 Season 2
New Season Starting These days, it seems like nothing has a shelf life longer than a week. Every day brings another superhero franchise, fashion trend, or dieting fad. News cycles shift by the hour, social media feeds and timelines by the second. With everything flickering, flashing, and constantly updating, it’s little wonder life sometimes feel so impermanent. For me, there’s no better way to slow things down than to pull back, if only for short while, and try to see things from a more timeless perspective. Our own Jewish traditions are filled with so many breathtaking insights, and they won’t fade away into irrelevance in a few days. Connecting to our own heritage, and ultimately to a divine wisdom, makes the all very human things we do feel richer, more meaningful, and part of something longer lasting. The Torah Studies program at Calgary JLI makes this happen every single week. Looking forward to greeting you at our In-person or online class,
Rabbi Mordechai Groner Classes are IN-PERSON  Monday, January 9 2023 Me or We? Is There Space for Both? It's a familiar tension that pops up all the time: Who should I prioritize: myself or someone else? Sometimes it seems impossible to do both. A close look at Moses's life and his thundering words to Pharaoh tell us that when G‑d is involved, "me and you" can both be served.  Monday, January 16 2023 Don't Fall Prey to the Gaslighter Sometimes the Best Strategy is to Simply Scream There's the truth, and then there are a million other versions. Usually, we know the truth. So when others come along and try to convince us otherwise, it's best to recognize them for what they are: lying, manipulating forces that deserve nothing more than a shout: "Get out of my life!"  Monday, January 23 2023 One Mitzvah for You, One Mitzvah for Me, One Mitzvah for Everyone Putting "Do a Mitzvah" on Everyone's Bucket List Do you have a bucket list of things you'd like to do at least once in your life? Many people have such lists. What they may not know is that "do a mitzvah" could well be the most important item to add to that list, for the entirety of Creation depends on it.  Monday, January 30 2023 Right Now You're Here-And Nowhere Else Investing Everything into the Task at Hand. And Then Moving On to the Next "Live in the moment" is a popular buzz phrase today. But what if the next moment is equally, or even more, important? The Jews' puzzling behavior with the spoils at the sea teach us an important lesson about this very question.  Monday, February 6 2023 The Theory of Everything Appreciating the Underlying Oneness in Everything-Including You We live in an incredibly fragmented world; everything and anything eventually seems to splinter, come apart, or disintegrate. What is the secret glue that holds everything together-in our lives, throughout the world, and over history? Discover the Theory of Everything.  Monday, February 13 2023 Positive and Pain Free If Judaism Is Hurting You, You're Doing Something Wrong Piety and asceticism have long been considered ideological allies. Indeed, fasting, abstinence, and a general disdain for the body and materialism are the assumed brand of the sincerely devout. But along came the Chassidic revolution and brought with it a somewhat brazen but ultimately beautiful version of Judaism that's yours to enjoy.  Monday, February 20 2023 When Time Stands Still There's Nothing Hypocritical about Your One-Off Good Moment One of the greatest challenges to meaningful change is the nagging feeling that whatever changes we make are only incremental and not reflective of our true selves. So why bother? When it comes to your relationship with G‑d, the surprising and refreshing truth is that every move carries infinite, timeless value.  Monday, February 27 2023 Get Out and Help Someone Else Public Service Is a Critical Part of Life In an era of self-development, self-actualization, and self-fulfillment, putting aside personal needs to help someone else is somewhat of a lost art. While Western society has shifted over the last century from the collective to the individual, Purim's other main character, Mordechai, teaches us to push back on the trend.  Monday, March 6 2023 What Do You Really Want? Finding a Map to the Real You We all want a lot of money, a big house, nice cars, healthy relationships, good vacations, and even a sprinkle of happiness and meaningful moments. But what do you really want? And how do you get there? Discover the formula for identifying and unlocking the real you.  Monday, March 13 2023 The Religious Creative Is Religious Lifestyle Compatible with Creative Self-Expression? Poetry, music, painting, liberal arts: none of these sound like the stuff of a devout religious lifestyle. Stories of tradition, conformity, and asceticism are the bread and butter of religion. Can the twain meet? Of course they can! Discover how.  Monday, March 20 2023 Is It Really a Mistake? Certain Mistakes Happen to Certain People What do our mistakes say about us? Is "It was just a one-time mistake" an acceptable defense? Discover the lesson taught by an errant leader in Temple times: Moral lapses are not just one-off events to be ignored because they go unpunished. Instead, reflect on what your mistakes mean about your life at large.  Monday, March 27 2023 Loyalty or Love: Which Do You Prefer? When Loyalty Is as Endearing as Love Is trudging through a relationship on brute commitment alone a good thing or bad thing? Well, it depends how you look at it. A detailed analysis of the leavening qualities inherent in the Passover matzah reveals that sometimes, loyalty and commitment are exactly the type of love we could all use. 
YOUR WEEKLY DOSE OF JEWISH INSPIRATION
Torah Studies is a program of the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute |
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