Top of the Class

Among the scholars quoted in Pirkei Avot/Ethics of the Fathers, are clusters of sages who are interconnected whether due to being from the same city, are part of the same generation or…

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Serach’s Serenade

Upon perusing the list of the generations of Jacob found in Genesis chapter 46, it is likely to conclude that there was a powerful genetic predisposition in Jacob’s family for male…

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Vayeitzei 5783-2022

“The Transformation of Jacob” (updated and revised from Vayeitzei 5763-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s Torah portion, parashat Vayeitzei, continues the fascinating story…

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Vayeilech/Yom Kippur 5783-2022

“Difficult Transitions” (Updated and revised from Vayeilech/Yom Kippur 5769-2008) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald On the last day of his life, Moses seals the new covenant with the People…

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Improve Your Odds

Engaging in repentance, prayer and charity improves our chances of being blessed with a favorable judgment for this coming New Year. In the fifth chapter of Pirkei Avot, Ethics of the…

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The Rebbe

Jews worldwide observe the yahrzeit (anniversary of death) of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, of blessed memory, on the 3rd of Tammuz, which is observed…

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Lech Lecha 5782-2021

“Understanding Ishmael” (updated and revised from 5762-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   In this week’s parasha, parashat Lech Lecha, we encounter the birth of Abram’s (his name…

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Belarus, China, Jerusalem and Brooklyn: The Odyssey of the World’s Largest Yeshiva

For 125 years, from 1814 until 1939, the Mir Yeshiva served as a beacon of elite Torah study on the European continent. Situated in the small town of Mir in Belarus, the yeshiva was…

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Belarus, China, Jerusalem and Brooklyn: The Odyssey of the World’s Largest Yeshiva

For 125 years, from 1814 until 1939, the Mir Yeshiva served as a beacon of elite Torah study on the European continent. Situated in the small town of Mir in Belarus, the yeshiva was…

Read More

Serach’s Serenade

When perusing the list of the generations of Jacob found in Genesis 46, one gets a strange sense that there was a powerful genetic predisposition in Jacob's family for male children.…

Read More