Vayigash 5780-2019
“The Reunion of Jacob & Joseph: An Immortal Lesson about Love” (updated and revised from Vayigash 5760-1999) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayigash, we…
Vayigash 5778-2017
“Jacob’s Enhanced Joy from Joseph His Righteous Son” In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayigash, after 22 years of separation, the elderly Patriarch Jacob, is reunited with his…
Vayechi 5784-2023
Urgent message: Given the most challenging situation in Israel at this time, I urge all to pray for the bereaved families, the hostages, the missing and the many casualties. Please try to…
B’shalach 5766-2006
"The Bones of Joseph" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week's parasha, parashat B'shalach, opens with millions of Israelites, many of them former slaves, departing from Egypt. At this…
Genesis,Vayeishev,Weekly Message
Vayeishev 5773-2012
“Heaven-Sent Spices” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeishev, we read of the sale of Joseph by his brothers, to merchants who eventually bring Joseph to…
Mikeitz 5760-1999
"Who is Osenath the wife of Joseph?" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Mikeitz, Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dream and is elevated to be mishne la'melech,…
Vayeitzei 5773-2012
"The Complex Relationship Between Jacob, Rachel and Leah" In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeitzei, Jacob, who has fled from his father’s home in BeerSheba where Esau seeks to kill him,…
Rabbi Shmuel Salant
On the 29th of Av, 1909, corresponding to August 16th, Rabbi Shmuel Salant, Jerusalem’s long-time Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi, passed away. Rabbi Shmuel was born in 1816 in Bialystok, then…
Rabbi Shlomo Ganzfried and the Abridged Code of Law
When rabbinic authorities make halachic (Jewish legal) rulings, they generally consult the Shulchan Aruch (Code of Jewish Law), a compendium of halacha written in 1563 by Rabbi Joseph…
The First Rabbi In America
The first ordained rabbi to serve in an American congregation was Rabbi Abraham Joseph Rice (originally Reiss, 1802-1862). After studying in Germany, in Wurtzburg and then Fuerth, Rice…