Ben Riehl Shares His Story & Answers Questions – Including A Tough One

In this video (at bottom), Ben Riehl shares some of his story with us. We talk about his job, past work, and family. Then he answers some more questions, including on telephones, pizza, and the difference between Amish in northern and southern Lancaster County. There are also a couple of brief cameo appearances, by Ben’s wife Mary and son Jay Lester.

We end with Ben’s answer to what I considered a “hard” viewer question – “What [would] Amish people regard as generally applicable life advice for every human?” Seems daunting at first. But Ben does his best, and I think you’ll appreciate his answer. And as usual, you’ll see we had a lot of fun right off the bat.

We’ve previously seen Ben in videos on Amish weddings & finding spouses, and whether Amish believe they’re the only true Christians. These are all excerpted from the one-hour-plus first episode of what we’ve been calling the Ben & Erik Show.

That’s now available at the Amish America Patreon, where I’m sharing bonus content, including longer conversations. If you’d like to get more of these types of videos (and at the same time support the operation here 🙂 ), I encourage you to check that out and consider joining. If you’re curious, I’ve listed out the full Episode #1 contents below.

Ben & Erik Show – Episode #1 contents:

Ben & Erik Show Episode #1 Full Contents & Timestamps:

• 1:22 Intro to Ben & his family
• 2:28 Ben’s job
• 4:43 The Riehl Family deli experience
• 7:05 Viewer questions begin
• 7:29 How do Amish order pizza “without a phone”?
• 8:59 What’s the difference between Amish in northern & southern Lancaster County?
• 10:21 Ordering from Wal-Mart vs. using a driver
• 11:59 How do Amish people get online?
• 12:40 How do Amish in small communities find spouses?
• 14:10 Do Amish wives have a say in Amish marriages?
• 16:30 Do Amish use outhouses? Do they have water in the home?
• 16:54 [Ben’s son Jay Lester consults with Dad on a project]
• 18:02 When did Lancaster Amish get bathrooms?
• 18:53 Can Amish go to a gym? What about weightlifting?
• 20:10 Do any Amish put up Christmas trees?
• 21:01 Root cellars & other Amish food cooling methods
• 23:00 What would Amish consider general life advice for every human?
• 24:06 The Autumn Amish wedding season
• 29:00 How concerned are Amish about change?
• 30:56 How does change happen in the community?
• 32:32 Church/Ordnung differences between Midwest Amish & Lancaster Amish
• 33:31 Do Amish bishops decide about change?
• 36:45 Ben’s e-scooter
• 39:14 Do Amish believe they are the only true Christians?
• 45:03 Do Amish evangelize the unbelievers?
• 47:03 Ben reacts to an “Amish meme”:)
• 49:00 Top speed in a buggy
• 50:05 How often do you take your buggy out nowadays?
• 51:21 Hired drivers vs. “Horse culture”
• 53:36 Will Amish ever accept driverless cars?
• 58:21 Rumspringa youth driving in Indiana & Ohio vs. Lancaster County
• 59:57 Our visit to Goot Essa cheese & Ben’s impressions of John Esh 🙂
• 1:03:10 Signing off
• 1:04:20 [“Special Appearance” by Ben’s wife Mary]

Look for some more excerpt videos – but if you want the whole thing (plus other bonus videos), get it by joining the Amish America Patreon.

Get the Amish in your inbox

Join 15,000 email subscribers. No spam. 100% free

Subscribe