Shoftim 5780-2020
"Security for Citizens and Caring for Guests” (updated and revised from parashat Shoftim 5761-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Shoftim, we encounter…
Vayeitzei 5765-2004
"Rachel: Portrait of a Matriarch" Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, we are given perhaps the most extensive and most intimate view of Mother Rachel. We…
Bereshith 5781-2020
“The Origins and Meaning of Evil” (updated and revised from Bereshith 5762-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald After 9/11 and the World Trade Center terrorist bombings, we thought…
OMG! Passover is Coming
The intensive physical and emotional preparations for Passover come from one seemingly simple commandment: “Seven days you will eat only matzah, but on the first day you shall have put…
Bo 5781-2021
“The Slave Mentality” (updated and revised from Bo 5761–2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Bo, concludes the Torah’s narrative of parashat Va’eira, of the…
Tetzaveh 5781-2021
“The Korban Tamid--a Lesson in Consistency” (updated and revised from Tetzaveh 5762-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Tetzaveh, after a lengthy…
The Second Passover
On the first anniversary of the Exodus from Egypt, the Children of Israel prepared to celebrate their first Passover as free people. God decreed that they should eat matzah and maror…
Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel
The death of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, which occurred in 70 CE, on 20 Sivan, is part of the well-known and tragic episode of the deaths of the Ten Martyrs, that is included in the liturgy…
This Tomato Was Grown Where?
The view of Judaism is that humankind has the unique ability to synthesize the physical and the spiritual elements of life. Hence, Jewish law requires a person to recite a blessing over…
A Jar of Manna
As discussed in this coming week’s Torah Portion, parashat B’shalach, while the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, there were few things more miraculous than the manna, the food from…