Bereshith 5776-2015

“Seth--Adam and Eve’s Little-Known Son” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Bereshith, murder is introduced to the world, and the first instance of fratricide is…

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Happy Birthday Adam

Adam Richard Sandler was born September 9, 1966 in New York City to Judith (Levine) and Stanley Sandler, who descended from Russian Jewish immigrants on both sides. When Adam was 6, the…

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Set Your Alarm Clock and Start the eve of Pesach early

There is much to do on erev Pesach (the eve of Passover). If you are a first born, you should participate in a celebratory meal (after a brit milah, pidyon haben or a siyum, the…

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Spiraling From Adam

“The Chosen People,” as the Jews are sometimes known, has been misunderstood by some as an indication that Judaism disdains those who are not Jewish. This, of course, is not true. Adam,…

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Make It Known

Let those close to you (next of kin) know your burial preferences.

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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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Dan, Son of Jacob

Rachel had Jacob’s heart, Leah had his children. For four long years, Rachel watched her sister give birth to son after son until she could bear it no longer. Frustrated but determined,…

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Bereshith 5779-2018

“Who was Enoch?” In this week’s parasha, parashat Bereishith, the Torah, in Genesis 5, lists the genealogy of humankind, enumerating the names of the ten generations of descendants from…

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Issachar, Son of Jacob

Before his death, Jacob gathered his sons to him and gave them each a blessing that specifically reflected their personalities and their futures. To Issachar, Leah’s fifth son, Jacob…

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Naphtali, Son of Jacob

After four years of marriage and desperate to have a child, Rachel gave her handmaid, Bilhah, to her husband Jacob to be an additional wife and to bear children in her name. Any children…

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