Kee Tavo 5764-2004
"The Centrality of Joy in Jewish Observance" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Parashat Kee Tavo is one of the two parashiot in the Torah that features the terrifying prophecies known as the…
Chukat-Balak 5769-2009
"The Ultimate Value of Human Life" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald On this Shabbat, throughout the diaspora, a double Torah portion, Chukat-Balak, is read. In Israel, however, only the…
Balak 5767-2007
"The Enemy Within" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald One of the most intriguing and perplexing patterns found in Scripture is the frequent emergence of evil from good and good from evil. Adam…
Genesis,Weekly Message,Shemini
Shemini 5771-2011
“The Death of Aaron’s Sons: The Midrashic Perspective” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Shemini, speaks of the “eighth day” of the Tabernacle consecration…
Emor 5764-2004
"The Blasphemer - A Midrashic View" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Emor, deals, for the most part, with the laws of the Cohanim--the Priests. These…
Shemot 5783-2023
“The Making of a Concerned Jewish Leader” (updated and revised from Shemot 5763-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald With the close of the Book of Genesis, the story of Joseph has come to…
Tazria,Weekly Message,Metzorah
Tazria-Metzorah 5769-2009
"And He Shall be Brought to the Priest" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In each of this week's double parashiot, Tazria and Metzora, we encounter similar verses asserting that a person…
Terumah 5768-2008
"The Museum within the Tabernacle" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Terumah, G-d tells Moses to speak to the people of Israel and instruct them to prepare for…
B’ha’alot’cha 5764-2004
"Searching for Eldad and Medad" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat Beha'alotecha, brims with many fascinating themes. So much so, that some of them get short…
Chukat-Balak 5762-2002
"The Paradox of the Red Heifer" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In Parashat Chukat, the first of this coming week's double Torah portion, Chukat-Balak, we learn of the inscrutable law of the…