Kedoshim 5776-2016
“Tattoos" In Parashat Kedoshim the Torah proclaims the prohibition of making cuts on one’s skin as a sign of mourning and forbids drawing permanent tattoos on the body. Scripture, in…
Metzorah,Weekly Message,Tazria
Tazria-Metzora 5778-2018
“Looking at Tzara’at from a Different Perspective” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s double parshiyot, Tazria and Metzora, deal almost exclusively with the issue of the…
Acharei Mot,Kedoshim,Weekly Message
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5780-2020
"Who is Truly Religious?” (Updated and revised from Parashiot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim 5761-2001) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parashiot, Acharei Mot and Kedoshim,…
Emor 5768-2008
"Creed or Deed" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The two opening chapters of parashat Emor, Leviticus 21 and 22, deal with laws that pertain to the Kohanim (priests) and to safeguarding the…
A Scholar and a Playwright
As the epicenter of the Renaissance, Italy was filled with great centers of learning and creativity during the middle centuries of the last millennium. In one of these great centers of…
Jewish Buckeyes
In 1817, when a pioneering watchmaker, Joseph Jonas, settled in Cincinnati, OH, from his native England, a permanent Jewish presence in Ohio was established. The Cincinnati Jewish…
Israeli-German Relations
On the 11th of Iyar, 5725, corresponding to May 13, 1965, Israel officially established diplomatic relations with the Federal Republic of (West) Germany (FRG). This event is quite…
Lag Ba’omer
The period of mourning* (for the 24,000 students of Rabbi Akiva who died of plague) associated with Sefirat Ha'Omer is not observed on the 33rd day of the Omer, a day known…
Jewish Buckeyes
In 1817, when a pioneering watchmaker, Joseph Jonas, settled in Cincinnati, OH, from his native England, a permanent Jewish presence in Ohio was established. The Cincinnati Jewish…
What Happened in SHUM
While most people know about the horrors of the Crusades, many do not realize that there were, in fact, many Crusades over a period of four hundred years, and that most of these crusades…