Passover I 5782-2022
“Chametz, Matzah and Faith in Redemption” (Updated and revised from Passover 5763-2003) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week, the regular Torah portion is preempted by the upcoming…
Chol Hamoed
Most holidays in Western society last for a single day, which is often extended into the weekend. And, while most people are aware that Chanukah is celebrated for eight days, many people…
Prepare for the Final Celebratory Meal of Passover
The seventh day of Passover, which begins tonight, recalls the splitting of the Sea of Reeds and the Shira (Song of Crossing the Sea), which is tomorrow’s Torah reading. We will read Shir…
Take Me Out To The Ballgame
In 2006, the month of May was officially designated as Jewish American Heritage Month. And what better way to celebrate Jews in America than with a little bit of baseball? Certainly,…
Just One Mitzvah
If there's any universal message the Chabad movement would want absorbed in memory of the Seventh Rebbe, it would be to perform mitzvot (good deeds) and connect Jewishly. We are taught in…
Smashing the Tablets
The sages declare that five tragedies occurred on the Seventeenth of Tammuz, (Sunday, July 17th)* which is why the day is observed as a fast day. Days of what we might now call “bad…
Does the Torah Support the Belief in Extraterrestrial Life?
This Saturday, July 2nd, is celebrated, worldwide, as “World UFO Day.” On July 2, 1947, W.W. “Mac” Brazel discovered a metallic object on his Roswell, NM ranch. The U.S. government…
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…
Mother Rachel
The patriarch Jacob had four wives (all at the same time): Leah and Rachel and their handmaidens, Bilha and Zilpah. Rachel, however, was the wife that Jacob truly loved. In this week's…
Dinah, The Daughter of Jacob
Dinah, the seventh and youngest child of Leah and Jacob, was born the same year as her half-brother Joseph. In fact, the Talmud (Brachot 60a) notes that Leah specifically prayed for her…