How to Lend a Cup of Sugar
A cup of sugar, a couple of eggs or a few onions. These are the types of items that neighbors often lend to one another without a second thought. As a good neighbor, a borrower will often…
Lend A Hand
If you see a neighbor with too many bags and bundles, offer to help them out.
A Loan For Charity
Giving charity is one of the best known precepts of “religious” life. Making loans, however, is not. The Torah instructs (Deuteronomy 15:7-8) that if there is a needy person within your…
Kedoshim 5774-2014
“The Prohibition of Taking Revenge” by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald In this week’s parasha, parashat Kedoshim, we find the ever-popular verse of Leviticus 19:18, וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ…
Kee Tavo 5762-2002
"A Contemporary Interpretation of an Ancient Reproof" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Kee Tavo, is one of two parashiot in the Torah that are known as…
Kee Tavo 5781-2021
“A Contemporary Interpretation of an Ancient Reproof” (updated and revised from Kee Tavo 5762-2002) This coming week’s parasha, parashat Kee Tavo, is one of two parashiot in the…
Mishpatim 5784-2024
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 to…
Bankrupt
The concept of forgivable bankruptcy--declaring one’s self legally destitute and thereby being forgiven of one’s major debts, is a recent development in history. Until the mid-1800s (in…
Jewish Professions
Are there certain professions that are “Jewish”? For instance, is finance a “Jewish business”? This is a strange question in the twenty-first century, when Jews can be found in a wide…
Mishpatim 5765-2005
"The Conundrum of Charity--Who Benefits More?" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This coming week's parasha, parashat Mishpatim, contains an abundance of interesting mitzvot. Among the 53…