Shavuot 5770-2010
"The Gift that Keeps on Giving" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Because of the holiday, the theme of this Torah message concerns the festival of Shavuot, rather than the weekly Torah portion,…
Shavuot 5780-2020
“The Anonymous Holiday” (updated and revised from Shavuot 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This Thursday night, Friday and Shabbat, the joyous festival of Shavuot will be…
Shavuot 5760-2000
"The Anonymous Holiday" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald This Thursday night, Friday and Shabbat, we will celebrate the joyous festival of Shavuot. On the Hebrew calender it is the sixth and…
Tithe Means Tenth
Ideally, people would have no qualms about supporting those in need. The Torah, however, recognized that charity is not necessarily a person’s first instinct and therefore specifies a…
Bechukotai,Weekly Message,Behar
Behar-Bechukotai 5762-2002
"The Extraordinary Mitzvah of Tzedaka, Charity" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Once again, this week, we read two combined parashiot Behar-Bechukotai. In the first of this coming week's…
End of Year Gift Exchange
There is a great deal of gift-giving going on at this time of year. Beyond friends and family, many feel obligated to give end of the year gifts to local specialists (such as one’s hair…
Answering The Appeals
There they sit, the pile of unopened solicitations and appeals. Direct marketing charity drives are the modern replacement for the communal tzedakah (charity) appeals of the…
Answering The Appeals
There they sit, the pile of unopened solicitations and appeals. Direct marketing charity drives are the modern replacement for the communal tzedakah (charity) appeals of the past. Food…
Terumah 5776-2016
“Charity–the Only True Possession” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Terumah, we read of the Israelites’ overwhelmingly generous response to the appeal for…
Toledot 5762-2001
"The Deception of Isaac" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Toledot, we encounter in Genesis 27 the well known story of Isaac's attempt to bless Esau.…