"Ten miracles were performed for our ancestors in the Beit Hamikdash...and no one ever said to his fellow, 'the place is too cramped for me to sleep…
Yom Ha'atzmaut: The Most Important Mitzvah
One of the Rambam's principles of faith is the eternity of the Torah. While historical circumstances may prevent the performance of certain…
Pesach: A Long Short Story
“And it was at the end of four hundred and thirty years, in the middle of that very day, that the legions of G-d went out from the land of Egypt” (…
Acharei Mot: Celebrating Pesach on Yom Kippur
It is quite rare to read parshat Acharei Mot on Shabbat Hagadol. In non-leap years, it is generally parshat Tzav that is read on Shabbat Hagadol. And…
Chanukah: Moving Home
On the surface, it is difficult to understand why we celebrate Chanukah, a festival commemorating the rededication of the Temple and Jewish…
Chanukah: Turkey and Latkes
Chanukah is a most popular holiday, even amongst “secular” Jews. For those living in Israel, the vastly outnumbered Maccabees defeating…
Sukkot: No Pain, No Gain
The Talmud classifies sukkah as a mitzvah kalla, a light and easy mitzvah. Where one must be almost deathly ill before one is permitted to eat…
Yom Kippur: 20/20 Vision
In trying to develop the potential of man, the Mussar movement[1] developed two different approaches to the sinning of man. One school of…
Rosh Hashanah: A Matter of Time
David, Karen, and Beca Bookman dedicate the Devar Torah in honour of our parents Leon & Ethel Bookman, Howard Libman, and in memory of Karen…
Tisha B'Av: Greetings
“Everything is dependent on mazal, even the sefer Torah in the ark”. Certain mitzvoth just luck out, being widely observed across the…
Shavuot: Whose Torah Is It?
The holiday of Shavuot is, outside of the observant Jewish community, a much-neglected holiday. It lasts only one day (two in the Diaspora), comes…
Some Thoughts on Yom Yerushalayim
"There are ten [levels of] holiness; the land of Israel is holier than all other countries, and what is its holiness? That we bring from it the omer …
Yom Ha'atzmaut: From Yom HaZikaron to Yom Ha'atzmaut
This d'var Torah is dedicated in honour of the participants in Chidon HaTanach, the 50th International Bible Contest taking place on Yom Ha'atzmaut…
Pesach: Shaping Tomorrow
Adam and Eve, Noach and his anonymous wife, Abraham and Sarah (and Hagar), Yitzchak and Rivka, Yaakov and his multiple wives, Moshe and Tziporah, all…
Asara B'Tevet: Torah in Translation
Language plays a crucial role in national identity. Those of us living in Canada know how sensitive issues of language can be. Theodore Herzl devoted…
Simchat Torah: Two Days or One?
This week’s d'var Torah is sponsored in honour of the 80th birthday of Bashi (Esther) Burack by her children and grandchildren. May she go from…
Sukkot: Leaving Home
"And you shall take for yourself on the first day a beautiful fruit of the tree, an unopened palm frond, myrtle branches, and willows and you shall…
Yom Kippur: The Month After
“For the sin we committed by wronging a neighbour, for the sin we committed by bribery, for the sin we committed in our business dealings”. On and on…