Weekly Message,Vayeira

Vayeira 5782-2021

 “The Akeida” (updated and revised from Vayeira 5762-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald It took quite a few years of preparing weekly Torah messages for me to work up the courage to…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Connecting the Words

Jewish Treats looks at a renowned Jewish dictionary that has served scholars and students since the turn of the 20th century. A Dictionary of Targumim, Talmud Bavli, Talmud Yerushalmi and…

Read More

Lech Lecha,Weekly Message

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…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Meet Me At The JCC

If you ask a cross-section of Jews what they associate with the initials “JCC,” you may get a variety of answers. That is because the JCC offers a very large swath of services to a very…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah

Tonight, starts the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, literally the Gathering of the Eighth, a connected, yet independent holiday, that immediately follows Sukkot. During the seven days of…

Read More

Vayeilech,Weekly Message

Vayeilech 5782-2021

“Appreciating our own Inner Worth” (updated and revised from Vayeilech 5761-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Vayeilech, is almost always read together…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Symbolic Foods

Since Rosh Hashana is the Day of Judgment, it is customary to eat simanim*, foods with symbolic meanings that invoke God’s blessing. We also recite a short prayer before eating them.…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The Five Names of Rosh Hashana

In Jewish tradition, Rosh Hashana has several names that can help us understand the importance and power of this holiday. Rosh Hashana literally means “Head of the Year,” because Rosh…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Changing Ukraine

Kiev, Odessa, Zhitomyr, Uman…these cities in Ukraine are places marked in Jewish history for both horror and hope. Jews have lived in Ukraine for well-over a thousand years, and there is…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Flying High

There is no telling to what heights Arthur Welsh might have soared, had he not perished in the crash of the Wright Model C plane that he was testing with Leighton Wilson Hazelhurst, Jr.,…

Read More