Terumah 5769-2009
"The Delicate Balance" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Terumah, begins a series of four and a half parashiot that deal extensively with erecting the Mishkan,…
Vayakhel-Pekudei 5773-2013
"The Jewish Connection" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With this week’s double parashiot, Vayakhel-Pekudei, the reading of the Book of Exodus is concluded. The exacting architectural and…
Weekly Message,Haazinu,Rosh Hashana
Haazinu-Rosh Hashana 5774-2013
"Jewish Normal, Is Not Very Normal" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Haazinu, Moses, speaking to the People of Israel on the last day of his life, continues…
Tazria 5774-2014
“The Jewish Attitude Toward Healing and Medicine” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Tazria, opens with the laws concerning purification of a woman after…
Kee Teitzei 5774-2014
“Restoring Lost Possessions--Revisited” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Among the 74 commandments (47 negative and 27 positive) that are found in parashat Kee Teitzei is the mitzvah of…
Tetzaveh 5776-2016
"Feeling the Pain of Others who are in Need" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat Tetzvah focuses almost entirely on the holy vestments that are worn by the כֹּהֲנִים, the lay and the…
Devarim 5778-2018
“The Final Rebuke" With this week’s parasha, parashat Devarim, we begin to read the fifth and final book of the Torah. The book of Deuteronomy is known in rabbinic literature as…
Matot-Masei 5764-2004
"The Mitzvah of Living in the Land of Israel" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In parashat Masei, the second of this week's double parashiot, G-d speaks to Moses in the Plains of Moab and…
Bo,Literacy,Weekly Message,Judaism,All Audience
Bo 5780-2020
“Rational Love and Emotional Love: A Lesson from Tefillin” (revised and updated from Bo 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bo, we read about…
Shavuot 5770-2010
"The Gift that Keeps on Giving" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Because of the holiday, the theme of this Torah message concerns the festival of Shavuot, rather than the weekly Torah portion,…