The Torah’s Mr. White — By Ben
Whether it is Breaking Bad’s Walter White, Harvey Keitel’s character in Reservoir Dogs, or the Casino Royale Bond villain, there’s something about naming a bad guy Mr. White. You might think […]
Author Archives: eltram
Facing Unpleasant Truths — By Ben
When I lived in Manhattan I had this job at a restaurant near the Natural History Museum. The management was abusive, the tips were abysmal, the brunch shift was a […]
Chayei Sarah – How a Wedding is Like a Funeral – By Ben
There’s a line in Koheles (Ecclesiastes 7:2) that basically says, If there’s a choice between going to a wedding and a funeral. Go to the funeral. The reason being that nothing connects […]
The Hardest Test – The Binding of Isaac
Akeidas Yitzchok, the near sacrifice of Avraham and Sarah’s only son at the command of Hashem… I know I frequently begin my posts with “this may be the most troubling […]
Finding Who You Were Meant To Be — By Ben
I had rationed my time perfectly. It was the Thursday before the final Shabbos of the year when I sat down at 8:30 pm to write. I had made a […]
Noach – Ignoring the Forecast — By Ben
The story of the flood is always a bit of a hot button issue. The science minded find much to doubt in how animals from all corners of the globe […]
Bereishis – The First Rejection — By Ben
Bereishis is one of my favorite parshas in the Torah. I started learning Hebrew simply by reading the first chapters and comparing it to multiple translations. The nuances of the […]
Succos – The Woman With the Yarmulke — By Ben
It was almost a month ago when I noticed a woman wearing a bright yarmulke as I pulled into the parking lot of my usual Starbucks. I’m not going to […]
The Four Days After Yom Kippur
I’m davening maariv, the evening prayer, immediately following the final moments of Yom Kippur. We’ve not broken the fast, we’ve not even done havdalah, but as I’m praying, all I […]
Yom Kippur – The Maybe Mindset — By Ben
Yom Kippur is upon us once again. A looooooooong day of fasting, fretting, apologizing… we all know the drill by now. But in all seriousness, Yom Kippur is a tremendously […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 