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…
Kee Tisah 5764-2004
"Limitless Leadership" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Kee Tisah, we read of the fateful sin of the people of Israel with the Golden Calf. While the…
Chukat 5765-2005
"Moses gets Battered by the Commentaries" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this coming week's parasha, parashat Chukat, we learn of the sin of May Meriva, Waters of Rebellion, where both…
Passover II 5765-2005
"On the Seventh Day the Walls of Water Split" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald The Passover holiday is divided chronologically into two parts, the first days and the last days. It was on the…
Passover II 5779-2019
“On the Seventh Day the Walls of Water Split” (Revised and updated from Passover 5765-2005) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald The Passover holiday is divided chronologically into two parts,…
Passover 5780-2020
“The Essential lessons of Chametz and Matzah” (Updated and Revised from Passover 5763-2003) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week, the normal weekly Torah portion is preempted by…
The Sadducee King Yannai
Alexander Jannaeus (Yannai or Y’honatan in Hebrew) served as the second Hasmonean king of Judea from 103 BCE until his death in 76 BCE. The third son of John Hyrcanus, he succeeded his…
Who Was Rabbi Akiva?
Akiva ben Yosef was once an ignorant and illiterate shepherd. So poor and downtrodden a figure was Akiva that his extremely wealthy father-in-law disinherited Akiva’s wife, Rachel, for…
Thoughts on Shevat
Although the Torah implies that Abraham and his descendants are removed from the fate of the stars (based on Genesis 15:5, Nedarim 32a) - meaning that their personal destinies are not…
In Flows Shevat
Despite what one might expect, Jewish tradition does not dismiss the signs of the zodiac (Click here for a Treat on Jewish Months and the Zodiac). In fact, it is quite interesting to see…