Shelach 5760-2000
"Finding Meaning in the Rituals" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, Parashat Sh'lach, concludes with the well-known third paragraph of the Shema prayer concerning…
Korach 5760-2000
"Controversy verses Conflict" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, Parashat Korach, tells of the famed controversy between Korach and Moshe, which concludes with the…
Yom Kippur 5767-2006
"The Poetry of Yom Kippur" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In the year 1916, the great American poet, Robert Frost, penned a poem he entitled, The Road Not Taken. In this poem Frost talks of…
Tazria 5771-2011
“Childbirth and Ritual Impurity” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Our latest grandchild, Yosef Yehudah Berger, was born to our children, Ayelet and Gavriel Berger, on Thursday, March 10th,…
Shemini 5772-2012
"The Efficacy of the Oral Code" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shemini, we read of the first full sacrificial service that was offered in the recently…
Vayikra 5776 -2016
“The Gifts of the Kohanim-the Priests” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Vayikra, focuses on the animal sacrifices that were brought in both the Tabernacle and,…
Korach 5779-2019
“Controversy Versus Conflict” (Revised and updated from Korach 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Korach, tells of the ill-fated controversy between…
Kee Tavo 5779-2019
“Welcoming the Stranger” (Revised and updated from Kee Tavo 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tavo,opens with the ritual of bringing בִּכּוּרִים…
How Now, Red Cow
Every year, on the first or second Shabbat following Purim, a special reading from Numbers 19, is added to the regular Shabbat Torah reading. Known as “Parashat Parah,” the Torah reading…
Metzorah 5782-2022
“The Nidah--Affirming the Infinite Value of Human Life” (updated and revised from Metzorah 5763-2003) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Toward the end of this week’s parasha, parashat…