Lazer Gurkow

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Dec 6, 2024, 12:27 AM

Raise Your Children With Love

We don’t raise children; we raise adults. Our objective is not just for our children to observe our Jewish traditions and love Judaism while living in our home, but for them to embrace this path when they become adults....

Nov 25, 2024, 7:18 AM

Shaming A Child to His Father

Two young ladies were sitting on a bus chatting about their mutual friend who was engaged to be married. They reviewed her negative habits and traits and chortled that if only her fiancé knew the half of it, he...

Nov 19, 2024, 5:47 PM

The Sacred Body Returns to Earth

Humans are the only ones who treat their dead with dignity and inter them. All other species leave their cadavers to rot on the ground. Humans place them in the ground. The first burial is described in this week’s Torah...

Nov 11, 2024, 3:55 AM

Pointers on Hospitality

This week, we read about Abraham’s hospitality, a story that offers many beautiful lessons. Let me begin by pointing out how profound this Mitzvah is. Abraham was visited by G-d Himself when the angels showed up. Abraham did not know...

Oct 21, 2024, 6:46 AM

The First Simchat Torah After The Massacre

October seventh, 2024, was not the first time Jews suffered a Simchat Torah Massacre. The first Simchat Torah massacre occurred in Fourteenth Century Cracow, and left a lasting impression. According to multiple accounts, this pogrom occurred during the Simchat Torah...

Oct 8, 2024, 7:29 AM

Yom Kippur: The Power of Confession

Jokes about confession abound, but confession is no laughing matter. Judaism takes confession seriously, especially on Yom Kippur. In Judaism, confession is an intensely private affair. It is only between you and G-d. No one else is invited or...

Sep 30, 2024, 10:36 PM

Rosh Hashanah: Are We a Religion of NO?

One of the famous passages of the Rosh Hashanah liturgy is, “I remember the kindness of your youth, the love of your nuptials, you followed me into the desert, a land that is not planted” (Jereimah 2:2). This is our...

Sep 25, 2024, 9:52 PM

It is time for your spiritual ECG

After several bouts of dizziness and lightheadedness, I was booked for an ECG and given a Holter Monitor to wear for 72 hours. This was my first experience with an ultrasound of my heart, and I had all kinds...

Sep 15, 2024, 4:49 PM

Are you a parasite?

Parasites live inside or on organisms of other species and feed off them. This is why parasitism is the ultimate insult. It means that you don’t provide for yourself, let alone contribute to others. You steal from others for...

Sep 8, 2024, 9:42 AM

Cancelling the Cancel Generation

We are told not to judge a book by its cover, but most of us do. In their inimitable way, our sages tell us, “Don’t look at the cask; look at the wine. Aged casks can be filled with...

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About Me

Rabbi Lazer Gurkow, a renowned lecturer, serves as Rabbi to Congregation Beth Tefilah in London Ontario. He is a member of the curriculum development team at Rohr Jewish Learning Institute and is the author of two books and nearly a thousand online essays. You can find his work at www.innerstream.org