5 March 2021 | Dvar Torah
One of the most commonly heard phrases in a school principal’s office is, “I didn’t do it”, second only to, “It wasn’t me”. Teaching children to take ownership of their actions so that they can take the steps necessary to make amends is no easy feat. We are asking...
28 February 2021 | Dvar Torah
The act of smiling requires a minimum of ten muscles, apparently much less than are required to frown. Furthermore, when you smile, these muscle contractions stimulate the nervous system to release neurotransmitters and endorphins that help fight stress, relieve pain...
14 February 2021 | Dvar Torah
Most of us choose January 1st as a good day to make changes. We resolve to lose weight, quite smoking, exercise more or spend less. Of course, this is the year that we will stick with it and make a real change. That said, statistics show that by the second week of...
8 February 2021 | Dvar Torah
We are currently in lockdown in Montreal and the pandemic does not seem anywhere near being over. Many are angry and frustrated by the limitations imposed upon us, by all that we cannot do or have, by where we cannot go and who we cannot see. Mental illness,...
31 January 2021 | Dvar Torah
There are times in our lives when we are thrown a curveball. All seems fine, days rolling one into the other, routines well in place, when a call or a piece of news will stop us in our tracks. Our innate need for some sense of control pushes us towards action. We want...
24 January 2021 | Dvar Torah
This past week I had the privilege of spending some time with our grade 5 class at lunchtime. Though I was truthfully filling in as a lunch monitor to help out, it was an opportunity to get to know the kids that I did not want to pass up. It was an enjoyable half...
21 January 2021 | Dvar Torah
There are times in our lives when we are thrown a curveball. All seems fine, days rolling one into the other, routines well in place, when a call or a piece of news will stop us in our tracks. Our innate need for some sense of control pushes us towards action. We want...
15 January 2021 | Dvar Torah
“I’m not stubborn, my way is just better!” We can call laugh at this statement, yet how many of us truly feel that way? And we do for just about everything from how to squeeze toothpaste (from the middle or from the bottom) to how we raise our children. We resist even...
9 January 2021 | Dvar Torah
Stephen Hawking, diagnosed with ALS at age 21 and eventually paralyzed from head to toe, became a world-renowned theoretical physicist, astrophysicist, cosmologist, and eminent scientist. Andrea Bocelli, born with congenital glaucoma which left him partially blind,...
17 December 2020 | Dvar Torah
The classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, tells the tale of two imposter tailors who create a very special suit for the emperor that would be invisible to “stupid people”. The emperor, impressed, parades through the town in his “new...
