The Personal Assistant: Sometimes Wanting to Know More Is Better Than Actually Knowing
If a book makes you want to keep reading to figure out what happens but massively underwhelms in the end, how do you evaluate its...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Aug 8
- 3 min
An August Election to Decide What Kind of Country We Want to Have
“Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the other ones.” Winston Churchill is quoted as saying this in 1947. You’d...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Aug 4
- 3 min
"What If It Was Your Family?" The Death Penalty Through New Eyes
“But what if it had been your family?” This is the question people always seem to ask when discussing the death penalty. What if YOU were...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jul 31
- 3 min
Therapy is All the Rage...But Not All Mental Healthcare Is Created Equal
As our societal awareness of mental health has grown, so too has an industry focused on selling us the best ways to take care of our...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jul 6
- 2 min
Adding Our Own Kindling to the Fire
Sometimes a song hits you in just the right moment. The weather might have the perfect conditions, or the feelings of the day might...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jun 14
- 3 min
The Counselors Review:
“You stand on the shoulders of giants.” This was a popular refrain in my youth group growing up, and I believed it. I looked up to and...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- May 1
- 2 min
Soundtracks Review: A Self-Help Book That Actually…Helps?
There are a LOT of self-help books out there. This does beg the question: if the books are any good, why do we need so many? It seems...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Apr 27
- 2 min
Luckiest Girl Alive Review: A No-Longer Novel Idea
The trailer for the new Netflix movie Luckiest Girl Alive caught my attention. Mila Kunis is a favorite of mine, and a suspenseful drama...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Apr 25
- 4 min
Tazria-Metzorah Sermon: The Stuff We Don't Want To Talk About
The following is a sermon delivered on April 21st, 2023 at the Valley Temple in Wyoming, Ohio. This week’s Torah portion,...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Apr 18
- 2 min
All Things Aside Review: Shlesinger's unique blend of comedy and social critique
During the hardest parts of the COVID shutdown, my wife and I watched a lot of stand-up comedy. There was something refreshing about...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Apr 3
- 2 min
Brighter By The Day Book Review
Life’s too short to read bad books. And the old adage about “don’t judge a book by its cover” is a lot of phooey. Because you can usually...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Mar 22
- 3 min
World Baseball Classic 2023: A Reminder Why We Play
The sports industry has been surprisingly puzzling in the past decade or so. During a period of entertainment innovation, you would think...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 23
- 2 min
Radical Candor Book Review
Everything starts from a place of relationships. This is true in every industry, but is perhaps most often ignored in a business setting....
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 14
- 2 min
Love Warrior Book Review
Books on personal growth are as popular as ever, likely because it is pretty darn difficult to be a human being in the modern world....
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 9
- 2 min
Good Enough Book Review
Good Enough wasn’t really written for me. I’ve read books by Kate Bowler before, and I liked them enough to read this, no questions...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 7
- 3 min
Fleishman Is In Trouble Review
If at all possible, I like to read the book before I watch the TV or film adaptation of a project. If I see the video content first, I...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 27
- 2 min
Parashat Bo 5783 - The Invention of Ritual
Ritual is an essential component of Judaism. Zionist essayist Ahad Ha’am famously said “more than Israel has kept Shabbat, Shabbat has...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 24
- 1 min
Reminders of Him - Review
There’s a lot going on in the world. Sometimes you want the security of reading a book with the certainty that everything is going to be...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 10
- 2 min
Why Do Jewish - Book Review
I so badly wanted to like this book. In fact, I am, in many ways, trying to WRITE this book. But Why Do Jewish: A Manifesto for 21st...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 6
- 3 min
Vayechi - Maybe No Happy Ending After All...
Jacob is the last of our major patriarchs in Judaism, and his death closes the book of Genesis. Throughout his story, we see a...
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