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September 19, 2023 – 8:31 pm | 60 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 Vayera

The Jewish Sole

November 5, 2022 – 10:02 pm | 1,106 views
jewish soul

Have you ever heard of a Jewish sole? Not a Jewish soul, a Jewish sole. No, I am not talking about a fish, nor am I not talking about a sole individual. I am talking about the undersurface of a Jew’s foot.
On two occasions, the Torah tells us that G-d …

Vayera: Too Perfect?

October 16, 2021 – 9:48 pm | 926 views
perfect-innerstream.ca

Is “too perfect” a thing? Have you ever worried about being too perfect? Most of us worry that we aren’t perfect enough. But I know of at least one person who worried about being too perfect. Our collective grandfather, Abraham.
The Torah tells us that Abraham recovered from his circumcision in …

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 …

Vayera: The Moral Sense

November 9, 2019 – 9:24 pm | 1,311 views
moral-sense-innerstream.ca

The moral sense is the innate human conviction that kindness and fairness are good, and cruelty is bad. We can’t explain why this is so, but if anyone would claim that cruelty is good and challenge us to explain why it is bad, we would throw up our hands in …

Vayera: Hospitality

October 27, 2018 – 10:51 pm | 1,516 views
hospitality-innerstream.ca

Hospitality has historically been a Jewish virtue. It has its roots in the very beginning of Jewish history. Abraham, the patriarch of the Jewish people was renowned for hospitality. Not only did he invite and provide for wayfarers, he made a point of making them feel welcome. He conveyed a …

Vayera: All About Me

October 29, 2017 – 12:44 am | 2,559 views
all-about-me-innerstream.ca

News was made last week, when a ninety-year-old Jew in Ukraine elected to be circumcised.[1] Of course, this was hardly the first time something like this occurred. The first time, was when our forefather Abraham did it at the age of ninety-nine.
Beyond the removal of the foreskin, what is the …

Vayera: Finding G-d

November 12, 2016 – 10:05 pm | 2,396 views
finding-g-d-innerstream.ca

Easier Said Than Done
A priest was baptising children at the ocean when a Jew walked by. The Priest asked, if he would like to be baptised and the Jew agreed. The priest grabbed him and put him under the water. Ten seconds later he gently brought him up and asked …

Vayera: Your Daily Sacrifice

October 30, 2015 – 2:11 pm | 2,608 views
sacrifice - innerstream.ca

One Or A Thousand
Which is harder, death by execution or death by a thousand cuts? Chananiah MIshael and Azariah were pious Jews held captive in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar offered them a choice between idol worship and death. They chose death and were thrown into a cauldron. Miraculously they survived, but the …