Collectors Items, Unemployment, and Doing Complete Teshuvah — By Ben
The special edition, gold, 1 terabyte, PlayStation 4 was on sale for only one week. The regular model was $50 dollars more. My friend Aaron could get me an employee […]
Category Archives: Posts by Ben
How Batman Helped Me Understand the Parsha (Toldos) — By Ben
In parshas Toldos Yitzchok and Rivka desperately want a child. I don’t know what it is about our fore-parents, but Hashem really gives them a hard time about having kids. […]
The Lost iPhone of Kanfei Nesharim — By Ben
As you may know I recently spent a few months in Israel. Most of it was spent studying, but I did some sight seeing and I found some really special […]
Givers, Takers, and Salt Shakers — Vayeira — By Ben
Parshas Vayeira has plenty to talk about. From Avraham ditching God to do hospitality, to Avraham arguing with God about destroying Sodom and Gemorroah, and ending with possibly the most troubling […]
A Good Man Goes To War — Lech Lecha — By Ben
I’ve always had a reverence for parshas Lech Lecha. We have Avram prominently featured and with him, the real the start to the Jewish people. We have the famous commandment […]
Vezos Habracha – The End of the Torah
With all the excitment of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur, Succos, Shemini Atzeres, and Simchat Torah, it’s very easy to miss the final parsha of the Torah, Vezos Habracha. It’s the […]
Why We Really Fast on Yom Kippur – By Ben
As we approach Yom Kippur tomorrow night, I wanted to relate an extraordinary teaching given by the Rosh Yeshiva of Shapell’s Darche Noam. It was a comprehensive lesson that I’m […]
Rosh Hashana – Five Years’ Difference — By Ben
It was 2012 Exactly five years ago this Rosh Hashana. I’m at the Aish Explanatory High Holiday service in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Rabbi is marching around the bimah, […]
Ki Savo – Joy to the Word
It’s 7:25 am …and I’m standing in the Beis Medrish, eyes closed, having just taken three steps forward. The study hall/shul of the Shapells Darchi Noam Yeshiva is silent. I’m […]
Ki Seitzei – Love, Kindness, and Death Sentences — By Ben
We all know the Torah is a book of love, caring, and kindness. And you really feel the love when the Torah commands us to sentence people to death. And […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 