Bereshith 5782-2021
“Being Moral in an Increasingly Immoral Environment” (updated and revised from Bereshith 5763-2002) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Bereshith, is one of the…
Terumah 5770-2010
"Earning a Meaningful Living" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat Terumah is the first of the five concluding parashiot of the book of Exodus that describe the building of the…
Terumah 5769-2009
"The Delicate Balance" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Terumah, begins a series of four and a half parashiot that deal extensively with erecting the Mishkan,…
Vayeitzei 5775-2014
“Twenty Years in the House of Laban” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, Jacob follows his parents’ advice to leave home in order to escape the wrath…
Holy Water
There are so many unique components to Jerusalem. Its holiness is celebrated by multiple religions. However, one primary difference between Jerusalem and other ancient cities is that it…
Today I am a Man, Sort Of
In today’s day and age, it is difficult to fathom how the rabbis could deem a twelve or thirteen year old child even remotely mature enough to be considered an adult. In truth, however,…
Irish in Fairbanks
In 1910, while visiting her family in her native town of Dublin, Jessie Spiro was introduced to her second cousin, Robert Bloom. He was eight years her senior and had spent the last…
A Brilliant Mind
In an era when most young women were encouraged to find a proper husband, Rita Levi-Montalcini (a combination of the last names of her father and mother) dreamed of a career in medicine.…
Miami Moves
If your second thought (after “hot”) when someone says Miami is “lots of Jews,” then you might be surprised to learn that in the not-so-distant past, the city was not always welcoming to…
The Elder of Slabodka
One who chooses to study the history of the development of the twentieth century rabbinic leadership will likely come across the name “Slabodka.” The town for which the renowned yeshiva…