Chayei Sarah – Missing From Your Own Story — By Ben
It doesn’t take a Talmudic genius to notice something is off about the title of this week’s Torah portion Chayei Sarah. Literally translated “The lifetime of Sarah” the portion seems […]
Author Archives: eltram
Lech Lecha – The One You Can’t Reach — By Ben
Last week’s post had a question. When comparing two tzaddiks, Noah and Avraham, why is one known as the father of the Jewish people while the other is known for […]
Is a Rainbow a Good Thing? — By Ben
A few weeks ago, I was practicing Hebrew with my mom over Facetime (as is our Friday morning ritual). Usually we practice the prayer for healing, or the shema, or […]
One More Day – Shemini Atzeres — By Ben
Whenever I would leave home to go back to college, or New York, or wherever I was living as an adult, when my dad drove me to the airport there […]
Yom Kippur – That’s Not How You Do Teshuvah — By Ben
Perhaps you’re familiar with the above sentiment. Out of nowhere you get a call/text/Facebook status update asking for forgiveness for anything your friend/acquaintance/relative might have done to you in the […]
Rosh Hashanah – The Work You’ve Already Done
Rosh Hashanah is a difficult holiday to wrap our heads around. At the forefront there is the notion of being inscribed in the Book of Life and God’s judgement. And […]
Ki Seitzei – A Dangerous Double Standard — By Ben
It’s two weeks before Rosh Hashanah (Can you believe it? Ach!). Clearly Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year. Except in Judaism we have two New Years (actually four, but […]
Elul – It’s Your Move — By Ben
Shortly after I had started becoming observant, I was with my family at an event. As a whole my family has always been supportive of my choices, whether that has […]
Don’t Change the Torah. So What are Rabbinical Mitzvahs? — By Ben
In this week’s Torah portion Re’eh, we get the paramount instruction from God to, “Be careful to observe everything which I am commanding you, you shall not add to it […]
Eikev – Why Shema Is So Long — By Ben
Shema isn’t a prayer. Colloquially we tend to refer to any words meant for God as prayer. That can mean requests, praise, or gratitude. But None of those sentiments are […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 