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March 16, 2024 – 11:20 pm | Comments Off on Purim: A Nation United41 views

The die was cast. King Achashverosh granted Haman a genocidal license against the Jewish nation. Mordechai was one of the first to learn of the plot and he appealed to Queen Esther for help. Esther explained that it was dangerous even for her to enter the king’s chambers unbidden. Mordechai …

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Articles in Vayera

The Power of Unity

October 28, 2023 – 9:24 pm | Comments Off on The Power of Unity355 views
power-of-unity

The power of unity is palpable across the holy land these days. It is an incredible shift from how things were less than a month ago. For many months, Jews were screaming at each other in support and in protest of the government’s planned judicial overhaul. The invectives hurled were …

The Jewish Sole

November 5, 2022 – 10:02 pm | Comments Off on The Jewish Sole1,339 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 | Comments Off on Vayera: Too Perfect?1,116 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 | Comments Off on Vayera: A Person of Destiny1,219 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 | Comments Off on Vayera: The Moral Sense1,491 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 | Comments Off on Vayera: Hospitality1,647 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 | Comments Off on Vayera: All About Me2,873 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 | Comments Off on Vayera: Finding G-d2,529 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 …