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May 27, 2023 – 11:40 pm | 60 views

The kohen (priest) plays many central roles in this week’s Torah portion. Primary among them is the priestly blessing. G-d endowed the kohen with the power to confer blessing. It is a potent power. Imagine holding the keys to another’s fortune and happiness. If you choose, you can endow them …

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Articles in Vayigash

Come Down

December 25, 2022 – 10:54 am | 382 views
come-down-innerstream.ca

Today, I want to talk to you the time Joseph instructed his father to, “Come down to me.”
Joseph was viceroy of Egypt—the only country with food in a region otherwise plagued by famine. Joseph’s brothers came to procure food for their families, and Joseph tangled with them. After several days, …

Vayigash: Chutzpah

December 11, 2021 – 8:12 pm | 733 views
chutzpah-innerstream.ca

Chutzpah is a word that doesn’t need to be translated. Anyone who has ever had it knows exactly what it is. But it is also a word that doesn’t translate well. Audacity, nerve, gall, gumption, brazenness, and brashness, have all been used. But none of these do chutzpah justice. Some …

Vayigash: Stuck in Lockdown?

December 21, 2020 – 1:48 pm | 825 views
lockdown

Lockdown is a word with which we have sadly become all too familiar. Many countries around the world have experienced a second wave of COVID and implemented various forms of lockdown. Ontario in Canada just announced its own lockdown and as I write I am looking at 28 long days …

Vayigash: Debt of Kindness

December 29, 2019 – 2:24 pm | 1,590 views
kindness-innerstream.ca

Kindness is something that is usually given out of generosity. We don’t usually think of kindness as a debt. Yet, sometimes it is a debt. For example, if someone treats you kindly, they deserve to be treated kindly in return; you owe them a debt of kindness. If you owe …

Vayigash: Know It All

December 8, 2018 – 6:45 pm | 1,667 views
know-it-all-innerstream.ca

What do you do when you know it all? Life is only interesting when there is mystery. When we have questions to answer, theses to research, frontiers to explore, peaks to climb, depths to plumb, curiosities to quench, and knowledge to acquire, life has thrill and excitement. But what do …

Vayigash: Our Parents

December 18, 2017 – 11:52 pm | 2,125 views
our-parents-innerstream.ca

Do our parents have access to our lives? Do we share our secrets with them? Do they have unfettered access to our grandchildren, for example, do we let them take our children away on vacation?
Sadly, there are many people who grow up and shut their parents out. Some do it …

Vayigash: The True Meaning of Tolerance

December 31, 2016 – 11:40 pm | 2,567 views
the-true-meaning-of-tolerance-innerstream.ca

Can We Tolerate Tolerance?
Have you ever been in the ironic position where someone accused of lacking tolerance and in the process turned intolerant toward you? Sadly, such occasions are commonplace nowadays. Just think of the riots that swept America post election, when people rampaged and pillaged in the name of …

Vayigash: A Special Moment

December 15, 2015 – 10:44 pm | 2,475 views
special moment - innerstream.ca

The Reunion
Do you know the feeling of meeting up with your spouse after being apart for several days or even weeks? How about seeing your child come home from school for the first time in months or seeing family members that live halfway across the world? It is a giddy …