Articles by Lazer Gurkow
Yitro: One People
Shortly after arriving at Mount Sinai, the Torah tells us that the Jewish people were like one people. The Torah says that he (rather than they) settled near the mountain. Rashi, the famous biblical commentator, pointed out the anomaly and observed that at that point they were singular; like one …
Beshalach: The Trust Test
Trust is a fickle thing. It is hard to build and it can shatter in a moment. Once shattered, it is painstaking to rebuild. If this is true of trust between people, how much more so trust in G-d?
The Torah tells us about a trust event that occurred in the …
Bo: The Army
Every country has an army, and every army serves a country. The question is who is in charge, the army or the country?
You see, militaries are tricky things. On the one hand, they give the country power and stability, on the other hand, they can easily assume power. This is …
Vaera: G-d is in Control
G-d is in control, is a mantra I have long lived with, but it came into sharp relief in the recent past. Last week, my family and I emerged from quarantine. Everyone in our household tested positive for COVID and thank G-d, we all recovered. We are most grateful for …
Shemot: Diaspora Judaism
Diaspora Judaism has been a problem for the community of nations from time immemorial. It is a unique phenomenon that only the Jew has experienced. Exiled from our country for nearly two thousand years, we stubbornly refused to assimilate and to dissipate. We clung tenaciously to our Jewish identity and …
Vayechi: To Be Alive
Are you among the living or are you alive? To be among the living means that we are breathing, and functioning—we are not dead, but neither are we fully alive. To be alive means to pulsate with the energy of life. To be fully attuned to life.
After Jacob, our patriarch, …
Vayigash: Stuck in 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 …
Chanukah: The Unstable Flame
Oils that produce an unstable flame may not be used for Shabbat candles because Shabbat candles must be stable and pleasant. An unstable flame that rises and dips, a flame that is constantly on the verge of extinction causes anxiety and Shabbat candles are meant to be peaceful and pleasing.
However, …
