2012

"The Sanctity of the Camp of Israel" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Kee Teitzei, contains 74 mitzvot-- more mitzvot than any other portion of the Torah. 27 are…

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Perceiving Change

Parashat Ha’azinu, also called Shirat Ha’azinu, the poem or song of Ha’azinu in Hebrew, is literally laid-out in the Torah scroll as a poem, not as the typical prose one finds. Moses’…

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What’s With The Hat?

Hair Is A Woman's Crowning Glory Is there any question that a woman's hair is an essential element of her beauty? Think about all those shampoo commercials where a woman seductively whips…

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Muscular Judaism

As the Zionist Movement developed, one of its secondary goals was to transform Jewish life by freeing it from what was considered a ghetto mentality, a societal mind-set of being weak and…

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More Than A Book Seller

Sholem Yankev Abramovitsh, born on January 2, 1836, to a poor family near Minsk, had a traditional religious Jewish childhood. After his father passed away when he was 13, …

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Barry Commoner for President

In 1980, Barry Commoner, a prominent biologist, environmentalist and author of Jewish parentage, ran as a candidate for the President of the United States. As the third party candidate…

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