Eikev,Weekly Message

Eikev 5779-2019

Eikev 5779-2019 “Feast or Famine--What Judaism Says About Food” (Revised and updated from Eikev 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   In this week’s parasha, parashat Eikev, the…

Read More

Weekly Message,Bereshith

Bereshith 5780-2019

How to Achieve Immortality the G-dly Way (Revised and updated from Bereshith 5760-1999) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   What could be more perfect or more harmonious for the human…

Read More

Acharei Mot,Kedoshim,Weekly Message

Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5780-2020

"Who is Truly Religious?” (Updated and revised from Parashiot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5761-2001)   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   This week’s parashiot, Acharei Mot and Kedoshim,…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Who Was Hagar?

Stating simply that Hagar was the second wife of Abraham and the mother of Ishmael simplifies an incredibly complex character whose emotions and motivations are fleshed out in the Oral…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Ezer K’negdo

Today’s Treat begins with a short, sweet story about the great Tzaddik of Jerusalem, Rabbi Aryeh Levine, and his wife, Hannah. One day, Mrs. Levine hurt her foot and needed to see a…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service

While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately find their source in Judaism.…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Holiday Greetings

The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” ("May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly…

Read More

Jewish Treats

By Your Side

There are many metaphors in Jewish tradition that are meant to help a person understand the spiritual consequences of one’s actions. In a world in which reward and punishment for one’s…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Holiday Greetings

The standard pre-Rosh Hashana greeting of “K’tiva v’chatima tova” ("May you be written and sealed for good”) is deduced from a Talmudic discussion concerning the three heavenly…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Facing Adulthood as a Nation

Most governments recognize age 18 as the age of legal adulthood at which a person assumes full responsibility for his/her life. They no longer need a parent or guardian’s permission for…

Read More