Articles by Lazer Gurkow
B’ha’alotcha: Just Because
My Favorite Card
The flower shop sells all kinds of cards. Congratulations, sympathy, bereavement etc. My favorite is the, “Just Because” card. You can say it with flowers for all kinds of reasons. Because your wife did or said something special. Because your wife gave birth. Because your wife turned forty. …
Behaalotcha: The Miracle of Marriage
Sibling Rivalry
When word reached Zipporah that two new prophets had been identified among the Jews, her response was a quiet murmur, “Oh, I feel for their wives, I hope their marriage won’t end as mine did.“ Her sister in law, Miriam, overheard and asked her to explain. Zipporah replied that …
Naso: The Trump Phenomenon
Why Trump?
America is in the grip of a serious Trump phenomenon. There are times when voters take leave of their senses and take fanciful flights to lands of folly. Logic and rationale are powerless against these movements. Certain notions take hold and you can argue till you are blue in …
Bamidbar Give and Take
Give and Take in Life
When my great aunt was a little girl she lived in a large apartment. Times were difficult, many of her family’s friends were homeless and she was routinely asked to give up her bed for someone in need. One day she complained to her father about …
Shavuot: A Four Step Program
In preparation for Shavuot, we present Judaism’s four step program. Everything that G-d created can be used for constructive or destructive purpose. It can be unifying or divisive.
Take walls for example. Are walls good or bad? Ronald Regan became world famous when he challenged Mr. Gorbachev to take down a …
Bechukotai: Labor over Torah
True Labor
The first Mitzvah that the Almighty singles out for reward in our Parsha is that of Torah study.[1] But we aren’t rewarded for the mere study of Torah. We are rewarded for laboring over the Torah. It has been pointed out that this is the only instance where labor …
Bechukosai: The Gender Crisis
Gender Issues
Even if you live in a cave somewhere in the mountains of Tibet, you have likely heard of the North Carolina Bathroom Bill that requires people to use the bathroom of their birth gender. This law has sparked a gender crisis because there are increasingly those who don’t identify …
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 …
