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 […]
Tag Archives: torah
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 Tale of Two Messiahs
The messianic prophesy is one of the most fascinating and crucial aspects of Judaism. The belief that the world will one day be redeemed by a single individual to usher in a new […]
Reward for Failure – Vayeishev
This week’s Torah portion, parsha Vayeishev, begins Joseph’s story. And it’s quite a story at that. There’s betrayal, seduction, a prison set piece, some dreams sequences, and (of course) mistaken identity. But the event […]
Pulp Fiction and Vayishlach
I know what you’re thinking. I’m going to go into Jules’s use of Ezekiel 25:17 as a speech before he “takes care of” his clients. Maybe go into how he dissects it […]
Lech Lecha – Being Right in a World of Wrong — By Ben
Mark Twain’s famous line, used to open the Oscar nominated film The Big Short, speaks far beyond the ramifications of the housing crisis. When a person is so sure of them […]
Structure of Prayer – Rosh Hashana — By Ben
A couple of weeks ago, I started going through the nuts and bolts of the Shemoneh Esrei. I mainly focused on the opening (1-3) and closing (17-19) sets of prayers […]
Can You be Commanded to Love God? — By Ben
The month preceding Rosh Hashana is Elul. The rabbis say that the name Elul is an acronym for Ani l’dodi, u’dodi li or I am for my beloved, and my […]
Shoftim – Kingly Indulgence — By Ben
In an election year, when you come across anything in Torah that speaks about government and rulers, it’s hard not to take special notice. And this week’s Torah portion has […]
Six Degrees Of Kosher Bacon 