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Are You A Parasite?

September 14, 2024 – 11:21 pm | Comments Off on Are You A Parasite?51 views

Parasites live inside or on organisms of other species and feed off them. This is why parasitism is the ultimate insult. It means that you don’t provide for yourself, let alone contribute to others. You steal from others for your very existence.
In a sense, we are all parasitic. Every living …

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Cancelling Cancel Culture

September 7, 2024 – 10:18 pm | Comments Off on Cancelling Cancel Culture
cancel-culture

We are told not to judge a book by its cover, but most of us do. In their inimitable way, our sages tell us, “Don’t look at the cask; look at the wine. Aged casks can be filled with new wine, and new casks can be filled with aged wine” (Avot 4:20). Now, how many of us reserve judgment until we look under the lid?

We live in the Cancel Generation. When we want to dismiss people, we find a single inappropriate comment they made and use it to cancel everything they do or ever did. It doesn’t matter that they spent a lifetime doing good, that the inappropriate comment was a single misstep, or that the exception is different from the norm. We insist that the exception proves the norm: the rest of their lives are carefully constructed lies, and the single unguarded moment reveals their truth. Read the full story »

Have You Changed?

August 31, 2024 – 11:17 pm | Comments Off on Have You Changed?
Crabapple-Tree

We have a large crabapple tree in our backyard; it has been there for decades. Over the years, its beautiful branches have served as climbing apparatus for many young hands and feet, and its wonderful leaves have provided pleasant shade for many a gathering or a book reader.
Its spring blossoms …

When Good people Do Nothing

August 25, 2024 – 8:58 pm | Comments Off on When Good people Do Nothing
triumph

On Wednesday, August 21, more than a hundred Jewish institutions across Canada received bomb threats. More emails went on the next day. Thank G-d, the threats were empty. The police responded with alacrity and determined that the buildings were safe. The police continue to investigate to identify the IP address …

Count Your Blessings

August 15, 2024 – 8:27 pm | Comments Off on Count Your Blessings
one-hundred-blessings

Eikev: Protect A Nation
It is natural for Jews to bless G-d. We are raised from childhood to see G-d’s hand behind everything that happens in life. So, when good things happen, we thank G-d, when bad things happen, we pray to G-d. We bless G-d before we eat, and after, …

Finding G-d

August 14, 2024 – 5:54 pm | Comments Off on Finding G-d
baren-desert

This week we marked the anniversary of the destruction of the first and the second Holy Temples in Jerusalem. This is without question the saddest day in the Jewish calendar. On this day, on the ninth of Av, we reflect on our exile and the many troubles we experienced. We …

Be An Unselfish Star

August 3, 2024 – 11:09 pm | Comments Off on Be An Unselfish Star
Star

Shortly before his passing, Moses translated the Torah into all the extant languages of his time. The Torah could now be read and understood in Egyptian, Hittite, Assyrian, Aramaic, etc. This was considered a good thing. Many years later, the Greek King Ptolemy commissioned seventy-two Jewish sages to translate the …

Israel’s War is My War

July 27, 2024 – 11:18 pm | Comments Off on Israel’s War is My War
Israel-war

“Will your brothers go to war while you sit here?”
After our ancestors conquered the lands on the East bank of the Jordan River, the tribes of Rueben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, asked for permission to settle there. The wide-open grasslands were perfect for pasture and these tribes were shepherds. …

Going Against Your Grain

July 20, 2024 – 11:25 pm | Comments Off on Going Against Your Grain
against-your-grain

Pinchas went against his grain when he slayed the Jewish prince Zimri who was openly cohabitateing with the Midianite princess Kazbi. Kazbi’s father, a powerful Midianite prince, coerced her into venturing among the Jewish men as a common harlot. Zimri, a Jewish prince grabbed her by the hair and dragged …

Lift Up, Don’t Put Down

July 6, 2024 – 11:26 pm | Comments Off on Lift Up, Don’t Put Down
lift-up

On occasion, we all need to correct or critique someone. It might be a colleague, employee, sibling, child, or even a spouse. How do you tend to do it? Would you say something like, “You’re doing it all wrong, here watch me,” or “Let me show you a more efficient …