Vayeitzei 5773-2012
"The Complex Relationship Between Jacob, Rachel and Leah" In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, Jacob, who has fled from his father’s home in BeerSheba where Esau seeks to kill him,…
Eikev 5769-2009
"Feeding the Animals–Beasts and Humans" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Eikev, we encounter the well known second paragraph of the daily Shema prayer…
Tazria 5774-2014
“The Jewish Attitude Toward Healing and Medicine” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Tazria, opens with the laws concerning purification of a woman after…
Va’etchanan 5774-2014
“The Prediction of Return” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Va’etchanan, is always read after the Fast of the 9th of Av and after the conclusion of the period…
Vayeitzei 5777-2016
“The Great Deception” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, we learn how Laban deceived Jacob by giving him Leah, his older daughter, to be Jacob’s…
Vayeishev 5770-2009
"Joseph in Prison: The Commentators Fill in the Details" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald It's hard to believe that the story of Joseph and his brethren could become any more exciting. It…
Terumah-Purim 5761-2001
"Amalek, Purim and the Mitzvah of Getting Drunk" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Terumah, coincides with Parashat Zachor, the special reading from…
Bo 5779-2019
"Nothing Stands in the Way of Teshuva!" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As the parasha opens, G-d says to Moses, Exodus 10:1, בֹּא אֶל פַּרְעֹה: כִּי אֲנִי הִכְבַּדְתִּי אֶת לִבּוֹ, וְאֶת…
Kee Tisah 5779-2019
“The ‘Vengeful’ G-d” (Revised and updated from Kee Tisah 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tisah, we read of the infamous episode of the Golden…
In Your Own Place
Every person faces moments when he/she must act as a “judge.” Do so with as much merciful justice as possible.