Tishah B’Av, The worst bad day. — By Ben
Shakespearian actors and Jews have few things in common. 1) Both groups feel at home in New York. 2) Both groups pour over their source material, analyzing every letter, as if […]
Author Archives: eltram
If I’m supposed to rest on Shabbat, why can’t I drive? — By Ben
The question in the title was the contradiction that proved to me, for much of my life, that observant Judaism was backwards. If Shabbat is about rest, why can’t I rest the way I […]
The Ethics of the Fathers. Aka, Pirkei Avos. 1.1 — By Ben
If you’ve never heard of Pirkei Avos before then you’ve probably not been reading this blog much. Because Marc and I’ve been refering to it all the time. But to catch […]
Does Judaism believe we’re all wretched sinners? — By Ben
There’s been a bit of controversy this past week with the Supreme Court’s decision and, though I’m not commenting on that issue, it has stirred up a lot of debates […]
Why Faith isn’t Enough. Part III – The Mitzvahs! — By Ben
To finish up the Faith trilogy, I’m going to talk about Mitzvahs. Where some religions just require you believe or have faith to participate in the religion, Judaism asks for more. […]
Why Faith isn’t Enough. Part II – Emunah and Bitachon — By Ben
After painstakingly defining belief last week, I’m going to toss aside that definition to go a little deeper. So that being said… Belief! It’s easy enough to say one believes in […]
Why Faith Isn’t Enough. — by Ben
“The foundation of all foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know that there is a Primary Being who brought all existence into being. “ —Rambam, opening line of […]
The Forbidden Tree of Knowledge. God wanted us to be mindless followers? — By Ben
In case you’re not familiar with the Bible’s story of creation: God makes the universe in 6 days. On that 6th day, God makes man (Adam and Eve) and tells […]
Oral Tradition Part II. Uhhh… Telephone? — By Ben
Kosher piggy backing off my recent post, I established necessity for the Oral Tradition. But a major problem presents itself. How can hundreds of years of orally communicated material not […]
Fearing God? That’s A Christian Thing. Right?
I remember when I first started studying Torah more seriously, I showed my father the book Mesillas Yesharim (mentioned in my last post). The minute he read that a Jew […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 