Honoring Those Who Have Passed
Sometimes the world seems a bit like alphabet soup. There are the ever increasing abbreviations that are being made popular via texting (e.g. “ttyl”-talk to you later, and “imho”-in my…
Honoring Those Who Have Passed
Sometimes the world seems a bit like alphabet soup. There are organizations that function by acronym alone (such as NJOP -- the National Jewish Outreach Program, not to be confused with…
Vayishlach 5778-2017
“The Tragic Death of Mother Rachel” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayishlach, we learn of the untimely and tragic death of Mother Rachel as she was…
A Hero in Hollywood
Like many of the Jews who found success in the early decades of Hollywood show business, Ben Hecht (1893 - 1964) was the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. When Hecht was born, the family…
Catch-22
In honor of National Novel Writing Month: Joseph Heller is best known for his novel Catch-22, a satiric work whose title has become an idiom referring to a situation in which one cannot…
He Shall Be Praised
Many of us remember learning to write research papers in school. Critical to receiving a good grade was composing a proper concluding paragraph to serve as a summation. While the prayer…
Bereshith 5764-2003
"The Book of Humankind" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald More than 2000 years ago, the rabbis of the Babylonian Jewish community divided the Torah into 54 portions, and began the practice of…
Watch What You Say
One of the greatest figures in early-twentieth century Jewish life was a modest rabbi known as the “Chofetz Chaim” (Translation: He who desires life), in honor of his first published…
Bereshith 5783-2022
“The Book of Humankind” (updated and revised from Bereshith 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald More than 2000 years ago, the rabbis of the Babylonian Jewish community divided the…