Yom Kippur: Get your head in the game
Yom Kippur.- It is an immersion that gets your head in the game. And it entails an acknowledgment that our heads were not in the game.
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Rabbi Lazer Gurkow
News and updates about Rabbi Lazer Gurkow
Nitzavim Vayelach: End of the Hakhel
On this hakhel Shabbat, let’s gather with others in genuine unity and friendship.
Ki Tavo: Two desires
What does it mean, did I not really want what I thought I wanted?
Shoftim: Saved by the law
With what perspective can judges administer punishment for sins?
Re'eh: Are we G-d’s children or G-d’s chosen?
G-d calls us His children and His chosen in the same breath. How does that work?
Devarim: Full of hot air
What did Moses say that caused our ancestors to change their minds?
The morning after
Admitting that we were wrong and that everything we said about another person sprung from our narcissism or insecurity is embarrassing.
Pinchas: Life Is not a game of Chance
On the surface, the Torah appears to play a game of chance in one of the most important decisions our people ever made, dividing the land.
Your list of flaws (Korach-Diaspora)
I challenge you to sit down and list all your strengths and flaws.
Behaalotcha (Diaspora): Live in the moment
The point is for our thoughts about G-d to take over our minds and lead us in directions we did not anticipate.
Naso (Diaspora): The Kohen's power
When kohanim offer their blessing, they must clear their minds and focus solely on being a channel through whom the blessing flows.
Every Jew is a letter in the Torah
But - we sink or swim together, just as a kosher Torah needs all its letters to be kosher.
Bamidbar: Follow the money
Moses counted the Israelites using the half shekel each had donated. Are the Jews just money?
Can there be charity without poverty?
How will this mitzva survive if we eradicae poverty?
Every Jew a High Priest - Acharei Mot
Did you know that during the era of the second Temple, all Jews were given a glimpse of the Holy of Holies?.
I wish I were a simpleton like the one in the Haggadah
The simpleton speaks the truth, but it is a sad truth.
Shabbat Hagadol: In God we trust
The Israelites relied on God, making this a great Shabbat for future generations to remember.
G-d Is calling
Life is not about me; life is about a much larger picture. If it were just me—what would it amount to? It is about G-d
Pekudei: The entitlement generation
The entitlement generation claims whatever they want as their entitlement. You have money and I don’t, so I am entitled to your money.
Tetzaveh: The Gift of a Birthday
Many think of birth as the beginning of our story, but it is not. It is only the beginning of a new chapter—our chapter on earth.
Are golden cherubs kosher?
If a cherub is okay, why not a golden calf? What is the difference?
Mishpatim: Why is the world in such a mess?
Why did G-d make a messy world only to dedicate an entire Torah portion to tell us how to clean up the mess?
Yitro: Torah demands ntegrity
No ego and no pretentiousness. Ego is an acronym for edging G-d out.
The courage to be free
We are beholden only to G-d. Nothing else. No one can take our freedom from us. Only we can take it from ourselves.- and how to avoid that.
Three sets of ten
We have the ten utterances of creation, the ten plagues, and the ten commandments. Is there a connection?
How could Joseph command his father: Come down to me
As viceroy, Joseph could have visited his elderly father, ensured he has ample food. What was the point of telling him to come to Egypt?
You are good
Today’s youth have an unquenchable sense of their own value even before accomplishing anything of significance. When did the change occur?
Vayishlach: G-d Is In our corner
Sometimes it feels as if Murphy’s Law is G-d’s Law. But that's not so.
Toldot: Who am I, Jacob or Esau?
The struggle of mankind.
Be proud that you are Jewish
In times of despair, when the journey seems endless, Abraham and Sarah showed that we can hold our heads high- and put a mezuza on our door!
The festival of unity
Since last year was a shemitah year, this year is a Hakhel year. Why is Sukkot is a propitious time for it?
Haazinu: Freedom of thought
Iti's odd to say that separating nations and fixing boundaries to keep them apart is a formula for unity. But unity is precisely that..
Shabbat Shuvah: The loving exam
The only way to repent for things we did wrong is to know them first and for this we must make an honest accounting. But don't stop there.
Nitzavim:To know or to prove?
When you follow something proven, you have no choice, no freedom; the arguments compel you. When you believe, it is your choice.
This Rosh Hashanah, be open to unity with differences
Most people would say unity without differences is preferable, but Judaism underlines unity with differences.
Shoftim: Changing for the better with G-d’s help
We are each expected to exercise judgement and restraint at our six gate points, the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. G-d is with us to help.
Elul: A month of refuge
Every Jew has a safe space to which they can retreat. A Rosh Chodesh essay for the month of mercy and forgiveness.
Ekev: A life of seasons
There is plenty of room for individual expression in Judaism. Perhaps not in the days of our calendar, but in the choices of life.
Vaetchanan: MyShabbat
Today we have Myoffice, Mydrive, my-everything, so why not MyShabbat?
Fasting without fasting
Are there elements of fasting on Shabbat the 9th of Av even though it is forbidden to fast on Shabbat?
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