Toledot 5784-2023
Urgent message: Given the most challenging situation in Israel at this time, I urge all to pray for the bereaved families, the hostages, the missing and the many casualties. Please try…
Rav Saadia Gaon
Rabbi Saadia ben Joseph, known by the appellation Rav Saadia Gaon (Gaon, meaning light, was the honorific title given to the religious leader of the Jewish community in Babylon) is best…
Sources Commentators
Abarbanel (1437-1508, Spanish statesman, philosopher and commentator) Israel Abrahams (1858-1925) Achad Ha’Am (Asher Zvi Hirsh Ginsberg, 1856-1927) AJOP (Association for Jewish Outreach…
Celebrating Chanukah at the White House
When the Founding Fathers of the United States created the role of President, they created a chief executive who functions as both head of state and commander of the armed forces. In the…
Joosiers
Individual Jews first came to what is known today as the State of Indiana in the early years of the 19th century. Jacob Hays, who moved to Cahokia (now situated in Illinois) in 1822 was a…
Rav Saadia Gaon
Rabbi Saadia ben Joseph, known by the appellation Rav Saadia Gaon (Gaon was the title of the religious leader of the Jewish community in Babylon) is best known in history as a philosopher…
A Town Named Kaplan
Southwestern Louisiana is probably one of the last places in America that one would expect to find a town named “Kaplan.” Nevertheless, there it is in the midst of the Bayou, a town…
Shelach 5773-2013
"Tzitzit: The Unpretentious Mitzvah" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald At the conclusion of this week’s parasha, parashat Shelach, we learn of the mitzvah of Tzitzit, the fringes that are…
Vayeira 5772-2011
“Were Lot’s Daughters Moral or Immoral?” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Vayeira, Abraham famously bargains with G-d in order to save the cities of Sodom and…
Metzora 5771-2011
"We Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald On July 4th 1776, the Continental Congress adopted a statement written primarily by Thomas Jefferson, known as the…