Connection from Conformity? — By Ben
I’ve now been praying exclusively with a minyan for almost a year. The concretized service, ideally, is conducted with a quorum of 10 men and is done three times a […]
Category Archives: Numbers/Bamidbar
Better Than “Live Long and Prosper” — By Ben
“…You can spin a dreidel with Captain Kirk and Mister Spock, both Jewish!” The memorable line from the legendary Adam Sandler ballad, The Hanukkah Song reminds us that Judaism has […]
Chukas – Moses Badman? — By Ben
Ohh parhas Chukas and the famous incident with Moses hitting the rock. I wrote about it last year within the context of Moses’s whole life. But I decided to come […]
Korach – The Stick of Truth — By Ben
Parshas Korach has a lot of drama. Needless to say, after last week’s parsha and the Jews being condemned to wander the desert for 40 years, you could see why […]
Shelach – Something to Cry About — By Ben
I got fired yesterday. Okay, not really fired, let go. And I’ll work until the end of next week. The parting was amicable and my boss is fair, generous and we’ll […]
Pinchas: No Country for Old Zealots — By Ben
The Torah has no shortage of troubling passages. But few are as disturbing as the actions of Pinchas and the Torah’s opinion about them. If you’re unfamiliar with it I’ll give […]
Chukas – A Sentence: The Tragedy of Moses and the Rock — By Ben
In this week’s Torah portion, one of the most confusing and tragic events befalls our prophet Moses. He has been leading the Jewish people in the desert for an exhausting 40 […]
Korach: A Good Reason to Argue – By Ben
In this week’s parsha, once again Moses is confronted by more dissatisfied Jews. It’s becoming such a common theme, I think we should change the name of the book of […]
Shelach: So Close But So Far — By Ben
If there’s a Torah portion to make you say, “Oy” this one is it. Aside from the Golden Calf, this is the single most tragic story in the Torah. The generation (everyone over […]
Behaalotecha – Leading the Jewish people… LIKE A BOSS. — By Ben
This week’s parsha has a lot going on. Moses has trouble reading the Ikea instructions on his new Menorah. The Jewish people finally leave Mount Sinai (after a year) but decide they’re […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 