7 Sivan 5786 · 23 May 2026
A Devar Torah by Ben Eaton
The first Jewish president is elected and at the inauguration, the president's mother is sitting in the front row. As her son gets sworn in, she turns to the fellow beside her.
"You see that man with his hand on the Bible?"
"Yes…"
"His brother's a doctor!"
2nd Tammuz 5785 · 28 June 2025
A Devar Torah by Ben Eaton
Parshat Korach seems, on the surface, a simple morality tale of one man's ambition and lust for power. Korach attempts to unseat both Moses and Aaron, swiftly receives his deadly and very public comeuppance along with a few hundred followers, and the ensuing collateral damage stretches to 14,700 people. Simple lesson: do not mess with those chosen of G‑d.
But was Korach really doing anything wrong? We live in a democracy — albeit one becoming less liberal by the week — where people have died defending the right to do exactly what Korach does: question the authority of a leader to lead. So Korach does what we do every day in our society, complains about who's in charge, and ends up being literally swallowed by the ground. A bit of an extreme punishment for exercising free speech, no?
"Character matters — the office being held is nowhere near as important as the person holding that office."
A Devar Torah by Ben Eaton
"See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your G‑d that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your G‑d, but turn away from the path I enjoin upon you this day…"
Av 6, 5784 · 10 August 2024
A Devar Torah by Ben Eaton
"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."
— Popularised by Martin Luther King Jr., originally attributed to Theodore Parker