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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 Sh’lach L’chah

My Business With G-d

June 22, 2022 – 11:24 am | 1,683 views
talit-innerstream.ca

Every morning before I don my talit, I contemplate my business for the day. By tradition, I separate out each of the thirty-two strings that constitute the tzitzit—fringes on my talit. The purpose is to ensure that they are not entangled or knotted and that they are all intact. However, …

Shelach: The Behavior Mirror

May 29, 2021 – 11:55 pm | 694 views
mirror

The mirror can be brutally honest. It reveals our beauty and our ugliness. It is not a good idea to stare in the mirror all day, but every so often it is good to take an honest look in the mirror.
When the Jewish people were in the desert, they found …

Shelach: To Smile or To Cry?

June 13, 2020 – 11:51 pm | 1,155 views
smile-innerstream.ca

The Torah relates a fascinating human-interest story about people who couldn’t help themselves and had to satisfy their curiosity. As is often the case, when we chase down our curiosities, they turn against us.
It had been more than a year since the Jews had left Egypt, and they were anxious …

Shelach: A Talit Meditation

June 23, 2019 – 12:05 am | 1,764 views
talit-innerstream.ca

The Talit is a shawl that we wrap around ourselves during prayer. It has four corners, from each of which, hangs eight fringes. Everyday, before we wrap ourselves in the Talit, we separate each fringe from the others and tighten the knots that bind them to the Talit.
As we run …

Sh’lach: Bad News

June 3, 2018 – 12:07 am | 2,080 views
bad-news-innerstream.ca

Why is bad news so ubiquitous? Wherever we turn we seem to hear another piece of bad news. This one has cancer, that one broke an arm, another lost his job, and another’s home was flooded. Why is there so much bad news?
The truth is that there is much more …

Sh’lach: The Tetris Effect

June 11, 2017 – 12:08 am | 1,942 views
tetris-effect-innerstream.ca

My Tetris Effect Moment
On a recent trip, I was waiting for an airport shuttle to take me to my hotel. When a white bus pulled up with the words “Homestead Hilton” painted on the side, I entered the van. To my chagrin I discovered that there are two Hiltons in …

Shlach: Gradual Growth

June 25, 2016 – 11:13 pm | 2,590 views
growth-innerstream.ca

The Struggle
In Canada and the US, this is the season of liberty as both celebrate Independence Day this week. Canada won its independence peacefully, but for the US it was a long struggle, one that proved beyond doubt that all growth is gradual.
The Colonists’ principle complaint against Great Britain was …

Shlach: Rewarding Excellence

June 25, 2016 – 11:08 pm | 2,961 views
rewarding-excellence-innerstream.ca

Right not Fair
When my son joined little league I was surprised that all teams, losing and winning, received trophies. I realize that no one wants to brand their team a loser, but if everyone is rewarded, effort and excellence are not incentivized. It is only by rewarding excellence that we …