Completing the Cycle of Talmud
In August 1923, weeks before the High Holidays, Rabbi Meir Shapiro, dean of the Chachmei Lublin Yeshiva in Poland, proposed that the entire Jewish world study a daily folio of Talmud (a…
Simchat Torah 5764-2003
"Celebrating Torah" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald Because of the festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, we do not read the normal Torah portion this week. Instead, on Sunday,…
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…
A Page A Day
The 7th of Cheshvan (today) is the yahrtzeit of Rabbi Meir Shapiro, the Lubliner Rav, who passed away in 1933. Although he died at age 46, he had by then changed the face of European…
Shavuot 5760-2000
"The Anonymous Holiday" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald This Thursday night, Friday and Shabbat, we will celebrate the joyous festival of Shavuot. On the Hebrew calender it is the sixth and…
Emor 5772-2012
"Lessons from a Priest’s Wanton Daughter" by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Emor, highlights the special status of the Kohanim, the priests, in the community of…
Shavuot 5780-2020
“The Anonymous Holiday” (updated and revised from Shavuot 5760-2000) by Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald This Thursday night, Friday and Shabbat, the joyous festival of Shavuot will be…
Bechukotai 5771-2011
"Peace--The Greatest of All Blessings" by Rabbi Ephraim Buchwald This week’s parasha, parashat Bechukotai, is one of two parashiot that include the Tochachah, G-d’s reproof of the Jewish…
Simchat Torah 5781-2020
“Celebrating Torah” (Updated and revised from Simchat Torah 5764-2003) by, Rabbi Ephraim Z. Buchwald Because of the festivals of Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah, we do not read…