Va’eira 5769-2009

"Why Didn't the Egyptians Rebel Against Pharaoh?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In parashat Va'eira, we learn of the first seven plagues that struck Egypt: Blood, frogs, lice, wild…

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Vayakhel-Pekudei 5780-2020

“Judaism Sanctifies Time, Not Space” (Updated and revised from Vayakhel-Pekudei 5761-2001)   by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald   On this coming Shabbat, two Torah portions are read,…

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Locate Your Friend and Ask for Forgiveness

Whether the creation of the wheel, and tools to create and advance civilization, or the discovery of penicillin or the polio vaccine, our lives have changed profoundly because of such…

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A Woman of Chemistry

If you or someone you love has ever been treated for leukemia, lupus or gout (or a host of other ailments) then you quite likely owe a debt of gratitude to Gertrude Elion (1918-1999), who…

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A Master Craftsman

There are people who are born with incredible natural talents - athletes who excel at every sport, inventors who innately know how to create and artists who are able to transform the…

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It’s Electric

In the early 1900s, rabbinic authorities had to determine exactly what electricity was from an halachic (Jewish legal) perspective. The first uses of electricity were, of course, for…

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Locate Your Friend and Ask for Forgiveness

Whether it was the creation of the wheel, and tools to create and advance civilization, or the discovery of penicillin or the polio vaccine, our lives have changed profoundly because of…

Read More

It’s Electric

In the early 1900s, rabbinic authorities had to determine exactly what electricity was from a halachic (Jewish legal) perspective. The first uses of electricity were, of course,…

Read More