Chanukah

- Chanukah Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, celebrates the great miracles that happened during the…

Vayeishev 5767-2006

"What's in a Name?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Vayeishev, we are privileged to encounter one of the great epic narratives of world literature, the saga…

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Vayeishev 5761-2000

"The Coming of Age of Joseph: from Lad to Bechor" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Vayeishev, we learn of the family of Jacob and of the terrible…

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Chukat 5774-2014

“The Inscrutable Statutes” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Chukat opens with the well-known and deeply inscrutable law of the Red Heifer (cow). In Numbers 19:2,…

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Chayei Sarah 5779-2018

“Abraham’s Eulogy for His Beloved Sarah”   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   In this week’s parasha, parashat Chayei Sarah, we learn of the passing of the Matriarch, Sarah, at age…

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Va’etchanan 5764-2004

"The Dialectic of Body and Soul" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Va'etchanan, we encounter several weighty and significant texts. Among the most prominent…

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Vayeishev 5780-2019

“The Coming of Age of Joseph: from Lad to Bechor” (edited and revised from Vayeishev 5760-2000)   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Vayeishev, we are…

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Bentching/Birkat HaMazon/Grace After Meals

Birkat HaMazonGrace After MealsBentching How easy it is, when we are wanting, to ask G-d for the food, to remember our “please…

Laws and Customs of Shavuot

ShavuotLaws and Customs Table of Contents Festival Laws The Book of Ruth Customs Shavuot is a low-key, pensive holiday,…

Emor 5764-2004

"The Blasphemer - A Midrashic View" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Emor, deals, for the most part, with the laws of the Cohanim--the Priests. These…

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