Weekly Message,Behar,Bechukotai
Behar-Bechukotai 5770-2010
"Making a Reckoning" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In parashat Behar, the first of this week's double parashiot-– Behar-Bechukotai, the Torah teaches a remarkable law intended to protect…
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…
Pekudei 5760-2000
"Honesty and Integrity in Public Life" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, Parashat Pekudei, the Torah portion begins with an accounting of the amounts of gold,…
Chukat 5767-2007
"The Excesses of Rationality" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald One of the most common issues raised when analyzing a Torah text is the question of juxtaposition: why a particular parasha…
Yom Kippur 5760-1999
"How does G-d Judge?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald How does one prepare for Yom Kippur, the Day of Judgment, when our deeds of the past year, and especially the past week, are evaluated…
Toledot 5771-2010
“Isaac, the Man of Commitment” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we once again learn that a famine, like the one in the time of Abraham, afflicts the…
Mishpatim 5775-2015
“Injuring a Fellow Human Being” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Among the 63 mitzvot that are found in this week’s parasha, parashat Mishpatim, are the fundamental laws regarding personal…
Passover 5777-2017
“לֶחֶם עֹנִי --Lechem Oni: The Bread of Affliction by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Two primary scriptural verses provide reasons for eating matzah, unleavened…
Weekly Message,Behar,Bechukotai
Behar-Bechukotai 5778-2018
“Torah From Sinai” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The opening verses of parashat Behar, the first of this week’s combined parashiyot, Behar and Bechukotai, speak of the laws of Shemitah,…
Toledot 5779-2018
NJOP stands in solidarity with the Squirrel Hill community in Pittsburgh and expresses its profound condolences to the members and families of the Tree of Life Congregation who lost their…