Pinchas 5764-2004
"The Conundrum of Pinchas: Do His Actions Set an Unacceptable Precedent?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Pinchas, we encounter the final chapter of…
Matot-Masei 5761-2001
"Setting Our Priorities Straight" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming Shabbat, the double parashiot Matot and Masei will be read in synagogues throughout the world. In parashat…
Masei 5768-2008
"Optimism: The Call of the Hour" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With this week's parasha, parashat Masei, the reading of the Book of Numbers is concluded. Parashat Masei opens with a…
Rosh Hashana 5764-2003
"Making Each Day Count" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Rabbi Yehuda Leib Alter (1847-1905), the second Gerrer rebbe and leader of Polish Jewry, was also known as the S'fas Emes, which is the…
Sukkot I 5767-2006
"Sukkot - The Festival of Joy" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald The festival of Sukkot is regarded as the most joyous of all the Jewish holidays. In fact, there is not a single reference in the…
Shemot 5771-2010
“Pharaoh’s Three Counselors” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shemot, the intense suffering of the Israelites in Egypt begins. The rabbis of the Midrash are…
Acharei Mot 5771-2011
"The Unfathomable Practice of Molech Worship" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In Leviticus 18, the last chapter of this week's parasha, parashat Acharei Mot, we encounter a long list of…
Bamidbar 5771-2011
“Good Neighbors and Bad Neighbors” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bamidbar, we learn of the configuration of the camps of Israel that surrounded the…
Pinchas 5771-2011
"'Pinchas'--What’s in a Name?" Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Pinchas, we learn that G-d praises Pinchas, the son of Elazar, the son of Aaron the Priest, for…
Lech Lecha 5772-2011
“The Two Covenants” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Lech Lecha, we learn of two covenants, the Covenant Between the Pieces and the Covenant of Circumcision…