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.
Vayakhel Pekudei: The Heart of a Relationship
The Ark
It was a building party. Hammers banging on anvils, saws cutting through wood, artisans weaving designs, all crafting, fashioning, designing and building a magnificent home for G-d. They set up the structure and spread out her covers. They readied the altars, show table and candelabra, but before those could …
Terumah: Escapism Is Not A Solution
Build A Sanctuary
There is not a neighborhood in the world without drawbacks, nor a community without problems. No matter how lovely the school, synagogue or organization appears on the outside its flaws and fissures are always discovered when we make its acquaintance from the inside. There are always those, who …
Mishpatim: Dont Be Crass
Two Laws
If you catch a burglar in your home in the middle of the night and kill him, you are not guilty of murder by Jewish law even if the burglar didn’t draw a weapon. This is because it is logical to suppose that thieves in the night intend to …
Yitro: The Freedom App
The Freedom App
Writing an essay has never been more difficult. In the past you could seclud yourself in a corner with pen and paper and let your mind flow. Now we sit at computers connected to the internet. The strain of concentration wears the brain and we are tempted constantly …
Beshalach: Prayer – The Interface Of Love
An Age Old Question
Prayer is the oddest phenomenon. Human beings plead with G-d, who already knows what they want, who already considered and rejected their request before they ever made it and who made this decision for the very best reasons. And yet we ask an unchanging G-d to reconsider …
Tazria Metzorah: Our Clash Of Priorities
A Curious Order
Tzara’as was a skin condition prevalent in Biblical times. Our sages taught that rather than a physical illness tzara’as was a symptom of a spiritual malaise; it struck the gossip as a consequence of Lashon Hara.
Tzara’as exhibited in four places, on skin, hair, clothing and the walls of …
Emor: Win Them With Love
The Problem
We live in an age of twenty-four hour news cycles. The need to fill the air with constant news serves to lower the journalistic bar. The media used to award at least a measure of privacy to public figures. That age is long gone; today outing a prominent politician …
B’ha’alotcha: Timeless Moments
Never Again
“Time is money,” or so goes the common refrain intended to underscore the importance of every moment. You wouldn’t discard a dollar so why waste a moment? The point is well taken, but the comparison is not equitable. Time is not money, it is much more than money. A …