Beauty and The Greeks
What does Noah’s son Yaphet have to do with the story of Chanukah and the mitzvah of circumcision? When the Syrian-Greeks sought to force Hellenization on the Judeans, one of the first…
Simeon, the Son of Jacob
Leah named her second son Simeon (ben Jacob), saying “Because God has heard that I am unloved, He has given me this one also.” Simeon, a “hot-blooded youth,” often reacted quickly and…
Curses Turned To Blessings
“How glorious are your tents, Jacob, your dwellings, Israel. As valleys stretched out, as gardens by the river-side; as aloes planted by God, as cedars beside the waters” (Numbers…
The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service
While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately find their source in Judaism.…
Favoritism
“A person should never discriminate among his children even to the extent of a thread [garment] weighing only two weight-measures of silk, similar to that which Jacob gave to Joseph but…
Kee Tisah 5781-2021
“Reverence for Learning in Jewish Tradition” (updated and revised from Kee Tisah 5763-2003) In this week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tisah, we read of the fateful sin of the Jewish people…
The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service
While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately find their source in Judaism.…
The Thanksgiving Synagogue Service
While Thanksgiving is most certainly an American festival of gratitude, its founders prominently articulated its religious underpinnings, which ultimately traces to a source in Judaism.…
Vayigash 5761-2001
"Joseph Helps His Brothers Repent" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Maimonides, the great Jewish codifier and philosopher (1135 - 1204) writes at the beginning of the second chapter of the Laws…
Chukat 5768-2008
"The Death of Aaron" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week's parasha, parashat Chukat, we learn of the death of Aaron, the High Priest of Israel. Numbers 20:20-29 relates that the…