Terumah,Weekly Message

Terumah 5778-2018

“The Cherubs” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Terumah, we read of the many and varied materials that were donated by the people to build the Mishkan, the…

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Terumah,Weekly Message

Terumah 5780-2020

“The Centrality of Torah” (updated and revised from Terumah 5762-2002) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s Torah portion, parashat Terumah, G-d speaks to Moses and instructs him…

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Kee Tisah,Weekly Message

Kee Tisah 5780-2020

“The Levites and the Golden Calf: Transcending One’s Own Nature” (Updated and revised from Kee Tisah 5761-2001)   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   In this week’s parasha, parashat…

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Jewish Treats

The Fast of the 17th of Tammuz

Everyone knows about Yom Kippur. There are, however, several other fast days on the Jewish calendar that are not nearly as well known. (The fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which, this year,…

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Jewish Treats

Her Son Hur, His Grandson, and His Actions!

On the 15th of Tammuz, we observe the yahrzeit (anniversary of the day of death) of Hur, a relatively unsung hero from Biblical times, who was the first Jew to die al Kiddush Hashem,…

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Jewish Treats

The Tragedy of the Idol

Ever since Moses saw the Israelites dancing around the Golden Calf and smashed the two tablets of the law, the 17th of Tammuz has been an inauspicious day for the Jewish people,…

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Jewish Treats

The Fast of the 17th of Tammuz

Everyone knows about Yom Kippur. There are, however, several other fast days in the Jewish calendar that are not nearly as well known. On Sunday (July 1), the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz…

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Jewish Treats

The Fast of the 17th of Tammuz

Everyone knows about Yom Kippur. There are, however, several other fast days on the Jewish calendar that are not nearly as well known, including the Fast of the 17th of Tammuz, which will…

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Jewish Treats

The End of the Tamid Offering

In the year that the Israelites left Egypt, on the 17th day of Tammuz, Moses descended from Mount Sinai to find the Jewish people dancing around the Golden Calf. In exasperation, Moses…

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Jewish Treats

One Goat…and a Host of Other Things

Most American children know the play song There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly. It’s a fun song that has a building pattern that helps develop children’s memory skills. There was an…

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