Surviving and Leading
Although born in Hungary in 1904, Rabbi Yehoshua (Joshua) Menachem Ehrenberg was living in Krakow when the Nazis began their systematic destruction of European Jewry. The city of Krakow,…
The Tenth of Tevet, Asarah b’Tevet
And it was in the ninth year of [King Zeddekiah’s] reign, in the tenth month, on the tenth (day) of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, came, he and all his legions, upon…
Vayigash 5781-2020
“Joseph Helps His Brothers Repent” (updated and revised from Vayigash 5761-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Maimonides writes, at the beginning of the second chapter of the Laws of…
Vayeishev 5781-2020
“Judah, The Paradigm for Jewish Future” (Updated and revised from Vayeishev 5762-2001) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Vayeishev, is one of the most…
Lech Lecha 5781-2020
“Lot, Nephew of Abram: The Promise and the Tragedy” (updated and revised from Lech Lecha 2000-5761) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Lech Lecha, we encounter…
Yonah of Geronah
It is a fact of history that students have frequently been at the center of radical movements, often under the influence of a teacher or mentor. This was the case of Rabbi Yonah of…
Whosoever Is Wise
"Return, O Israel, for you have stumbled in your sin" (Hosea 14:2). Um, who has the remote control? Can someone please change the channel?! Let’s face it, none of us really want to hear a…
Post Labor Day Whites
When is it fashionably acceptable to wear white after Labor Day? On Yom Kippur! Many people have the custom of wearing white on Yom Kippur. In the synagogue you will often see women…
A Dictionary for the Days of Awe
In Maimonides’ Laws of Repentance, he invokes five important and pertinent terms in the first paragraph, that are worth defining. Teshuva – means return, but connotes repentance or…
Taking Stock
Use these days of Aseret Yemei Teshuva, the Ten days of Repentance, to take stock of, and address your past actions.