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September 19, 2023 – 8:31 pm | 59 views

Get your head in the game is a common refrain among athletes. Distraction is the last thing athletes can afford. It interferes with their rhythm, disturbs their focus, and wreaks havoc on their stamina. Coaches are often overheard telling players to get their heads in the game.
Judaism is no different. …

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Articles in Tragedy

Are We Children or Chosen?

August 5, 2023 – 10:54 pm | 202 views
chosen

Are we G-d’s children or G-d’s chosen?
On the face of it, one be both, but when you think about it, you see that we must choose. Choices can only be made between two equal options. When the options are unequal, there is no real choice—you obviously opt for the superior …

Jewish Pride in Times of Despair

October 29, 2022 – 9:04 pm | 487 views
Jewish pride

When G-d told Abraham to travel from the home he had built in Haran to Israel, he and Sarah gathered their household and went. Who were the members of their household? The Torah tells us that it was Lot, their nephew, and the souls they had made in Haran.
Who were …

Geed Hanasheh—Sciatic Nerve

November 13, 2021 – 10:30 pm | 4,296 views
geed-hanasheh-innerstream.ca

Geed hanasheh is the sciatic nerve, a sinew in the hip that Jews are forbidden to eat. Many know that kosher meat must be slaughtered and salted. Not many know about neekur, the intricate process that entails the removal of the animal’s forbidden parts, including the geed hanasheh. In fact, …

Devarim: Response to Suffering

July 10, 2021 – 10:35 pm | 1,208 views
faith and suffering - innerstream

Suffering is sadly familiar to Jews. We have a long and painful history of suffering. Our sages taught that the Torah was given on Mount Sinai because Sinai is etymologically similar to sinah, which means hatred. From the day that we were chosen to become a light unto the nations, …

Matot Masei: The Three Weeks

July 3, 2021 – 11:42 pm | 806 views
three-weeks

We are in a time of year called the three weeks. During this time, Jerusalem was sacked twice, once by the Babylonians circa 420 BCE and again by the Romans in 69 CE.  Each time, our enemies struck directly at the Jewish heart by destroying the Temple. The Babylonians destroyed …

Passover and Mashiach

March 30, 2021 – 12:19 am | 921 views
Mashiach-innerstream.ca

Passover commemorates the first redemption of the Jewish people from exile. I am sure it was fun to celebrate Passover while we enjoyed the fruits of that redemption, while we were living in Israel, free and independent in our land. But sadly, our people have been exiled again several times …

Vaera: G-d is in Control

January 9, 2021 – 7:22 pm | 941 views
G-d is in control

G-d is in control, is a mantra I have long lived with, but it came into sharp relief in the recent past. Last week, my family and I emerged from quarantine. Everyone in our household tested positive for COVID and thank G-d, we all recovered. We are most grateful for …

Vayera: A Person of Destiny

October 31, 2020 – 8:26 pm | 1,064 views
destiny-innerstream.ca

Sodom would soon be aflame, and Lot and his family were being shepherded from the city. It was not his destiny to die that night. It was his destiny to live. But why?  Lot thought it was on account of his good deeds, but that wasn’t the case. It was …