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
- 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
- Nov 20, 2022
- 3 min
Chayei Sarah: What's Money Between Friends?
We aren’t supposed to play favorites, but I think Genesis is the best book in the Bible. There is so much nuance to each of the stories,...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Nov 1, 2022
- 2 min
Lech Lecha 5783: Abraham as the prototype for the MCU?
What do you create next after you’re done making the greatest cinematic conclusion in the history of entertainment? Marvel Studios is...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Oct 28, 2022
- 3 min
Finding Balance Without Rocking the Boat (or Ark)
Only two weeks into the reading of the book of Genesis, you’d wonder whether or not God had much of a plan when creating humanity. The...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Apr 10, 2022
- 7 min
Treating the Person, Not the Disease
This blog post is the byproduct of a conversation with Rabbi Michael Weiss. Special thanks to him for his wisdom, insight, and...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 18, 2022
- 8 min
Ki Tisa - The Worst Days Can Bring the Best Understanding
When I was a kid, my family used to read the children’s book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. Needless to...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 11, 2022
- 5 min
Tetzaveh - An Old Symbol in a New Context
One of the biggest dangers of reading our Torah is our inability to put ourselves into the context of the section with which we are...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Feb 4, 2022
- 6 min
T'rumah - Making Space for God
“I begin with a prayer of gratitude for all that is holy in my life. God needs no words, no English or Hebrew, no semantics and no...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 21, 2022
- 7 min
Yitro - Out of Order to Preserve Order
If you were to try to create a ranking of the best Torah portions, it is likely that all Jews would have a slightly different list. (The...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 14, 2022
- 7 min
B'Shalach - Transitioning Perspectives
Throughout the ages, science has attempted to prove the accuracy of the story described in Parashat B’Shalach, at the peril of failing to...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Jan 7, 2022
- 5 min
Parashat Bo: The Invention of Ritual
At the beginning of Parashat Bo, God is preparing to bring about the worst, most impactful plague upon Egypt. Knowing that the Israelites...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Dec 16, 2021
- 5 min
Vayechi - Setting the Standard of Disruption
From the origins of creation to the creation of Am Yisrael, the book of Genesis has endeavored to explain the inception of the world as...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Dec 9, 2021
- 6 min
Vayigash - Owning Our Trauma
Joseph would have had every right to punish his brothers. After reuniting with the men who had tried to kill him, sold him into slavery,...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Nov 25, 2021
- 6 min
Vayeishev - Risk for Reward
Thanks to Donnie Osmond, the world is quite familiar with the story of Joseph and his brothers. While we know the exquisite details of...
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rabbiaustinzoot
- Nov 18, 2021
- 7 min
Vayishlach - What to Do With the Silence...
We have been reading the Torah for over two thousand years. The beauty of such a long relationship with a text is that we have poured...
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