Wouldn't it be a better world if we breathed before we posted and asked ourselves whether or not we really wanted our most negative words to be part of the ether for millennia I know that the Torah did not have the Internet in mind, or maybe it did?

Wisdom Works by Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss

I do recognize that there is an existential angst plaguing our world, and it may very well be the cause of violent outbursts against the most vulnerable. And there is no question that a country with more guns than people makes the worst outcomes all the more possible. But how is it that if God forbid a child got drunk at your home, and suffered a horrible accident there or once he had left, that the laws are crystal clear that you, the homeowner, can be held liable; but if your unguarded, loaded weapon is used to cause terrible damage to others, that you cannot be held liable in most states and in most situations?

“The North American Jewish community has steadfastly come to the aid of Israel at moments of crisis. Israel belongs, first of all, to its citizens, and they have the final word. But Israel also matters to the entire Jewish people. When an Israeli government strays beyond what your commitments to liberal democracy can abide, you have both the right and the responsibility to speak up.” - An open letter to Israel’s friends in North America by Matti Friedman, Yossi Klein Halevi, and Daniel Gordis.

Calling out the two worst human beings in the world.

“I was there for 10 minutes, and already I felt calmer.” And in that moment, I was reminded once again how Shabbat is a practice that when regularly “practiced,” sensitizes us to shabbats that arise when we are least expecting them. And that is a central element for what it means to live Jewishly. Yesterday, Ann Friedman and I visited the Auspicious Cloud Retreat Center in Chappell Hill, just an hour outside of Houston. Formerly the Margaret Austin Center, and now owned by the Houston Zen Center, this retreat center is where CSK’s first Shabbat retreat will take place, this coming March 17-19.

It doesn't matter if you understand all the words, know all the rituals, are fluent in Hebrew and Yiddish. What matters is your fluency as a human being. And this is what Shabbat is about - the pause we need to reawaken to our humanness,.

Where My Loves Are by Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss

We See You Sandy Hook by Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss

If we're not wiling to break some eggs, what's the point?