Articles by Lazer Gurkow
Rabbi Lazer Gurkow began his career at the tender age of fifteen when he was invited to congregations the world over to deliver guest sermons and to lead services. Rabbi Gurkow received his Rabbinic ordination through the Chabad Yeshiva system and was ordained in 1995 at the United Lubavitcher Yeshiva in Brooklyn, New York. With his easy, informal manner of presentation, Rabbi Gurkow engages his audience and leads them on provocative journeys of thought. He has lectured on many topics and was invited to speak to audiences Israel, Europe, Australia and throughout North America. Gifted with the ability to present the complicated in easily understood language, Rabbi Gurkow has lectured successfully to University students and community groups. A prolific writer, he is the author of more than six hundred articles that appear regularly in both on line and print publications. He is the author of a weekly Torah essay that is distributed via email and is published on numerous websites. He is the author of www.innerstream.org, a web site devoted to presenting the inner stream of meaning within Torah and he was a long-standing Scholar in Residence with Askmoses.com. Rabbi Gurkow serves as Rabbi to Congregation Beth Tefilah and resides in London Ontario with his wife and five children. Rabbi Gurkow is available to lecture to your community and is prepared to tailor his talk to the needs of your audience. You can reserve Rabbi Gurkow for an evening lecture on the subject of your choice or for a full Shabbaton weekend. For more information or to learn more about Rabbi Gurkow's lecture titles and fees you may contact him directly at rabbi@innerstream.org.
Lech Lecha: Trickle Down Religion-omics
Top Down or Middle Out
A debate rages across the United States about the best way to jump start an economy. Some believe in the top down solution; offer tax relief to job creators so they can pump more money into the economy. Others believe in the Middle Out solution; increase …
Noah: Money is Just a Tool
The Olive Symbol
The flood had lasted for forty days and forty nights. The rainfall and water surges were relentless, nothing and no one was spared, even the mountaintops were flooded. But the rains tapered off and the waters receded. The ark, adrift on an endless ocean, floated aimlessly for months.
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Bereshit: Finding Fault
Not Again
We have emerged from the High Holidays energized and filled with enthusiasm. Last year’s shortcomings were all catalogued, confessed and forgiven. Atonement has been secured and we celebrated for a full week. We concluded the festive season by chanting the final portion of the Torah, thus completing our annual …
Bereishit: The Constructive No
Obsessed with Prohibitions
The Torah is obsessed with the word No; don’t do this, refrain from that, this is negative and that is dangerous. For every one “do” there are ten “don’ts.” Take Shabbat for example. Its only positive commandment is to sanctify the day; all others are negative. Don’t drive, …
New Year Greeting 5773
I wanted to write a Rosh Hashanah greeting and was casting about for a new spin, something that would make this year’s greeting stand out, when I realized that it’s not the greeting that should stand out, but the year.
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Simchat Torah: On Foot
The Odd Celebration
Simchat Torah is a festive holiday. We carry the Torah scroll around the Bimah (Torah reading table) and dance the night away. The reason for this great joy is the completion of our annual cycle of Torah reading.[1] Every Shabbat we chant a portion from the Torah and …
Sukkot: Can We Top Yom Kippur
The Nature of Return
It happened once on the day after Yom Kippur that Rabbi Yosef Yitzchack Shneerson, the sixth Rebbe of Chabad asked his father, Rabbi Sholom Ber, “what now?” How do we top the pinnacle of holiness that we experienced on Yom Kippur? His father replied, “Now the work …
Rosh Hashanah: L’chaim – To Life
Annual Allotments
On Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of the world’s creation or more specifically the creation of humanity, the creator sits in judgment of the world He created. Every year He judges anew, are we worthy of another year? Does His little project, the one we call the universe, deserve a …
