What Happened in SHUM?

While most people know about the horrors of the Crusades, many do not realize that there were, in fact, many Crusades over a period of four hundred years, and that most of these crusades…

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Re’eh 5781-2021

“The Elusive Blessing of ‘Peace’” (updated and revised from Re’eh 5763-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s Torah portion, parashat Re’eh, contains some of the most exalted…

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Va’eira 5782-2021

“Can We Question G-d and Get Away with It?” (Updated and revised from Va’eira 5762-2002) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Va’eira, opens with G-d’s response to…

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Remember to say “Thank You”

Tonight, after enjoying a delicious meal in honor of Shabbat, recite Birkat Hamazon, the Grace After Meals. In Deuteronomy 8:10, we are told V’achalta v’savata, u’verachta, that you will…

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A Scholar and a Playwright

As the epicenter of the Renaissance, Italy was filled with great centers of learning and creativity during the middle centuries of the last millennium. In one of these great centers of…

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