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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 D’varim Parshah

Full of Hot Air

July 15, 2023 – 11:10 pm | Comments Off on Full of Hot Air454 views
hot air

This week we discover that Jews are full of hot air. The story of the spies is recounted by Moses in the first portion of the book of Deuteronomy. He relates the negative report that the spies brought back from Israel and the fact that Jews believed this report and …

A Shabbat Fast

July 30, 2022 – 11:52 pm | Comments Off on A Shabbat Fast896 views
fast-innerstream.ca

It is forbidden to fast on Shabbat. In fact, if we fast on Shabbat (even with halachic sanction) we must fast on a different day to atone for fasting on Shabbat. This is why the fast of Tishah Be’av—the ninth of Av, is postponed when it falls on Shabbat —as …

Devarim: Response to Suffering

July 10, 2021 – 10:35 pm | Comments Off on Devarim: Response to Suffering1,516 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, …

Devarim: The Rational You

July 18, 2020 – 10:45 pm | Comments Off on Devarim: The Rational You1,409 views
the-rational-you-innerstream.ca

The Torah is divided into two parts—the first four books and the last book. The last book is in a category of its own because it is largely written as if Moses were talking rather than as G-d talking. Rather than saying “Moses spoke” this book reads, “I spoke.”
However, before …

Devarim: Family Unity

August 4, 2019 – 9:03 pm | Comments Off on Devarim: Family Unity3,042 views
one-people-innerstream.ca

Family unity is the most important part of Judaism, and the most elusive. Why is that?
What are the Jewish people? We aren’t a race since there are Jews from all different races, white Jews, black, Jews, Hispanic Jews, etc. We aren’t a nation since there are Jews from all different …

Devarim: Too Clever

July 15, 2018 – 12:59 am | Comments Off on Devarim: Too Clever3,034 views
too-clever-innerstream.ca

Sometimes we are too clever for our own good. One such time occurred in the second century when Rome decreed that Jews in Israel may not study the Torah on pain of death. Yet, the Talmud relates that Rabbi Akiva continued to offer public Torah lectures.
When questioned by Papus Ben …

Devarim: A Healthy Waste

July 23, 2017 – 12:18 am | Comments Off on Devarim: A Healthy Waste2,560 views
waste-innersteram.ca

A Holiday
Joseph Stalin reputedly visited a Jewish inmate in prison who was rumored to foresee the future. Can you tell me, asked Stalin, when I will die? Well, replied the Jew, I can’t tell you the exact date, but I can tell you that will die on a Jewish holiday. …

D’varim: How Good Is Good?

August 6, 2016 – 11:57 pm | Comments Off on D’varim: How Good Is Good?17 views
unity - innerstream

When More Is Less
There is an old saying, “if good is good, is better not better?” Contrast that with the saying, “everything is good, but only in moderation.” Which is true?
Ice cream is good, but too much of it gives you a stomach ache. Vacations are good, but too much …