Rabbi's Message

This week, we study the vestments worn by the High Priest as he performed his service in the Temple. The High Priest represents the epitome of holiness; he is the closest a human can be to G d. Selected to represent the entire nation in prayer, supplication, offering, and song to the Almighty, he embodies divine service. He is G d’s servant par excellence, the earthly manifestation of G dliness. His vestments were carefully designed by G d down to the finest detail. This is b

People often say, “Your body is a temple.” But they rarely finish the sentence. Whose temple? Is it your temple or G-d’s? By instinct, we treat our body as our own. It is the instrument of our will. If I want to ski, I send my body hurtling down a slope. If I want to eat, I feed it. If I want to read, I make it sit still for hours. My body obeys. It is a loyal servant, and I am responsible to care for it — to keep it clean, clothed, and healthy. But that is a shallow way to l

What is your morning routine? For billions of people around the world, it involves a familiar sequence of activities: exercising, showering, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, checking social media, and rushing off to work. Then there is the Jewish way to start the day. Jews begin with Torah study and prayer. The first words out of our mouths are a thank you: Thank You, G-d, for returning my soul to me. We thank G-d for our sight, our strength, our ability to walk, to dress,

Jealousy is a corrosive force. It compels you to measure your intrinsic value against other people’s achievements. We know, intellectually, that G-d made each of us unique. My face, my voice, and my thoughts are not identical to anyone else’s. I stand out; no one is exactly like me. But there is a flipside to that uniqueness. Because I am unlike anyone else, I am also woefully inept at replicating what others do. I cannot explain things exactly like my neighbour. I cannot wri