Bereshith 5776-2015

“Seth--Adam and Eve’s Little-Known Son” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bereshith, murder is introduced to the world, and the first instance of fratricide is…

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Pekudei 5776-2016

“The Mishkan--the Tabernacle, as Collateral” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Pekudei, opens with a reckoning and accounting of all the precious materials that…

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Kee Tavo 5765-2005

"Contemporary Implications of an Ancient Ritual" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In our analysis of parashat Kee Tavo for 2003/5763, we reviewed the message of the extraordinary confession…

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Vayeilech 5761-2001

"Appreciating One's Own Inner Worth" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Vayeilech , is almost always read together with the preceding parasha, Nitzavim. They are…

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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…

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Passover I 5776-2016

“The Children, The Children!” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald As we have previously discussed (Passover 5760-2000), children play a central role in the Passover Seder and in the Haggadah.…

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Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5777-2017

“Judging Others Favorably” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat Kedoshim, the second of this week’s double parashiot, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, has 38 negative and 13 positive mitzvot and…

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Emor 5778-2018

“The Great Moses Seems Not to Know the Answer” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Emor, we encounter the episode of the מְגַדֵּף, megadef, the blasphemer, which…

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Vayikra 5768-2008

"Infallibility in Judaism" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Vayikra, we are told of the many types of offerings that were brought in the ancient Tabernacle. In…

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B’ha’a’lot’cha 5779-2019

“Giving Our Disciples A Firm Grounding” (Revised and updated from B’ha’a’lot’cha 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   In this week’s parasha, parashat B’ha’a’lot’cha, G-d speaks…

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