G-d created the world through speech, and the words with which He created us are very much like flames. “Behold, my words are like flames” (Jeremiah 23:29). Flames don’t burn unless they have fuel to consume. The same is true of G-d’s words. “For G-d your G-d is a consuming …
Read the full story »Shemot: We Are One
The Organism
Why is it that when my shoes are too tight I get a headache? The human body works in interesting ways. An illness in one organ often presents symptoms in another and doctors have their work cut out for them. Their work would have been much easier if cardiac …
Vayechi: Let’s Stand Up For Eternal values
The Oldest Trade
A 2011 case in the Ontario Superior Court has attracted media attention. Practitioners of the oldest trade known to man argued in court that laws prohibiting their trade place them in harm’s way and are unconstitutional. A lower Ontario court agreed and struck down these laws, effectively decriminalizing …
Vayigash: Prayer – A Heart Stopping Reunion
The Spiritualist and the Pragmatist
We often talk of G-d. To describe our relationship we employ metaphors, such as husband or father that are inspiring to some and off-putting to others. For every person, who responds to the spiritual abstraction of this relationship, there are others that are left unmoved. They …
Chanukah: A Love Fest
The Arithmetic of Light
Every Jewish child masters the Chanukah arithmetic long before graduating from kindergarten. We light one candle on the first night, two on the second, three on the third, till we reach night number eight. In fact every child takes special pleasure in kindling their very own Chanukiah. …
Vayeshev: Revenge Is A Boomerang
It is Fated
It is an irony of fate that acts of revenge frequently backfire. The more spiteful the act, the grander its failure.
One of my favorite stories in Jewish lore is of a wealthy employer who was irritated by his Jewish employee, who frequently praised G-d, rather than the employer, …
Vayishlach: The Self Conscious Jew
The Wedding
What did King David mean when he wrote “I was forgotten from the heart like the dead, I was [remembered] as the vessel went missing?” (1)
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Vayetze: Are you Content?
A Reason to live
Are you content with life? You make a living, enjoy a circle of close-knit friends and are loved by family; does this suffice to contend?
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Toldot: On Being a Mentch
Fill Me Up – I’m Famished
Would you find it distasteful if I barged into your home while you were cooking stew, peeked into your pot and demanded, as Esau did of Jacob, “Pour some of that red stuff down my throat; I’m exhausted!” (1)
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Parsha Insights »
B’chukotai: Material Reward
An Obvious Question
This week’s Parsha begins with an assurance from G-d that if we observe his commandments he will grant us many rewards including prosperity, safety, peace and national sovereignty. Many commentators have wondered why all the enumerated rewards are of a physical nature, are we not destined for spiritual …
Yearly Cycle »
Rosh Hashanah and January First
Remarkably Different
The Rosh Hashanah celebrations differ greatly from those of the secular new Year. The first of January is a time for parties, Rosh Hashanah is welcomed with sounding the Shofar, somber prayers, and sobering thoughts.
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Concepts »
Ekev: Cancel Culture
Ekev: Cancel Culture
Cancel Culture is a phrase one hears a lot these days. Cancel culture is the idea that if you don’t agree or even appear to agree with my thoughts, I will cancel your very integrity, let alone your credibility.
The problem with cancel culture is that as one group …
Rabbi’s Desk »
What Can We Do?
These past two days have been the most difficult for our people in the last fifty years. It was Simchat Torah, a time for rejoicing, yet it was a time of horror. Nearly a thousand members of our family were brutally murdered, more than a hundred were taken hostage, and …
