MyJesusYear.com - Benyamin's Blog tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2008-07-18:/blog//1 2011-09-15T16:09:16Z Movable Type 4.2rc3-en My standup comedy debut tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2011:/blog//1.310 2011-09-15T14:45:00Z 2011-09-15T16:09:16Z So I decided to cross an item off my bucket list: Perform standup comedy in front of an audience. I found a local comedy club that holds open mic nights. Below is a small audio snippet from the performance. Hope... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ ]]> Audio: Speech at St. Luke's Episcopal Church tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2011:/blog//1.307 2011-05-15T19:53:35Z 2011-05-15T20:08:26Z I had the privilege of making a special presentation between services at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta. It ended up being a 35-minute stand-up comedy routine. Enjoy the audio below:... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ St. Luke's Episcopal Church in downtown Atlanta. It ended up being a 35-minute stand-up comedy routine. Enjoy the audio below: ]]> New PBS series on God in America starts Monday night tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.302 2010-10-07T17:10:00Z 2010-10-07T16:07:58Z PBS has a new special called "God in America" which they are premiering on Monday night. Below is a sneak peek.... Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ PBS has a new special called "God in America" which they are premiering on Monday night. Below is a sneak peek....

Watch the full episode. See more FRONTLINE.

]]> When Modern Orthodox Jews and reality TV collide tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.301 2010-09-21T20:31:57Z 2010-09-21T20:34:15Z So a Sabbath-observant Jewish contestant on the new season of America's Got Talent told Tyra Banks on the premiere that she would leave orthodoxy to win the show. Not surprisingly, this caused a stir in the religious blogosphere.She's not the... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/
She's not the first Modern Orthodox contestant to bring drama onto a reality TV show. Read my latest essay for the Huffington Post about the trend.
]]> A Curable Romantic tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.300 2010-09-20T21:41:48Z 2010-09-20T21:45:53Z My close friend Joseph Skibell (who was one of the first authors to offer me much-needed advice when I started writing "My Jesus Year") has a new book out called "A Curable Romantic". In the video below, he explores the... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ My close friend Joseph Skibell (who was one of the first authors to offer me much-needed advice when I started writing "My Jesus Year") has a new book out called "A Curable Romantic". In the video below, he explores the book's themes and talks about the writing process. Enjoy...

]]> God's Lunatics tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.297 2010-07-26T18:48:29Z 2010-07-26T18:52:04Z I just wrote a story for the Daily Beast about history's craziest religions. Enjoy.... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ history's craziest religions. Enjoy. ]]> Year without sex tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.294 2010-07-09T15:57:30Z 2010-07-09T15:59:32Z Maybe the "my year doing such and such" fad has jumped the shark. On this morning's "Today" show, author Hephzibah Anderson talked about her new book about going a year without sex. Video below:... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ Maybe the "my year doing such and such" fad has jumped the shark. On this morning's "Today" show, author Hephzibah Anderson talked about her new book about going a year without sex. Video below:


]]> God Smacked -- The Daily Show with Jon Stewart tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.290 2010-05-12T21:13:13Z 2010-05-12T21:14:38Z Jason Jones meets a pastor who teaches mixed martial arts and an evangelist who breaks inanimate objects in the name of Jesus. The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10cGod Smackedwww.thedailyshow.comDaily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
God Smacked
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full EpisodesPolitical HumorTea Party
]]> My Jesus Year on PBS tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.288 2010-04-21T16:31:49Z 2010-04-21T16:32:21Z Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/

]]> $24 for a box of matzah? tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.287 2010-03-28T02:05:00Z 2010-03-28T01:07:02Z I just wrote an essay for Slate called "Passover Profiteering" about why Passover food is so darn expensive. Here's the link to the article.... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ link to the article. ]]> 6 questions for an Evangelical leader who became an Orthodox Jew tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.286 2010-03-26T22:41:00Z 2010-03-26T21:45:38Z For my latest story for the Huffington Post, I interviewed Penina Taylor about her new book, Coming Full Circle.You can read the article here...... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ Coming Full Circle.

You can read the article here...
]]> Jewish America, one book tour stop at a time tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.284 2010-03-17T20:18:53Z 2010-03-17T20:24:55Z For my latest essay at the Huffington Post, I wrote about what I learned on my 20-city book tour. Read it here.... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ Read it here.
]]> My interview with Gina Welch tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.283 2010-03-08T19:58:02Z 2010-03-08T20:19:00Z Here's my latest article for the Huffington Post: An interview with Gina Welch, the author of In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church.6 questions for an atheist undercover in an Evangelical... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey into the Heart of the Evangelical Church.

6 questions for an atheist undercover in an Evangelical church
]]> This idea sounds familiar... tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.282 2010-03-04T13:46:00Z 2010-03-04T16:47:22Z Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/


]]> Blagojevich vs. Purim tag:www.myjesusyear.com,2010:/blog//1.280 2010-01-25T23:49:00Z 2010-01-25T22:52:44Z In the new issue of Esquire magazine, disgraced former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich calls himself "blacker than Barack Obama". Not surprisingly, that caused quite a stir and a quick apology from Blago. What the media hasn't written much about... Benyamin Cohen http://www.myjesusyear.com/ In the new issue of Esquire magazine, disgraced former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich calls himself "blacker than Barack Obama". Not surprisingly, that caused quite a stir and a quick apology from Blago. What the media hasn't written much about is the other person Blago compares himself to in that very same article: Mordechai.

blago.jpgIn the course of a conversation, he is not only Galileo; he is Teddy Roosevelt and Robin Hood and Bobby Kennedy and Rocky Balboa. And Mordecai of the legend of Purim.

Purim?

"The Book of Esther."

Purim?

"Yeah. And I'm Mordecai. Falsely accused. I didn't do those things. This whole story is epic. What helps me get up every morning is, I'm fighting the fight for something much larger than me. I'm fighting for what is at the basis of what our country is supposed to be, a place where you're presumed innocent, where if in fact you did something wrong, the system plays out in such a way where the truth comes out, not people being forced to lie and being squeezed to lie. If you love your country as I do, this is a fight worth fighting."

You can read the entire Esquire interview here.

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