Ben Lazarus

6 days ago | blogs.timesofisrael.com | Ben Lazarus

In all walks of life we usually prioritize the strategic questions of WHAT and WHY at the expense of the often more tactical ones of HOW and WHO. I personally believe the vast majority of Israelis want a relatively similar shade of the ‘What and Why’ but our major challenges lie in the ‘How and Who’. We need to break the attitude and culture of “the ends justify the means” in the way society is led and run and find a new way to work together as a society.

1 week ago | blogs.timesofisrael.com | Ben Lazarus

I was amazed to find out that I’ve recently joined a far bigger club than I could ever have expected. It’s one that’s sadly underfunded and often not given sufficient attention. It is a club with somewhere around 300 million people worldwide and likely over half a million in Israel. As I digest a terrible diagnosis, I’m turning my attention to raising awareness and trying to improve support to patients both of the disease I now ‘probably’ have but also the broader group I find myself in.

2 weeks ago | blogs.timesofisrael.com | Ben Lazarus

I live in a very strange parallel universe—a kind of Matrix, or perhaps I live in the “Real World.” On a day when, in my previous world, I would be completely obsessed with the latest developments in Washington D.C., I found myself instead focused on ticking an item off my non-existent bucket list, despite my pension and savings taking a hammering.

2 weeks ago | blogs.timesofisrael.com | Ben Lazarus

You hear about it and read about it: that moment when all preparations are made, and everyone is bunkered down, awaiting the impending storm or the advancing army. People say an odd calm descends. I feel that right now. I am hoping that the calm lasts a long time.

3 weeks ago | blogs.timesofisrael.com | Ben Lazarus

How one family made such a profound difference in my life at a critical stage, serving as a reminder of the basics as we approach Passover—during a time when we have endured so much. At a very young age—around 11 or 12—I started my religious journey in what would later be seen as typical for me: impulsiveness, stubbornness, and relentless drive and commitment. I went from 0 to 100 pretty quickly.