In this episode, I sit with Benji Elson, author of Dance of the Omer. His work lives at the meeting point of Torah, psychology and sustainable living. His own path from a strict yeshiva world, through ashrams and silent retreats in India, and back into a renewed relationship with Judaism, creates the backdrop for the conversation. Through that journey he opens a way of reading Torah that is rooted in land, in seasons, in the body. And he keeps naming that this is only one face among the seventy, one interpretive layer that can stand alongside many others without canceling them out.

We explore how the core Jewish holidays can function like an annual tune-up of our relationship with the physical world. Pesach as a reset around grain and simple food. Shavuot as a check-in around fruit, milk and our use of animals. Sukkot as a conversation with water, climate and the shape of our cities. Benji shows how mitzvot such as the four species, bikurim, meat and milk, city greenbelts and Shabbat boundaries can form a kind of spiritual ecology that shapes how we eat, build, consume and live on land with more clarity and care.

We also speak about disillusionment with religious authority, and why stepping away is not always a trauma script. Sometimes it is simply the next honest step. And we look at how greater awareness around food, animals and place can become part of our inner work rather than a lifestyle performance. If you are curious how Torah can be read through the lens of nature while still making space for psychological, spiritual and relational depth, this conversation offers a fresh way of seeing.

See you on the other side,

Eli

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To connect with Benji

Website | www.elson-psychotherapy.com

Email | benji@elson-psychotherapy.com

Instagram | @benji_elson

Link to the book "Dance of the Omer" by Benji Elson on Amazon | https://a.co/d/fO5QH1V

In this episode, I sit down with Eric Samra, a man who flipped the script. Instead of grinding toward some distant retirement, he started by asking a different question: What does my dream life actually cost? Then he built the financial structure to support it. Not later. Now.We talk about what happens when a man stops accepting the default narrative and starts living by design. We talk money, yes, but also the mindset behind it. The courage to choose clarity over convention.We also talk weed. Eric shares the arc of his long, mostly “functional” relationship with marijuana and why, in the end, it felt like the opposite of the freedom he was working so hard to build. We explore that blurry line between “I’m good, I’m managing” and “This thing owns me.” And what it really takes to cross back over.Health. Family. Spirit. Men’s work. For me, the 12 steps. These aren’t abstract ideas. They’re practical tools for waking up.If you’re wrestling with money, rethinking your relationship to substances, or starting to wonder how it’s all connected, this one’s worth a listen.See you on the other side,Eli

What if the essence of Judaism was never meant to be about behavior alone, but about dveykus, a deep soul-level connection to the Divine?

That is what this conversation is about.In this episode of In Search of More, I sit down with Rabbi Doniel Katz, founder of the Elevation Project, who has been on a mission to revive the spiritual technologies of Torah that most of us were never taught. Doniel is not interested in making Judaism more modern or palatable. He is trying to make it real again. To bring back the tools like meditation, breathwork, and inner refinement that our tradition always had but buried out of fear, trauma, and exile. We talk about what dveykus actually means, not a vague spiritual buzzword but a lived experience of radical presence and attachment to God.

We explore how Judaism lost that fire and how Elevation is working to restore it. Doniel has faced pushback, even being called a heretic and written off by segments of the ultra-Orthodox world who would rather preserve the image of holiness than wrestle with what holiness really demands.

Together we dig into how to navigate criticism without alienating supporters and how to stay focused on the mission instead of getting lost in endless battles.

One of the parts of our conversation that stayed with me was Doniel’s take on psychedelics. While he stopped short of claiming they are found in Judaism as some suggest, he was willing to explore the role these experiences might play in the larger search for the Divine. Hearing that from someone so rooted in Torah made me pause and consider how broad and inclusive our spiritual conversations can really be.

For me this was not only an interview but also a mirror. I walked away asking myself how much of my own energy goes into fighting battles instead of building what I set out to build. That is why I believe this episode will challenge you, not just to think differently about Judaism, but to reflect on your own search for more.

See you on the other side,

Eli