Balak 5782-2022

“How Goodly Are Your Tents O’ Jacob” (updated and revised from Balak 5764-2004) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Balak, we read the dramatic story of the…

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Mishpatim 5784-2024

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…

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Passover 5771-2011

“At the Passover Seder We Are All Children” by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald In our previous discussions of Passover, we focused on the frequent emphasis on children, especially at the Passover…

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Kee Tisah 5777-2017

“The Gift of Torah"   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tisah, the Torah reports that G-d gave Moses two stone Tablets of Testimony that were…

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Bamidbar-Shavuot 5778-2018

“Counting a Very Special People” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   With this week’s parasha, parashat Bamidbar, Jews throughout the world begin reading the fourth book of the Torah,…

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The Trouble with Double

For some sisters who are particularly close, the idea of a double wedding may seem a romantic dream. Indeed, parents of such brides might contemplate such a wedding as an excellent means…

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Come My Beloved

The Talmud (Shabbat 116a) describes how the sages would greet Shabbat: “Rabbi Chaninah would wrap himself in his cloak and say: ‘Come, let us go and greet the Shabbat Queen.’ Rabbi…

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A Love Song For Shabbat

The relationship between God and the Jewish people is often compared to a marriage. This is one of the reasons why  Lecha Dodi (Come My Beloved)*, the refrain of which refers to…

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I Am To My Beloved

The Torah verse that epitomizes the emotion of love is: “Anee l’dodi v’dodi lee” - I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me (Song of Songs 6:3). The ideal love relationship…

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I Am To My Beloved

The Torah verse that epitomizes the emotion of love is: “Anee l’dodi v’dodi lee” - I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me (Song of Songs 6:3). The ideal love relationship…

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