BINA Living: Rabbi Levi Gourarie
This month’s classes:
BINA Living
Starts 9:20AM
There's a Branch Right Near You
Question: Someone asked me why we wave the Lulav in six directions – right, left, forward, up, down, backward. I didn’t really know…
What is the Biggest Threat to Judaism?
Question:I am teaching a high school class about threats to Judaism in the modern world. What do you see as the biggest threat to Jewish survival?
Want Good Return on your Honey?
Question: Every year on the night of Rosh Hashana, I like to share with my family a new thought about why we dip apple in honey…
Overcome Your Fear of Dogs
Question: Why are religious Jews scared of dogs? Whenever I walk mine past a frum family, all the kids hide behind their mother’s skirt in terror…
NOT NAIVE JUST LOVING
A gentile seeking to convert to Judaism once approached the great sage Hillel and said: “Teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.”…
The Matchmaker's Secret
Question: I guess I wasn’t supposed to be a matchmaker. I set up five couples, and none of them worked out. Most of them said I wasn’t even close…
A matter of convenience?
In this week’s Torah portion G-d instructs the people that after entering the holy land they are to appoint a Jewish king for themselves…
How Did Reproduction Evolve?
Question: I’ll tell you why I prefer science over religion. The Bible is riddled with contradictions and inconsistencies. To accept it you…
Can a Pregnant Woman Enter a Cemetery?
Question:I am currently 7 months pregnant, and a good friend’s tombstone consecration is coming up next week. I am not sure whether or not to go…
Your smelly soul
Question: What is the significance of the sniffing at the spices (“besamim”) during the Havdalah ceremony at the conclusion of Shabbat?
A VERB - NOT JUST A NOUN
Last week we suggested that gratitude is not a response to something positive, but rather a constant mindset and feeling of gratefulness for all the gifts…
Of Rodents and Relationships
Question: I have a problem with organised religion. Light candles, go to shul, eat this, don’t eat that etc etc. What sort of G-d demands these things from us?