Lech Lecha,Weekly Message

Lech Lecha 5777-2016

“Abram’s Dispute with Lot” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Lech Lecha, we read of G-d’s call to Abram (his name has not yet been changed to Abraham) to leave…

Read More

Balak,Weekly Message

Balak 5771-2011

"Taking the Law Into One’s Own Hand" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald At the conclusion of this week’s parasha, parashat Balak, we learn that after Bilaam’s failed attempts to curse the…

Read More

Shavuot Recipes,RecipesRecipe

Marble Pumpkin Cheesecake

Marble Pumpkin Cheesecake Marble Pumpkin Cheesecake from Lucy K. Crust 1 ½ cups graham crackers, crushed finely (approximately…

Shelach,Weekly Message

Shelach 5780-2020

“The Torah’s Definition of ‘Power'” (Revised and Updated from Parashat Shelach 5761-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald. This coming week’s parasha, parashat Shelach, recounts the story of…

Read More

Jewish Treats

How Pharaoh Enslaved the Israelites

While reading the Book of Exodus, one might wonder at the swift descent of the Jewish nation from being the privileged family of the Viceroy, Joseph, to becoming downtrodden and abused…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Meet Me at the JCC

If you ask a cross-section of Jews what they associate with the “JCC,” you may get a variety of answers. That is because the JCC offers a large swath of services to a very large variety…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Ushpeezin (Oo’shpee’zin)

During the festival of Sukkot, the sukkah is intended to be our home. For example, since one would normally dine in the house, on Sukkot one dines in the sukkah. Because the sukkah is…

Read More

Jewish Treats

How Many Tribes?

The challenge to name the number of tribes of Israel would fall into the category of  “easy” by trivia fans. However, the term “The Twelve Tribes of Israel” can be enumerated in…

Read More

Jewish Treats

The 10th Cow

Parashat Chukat opens with the very cryptic and inexplicable law of the Red Heifer. This completely unblemished red calf, with no more than two non-red hairs, and that had never been…

Read More

Jewish Treats

Soles and Souls on the Danube

The Danube River is closely identified with the city through which it runs, Budapest, Hungary. Yet that river was defiled in late 1944. On March 19, 1944, the German army conquered…

Read More