Articles by Lazer Gurkow
Vayetze: The Jewish Oneness
Twelve Sons
Jacob had twelve sons, each was a little different from the others. But they were much more alike than Isaac’s or Abraham’s children were. They were different parts of the same spectrum. Different colors of the same rainbow. Intrinsically, they were one.
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Toldot: To Really Trust
Digging Wells – A Matter of Trust
Abraham fed wayfarers, Jacob herded sheep, and Isaac dug wells. Which would you rather do? The host is in a position to help others and make them happy. The shepherd provides for G-d’s creatures. The well digger provides access to water. If you could …
Chayei Sarah: Every Jew
Who Came first?
Do you remember when Al Gore took credit for inventing the Internet? You have to love it when people come along decades after something is in place and claim to have discovered it. Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, right? Wrong. Natives lived here for thousands of years before Columbus …
Lech L’cha: Are you Bored?
The Cause
We are a society accustomed to stimulation. We grow bored quickly. We surf from channel to channel, web site to web site, job to job and career to career. Hardly anyone still lives in the home of their youth. Most have moved multiple times since their first home. Routine …
Vayera: Your Daily Sacrifice
One Or A Thousand
Which is harder, death by execution or death by a thousand cuts? Chananiah MIshael and Azariah were pious Jews held captive in Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar offered them a choice between idol worship and death. They chose death and were thrown into a cauldron. Miraculously they survived, but the …
Tazria Mitzorah: A Sign of Love
The Walls Know
We love closed doors for the cover they provide; what we do behind them others can’t know and what they don’t know can’t hurt them. We can be irascible, immoral and impossible in private, yet parade in public as amicable, wise and generous and no one will be …
Tazria: Touched By Kindness
Am Ordinary Event
The other day something happened that meant little when it occurred, but upon reflection came to mean a great deal. I was entering the post office with a mountain of envelopes balanced precariously in my arms. Taking in the perilous state of my load a girl of perhaps …
Ki Tisa: The Anatomy of Fear
Two Fears
In his first inaugural address, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declared, “We have nothing to fear, but fear itself. “ (1) Contrast that with Moses, who proclaimed, in his final address to the nation, “All G-d your lord desires from you is that you fear him.” (2)
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