The Fall of the Wall
Today, November 9, is marked on some calendars as World Freedom Day in tribute to the anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The collapse of the iron curtain changed the world and…
Yitro 5779-2019
“An Encounter with Jethro and the Non-Jewish World” (Revised and updated from Yitro 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald At the end of last week’s parasha, parashat B’shalach (Exodus…
Uncategorized,Vayeilech,Nitzavim
Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5783-2023
“The Promise of Total Return” (updated and revised from Nitzavim-Vayeilech 5762-2002) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s double parashiot, Nitzavim and Vayeilech, are among…
The Golden Ages of Estonia
Estonia, one of the three Baltic states, has never historically hosted a large population of Jews, but the quality of its hospitality toward Jews and other minorities has been quite…
Jews in the Land of Lincoln
The first known Jewish resident of what is now the state of Illinois was John Hays, a grandson of a New York Jew, who moved west to Cahokia in 1793. Hays was a farmer and trader, who, in…
The Jewish Community of Vegas, Stays in Vegas! Jews of Nevada
When the territory now known as Nevada was acquired in 1848 after the Mexican War, “Forty-Niners”, headed west to mine for gold. By the late 1870s, there were about 1,000 Jews in Nevada,…
Changing Ukraine
Kiev, Odessa, Zhitomyr, Uman...the cities of Ukraine are places marked in Jewish history for both horror and hope. Jews have lived in Ukraine for well-over a thousand years, and there is…
Changing Ukraine
Kiev, Odessa, Zhitomyr, Uman...the cities of Ukraine are places marked in Jewish history for both horror and hope. Jews have lived in Ukraine for well-over a thousand years, and there is…
Changing Ukraine
Kiev, Odessa, Zhitomyr, Uman…these cities in Ukraine are places marked in Jewish history for both horror and hope. Jews have lived in Ukraine for well-over a thousand years, and there is…
Tetzaveh 5782-2022
“The Primacy of Jewish Education” (updated and revised from Tetzaveh 5763-2003) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In last week’s parasha, parashat Terumah, we read of the appeal that was made…