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 …
Read the full story »Geed Hanasheh—Sciatic Nerve
Geed hanasheh is the sciatic nerve, a sinew in the hip that Jews are forbidden to eat. Many know that kosher meat must be slaughtered and salted. Not many know about neekur, the intricate process that entails the removal of the animal’s forbidden parts, including the geed hanasheh. In fact, …
Vayetze: Find Our Calling
To find our calling is the hallmark of life. Life isn’t a generic formula that can be applied to everyone equally. Each life is unique; each life story is highly individual. As children, we live with our parents and family, but as we grow and mature, we venture forth and …
Toldot: Rebirth
Rebirth means to reexperience the novelty, excitement, innocence, mystery, and magic of birth even after many years of life. A baby’s birth, such as that of Jacob and Esau described in this week’s Torah portion, is a majestic moment. Everyone present is enchanted by the miracle; the creation of something …
Chayei Sarah: The White Beard
The white beard and old age seem to go together. It is not surprising that they share the same cognate in Hebrew; a beard is zakan and old age is zaken. The Torah tells us that Abraham became zaken. Our sages combined the two meanings by saying that until that …
Vayera: Too Perfect?
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 …
Lech Lecha: Anything You Want To Be
“Anything you want to be,” is a phrase parents often say to their children. You don’t need to accept any limitations; they are all artificial. If you put your mind to it, you can be anything you want to be.
Sometimes children misunderstand and think that they can snap their fingers …
Noach: Ignoring Others
Ignoring others is something we do when we become overly engrossed in ourselves. It often happens when we experience distress and difficulty. We revert inwardly, shrink into ourselves, become self absorbed. We aren’t intentionally ignoring others; we are just too focused on ourselves to let others in.
The truth is that …
Bereshit: No More No Less
No more no less, is an aphorism that implies that you are doing just fine. There is no need to adjust. You are on the right path, headed in the right direction, and at the right speed. You don’t need to do more than you are already doing, and you …
Parsha Insights »
Behar: Alone In The World
Entebbe
Next month will mark the fortieth anniversary of Israel’s finest hour, the hostage rescue at Entebbe. When the crisis began in June of 1976, Israel firmly believed that the fate of the Jewish hostages was the legal responsibility of France, under whose flag the airplane had flown when it was …
Yearly Cycle »
Yearly Cycle: Invitation
Welcome to Innerstream's “Yearly Cycle” section, where essays are posted on Jewish holidays and other days of note.
If you would like to explore any of these essays please click on one of
the links in the “Yearly Cycle” section of the menu, on the left side of
your screen. The menu also …
Concepts »
Crystals of Life
A Celestial Impact
On Friday, October 9, 2009, NASA scientists intentionally crashed a 2.2 ton rocket into the moon to determine whether water exists on our closest celestial neighbor. The rocket’s impact – it came in at 5,600 mph, twice the speed of a bullet – threw up 772,000 pounds of …
Rabbi’s Desk »
The Passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
It has been around a year since the world has lost a great leader with the passing of Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. Who will be his successor?
There will be millions beginning with me and you.
Rabbi Sacks was a unique and leading voice among rabbis in our generation. His keen intellect and …
