Pesach – So We Left Egypt. Who Cares? — By Ben
As we prepare to celebrate Pesach, we once again return to the story of how God took our ancestors out of Egypt. We’ll do the two seders, abstain from chometz, […]
Author Archives: eltram
Vayikra – Sacrifices Shmacrifices — By Ben
This week’s Torah portion starts the book of Vayikra, aka Leviticus. It’s one of the less exciting parts of the Torah, in that it mostly deals with the instructions and […]
Purim – The Biggest Upset — By Ben
The Atlanta Falcons, Hillary Clinton, and La La Land walk into a bar. The Atlanta Falcons say, “I can’t believe it, 3rd quarter, we were up by 3 touch downs. […]
Purim – The Anti Semitism of Shushan — By Ben
The story of Purim has drama, suspense, nudity, plot twists, and drinking. So much drinking. But despite all that craziness and tomfoolery it’s actually a troubling story of how a society […]
An Eye for an Eye and a $100,000 Ticket For Speeding — By Ben
In Finland, it’s possible to get a speeding ticket for hundreds of thousands of dollars… if you’re rich. That’s because in most Scandinavian countries, a person’s income is factored into the […]
Yisro – More than Hearing
This week’s parsha may be the most important portion in the Torah. Not only are the 10 Commandments given, but God Himself speaks to the Jewish people. It is a revelation […]
A Leader and One Who Leads — By Ben
We’ve all had “test of faith” moments (or in Jew-speak test of emmunah.) And in this week’s parsha, Beshalach, the Jews have a pretty daunting one. Just after leaving Egypt, God instructs Moses […]
Rosh Chodesh and New Beginnings — By Ben
Parshas Bo has a ton going on. It finishes up the plagues (most notably the death of the first born), the Jews are given their freedom finally becoming a nation, […]
Va’eira – Denial isn’t Just a River in Egypt
In this week’s parsha, Va’eira, there is the big showdown between Moses and Pharaoh. God sends Moses to plead with Pharaoh for the Jewish people’s freedom and every time Pharaoh […]
Shemos – Five Times No
If ever there is an iconic image from the Torah recognized by the religious and the secular world alike, it would probably be Moses and the burning bush. Throughout the Torah, […]
