Rabbi Dr. Benjamin Epstein

On Wednesday, November 17, 2021, The Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program of Yeshiva College welcomed Rabbi Dr. Benjamin Epstein as part of its Honors Luncheon Speaker Series. Rabbi Dr. Epstein is an experienced psychologist and author who holds the position of staff psychologist at Camp HASC (Hebrew Academy for Special Children), a summer program for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Rabbi Dr. Epstein discussed his first book, Living in the Presence: A Jewish Mindfulness Guide for Everyday Life (Urim, 2019), with the students, many of whom had read the book in advance, and later participated in a lively Q&A session. The book has been described as providing “a practical and hands-on roadmap to discover purpose in your life, to capture and experience some of the benefits of the world-to-come... right now, in this world.” Ariel Wernick ’23YC enjoyed the event and remarked, “Dr. Benjy provided a refreshing outlook on self-growth not often discussed in the confines of the Beit Midrash [Jewish study hall].” Rabbi Dr. Eliezer Schnall, director of the Honors Program, noted how “the event and Rabbi Epstein’s discussion, presented the psychology of mindfulness through the prism of classic Jewish sources as an example of the Torah U’madda approach that makes Yeshiva University unique.” Additional fascinating guests will be coming to the University in the coming months as part of the esteemed Luncheon Series.