You Border on the Adriatic
For many Americans, knowledge of Albania may derive from a famous scene in the sitcom “Cheers,” where “Coach” helps “Sam” study geography via the use of songs. They did this by singing,…
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.…
Toledot 5783-2022
“The Deeds of the Fathers are Signposts for the Children” (updated and revised from Toledot 5763-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Toledot, we read, for…
World Hello Day
In 1973, Brian and Michael McCormack created World Hello Day as a reaction to the Yom Kippur War (what is this reference to YK war?). College students at the time, the brothers started a…
Placing A Veil
One of the most beautiful customs of a traditional Ashkenazi wedding is the ceremony known as the badeken. The term badeken* is Yiddish for covering, as this is the moment when the bride…
A Friendly Emperor
On November 17th in the year 331 C.E., Flavius Claudius Julianus (also known as the Emperor Julian) was born. He was the son of the half-brother of Constantine, the first Roman Emperor to…
A History of the Jews of Morocco
Jews have lived in Morocco for thousands of years. Jewish nomadic tribes integrated into all aspects of Moroccan life even before the Mohammedan conquest of Morocco, which occurred in the…
A Diplomat to Romania
In July 1944, it was announced that a new Liberty ship under construction was to be named for Benjamin Franklin Peixotto (November 1834-September 1890). The descendant of a distinguished…
Chayei Sarah 5783-2022
“The Torah’s Recipe for Finding a Proper Mate” (updated and revised from Chayei Sarah 5763-2002) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald One of the critical issues facing contemporary American…
Hail the Holy Pomegranate
The pomegranate is a funny sort of fruit. Rather than eating the flesh and throwing away the seed, as a person does when eating an apple or orange, pomegranate seeds are eaten and the…