Everyone Does the Wave
One of the main mitzvot of the holiday of Sukkot is the waving of the Four Species: citron (etrog), palm branch (lulav), myrtle (hadassim) and willow (aravot). Trying to understand this…
Shemini Atzeret & Simchat Torah
Tonight starts the holiday of Shemini Atzeret, literally the "Gathering of the Eighth," a connected, yet independent, holiday that immediately follows Sukkot. During the seven days of…
A Meaningful Act of Kindness
We are all at a loss of how to deal with the tragic unfolding events in Israel. On the one hand, we feel helpless seeing the horrific images from Israel and reading the tragic stories…
Prayers for Israeli Soldiers
These are difficult days for the Jewish people. Vivid print descriptions and horrific images are being circulated of the atrocities committed against Jews living in Israel in recent days.…
The Story of Chanukah
Around the year 167 B.C.E., the Syrian-Greek rulers of Judea tried to force the Jews to assimilate into Hellenic culture. They summoned the Jews to the town squares where they were forced…
The Chanukiyah
The term “menorah” is used for both the classic symbol of the holiday of Chanukah and the great seven-branched candelabra that was built in the wilderness following explicit Divine…
Random Acts of Kindness
An entire generation of North Americans hear the words “random acts of kindness” and immediately think of Oprah Winfrey. Without question, the former queen of afternoon television has…
Pidyon Ha’ben – Redeeming the Firstborn
“You must redeem the firstborn of a person…when he is one month old, for the value of five silver shekels” (Numbers 18:15-16). God sanctified the firstborn male Israelites when He…
Finally Buried
On the 4th of Adar 1307, corresponding to today’s Hebrew date, the Maharam of Rothenburg was buried in the Jewish cemetery in Worms, fourteen years after his death. The rabbi’s remains…
Tetzaveh 5784-2024
“A Flame in Every Jewish Heart" (updated and revised from Tetzaveh 5765-2005) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Tetzaveh, focuses primarily on the design and…