The Goyim Defense League?  It would be hilarious if it wasn't so frightening.  In Austin, as the American Jewish community remembers the Tree of Life synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh, this week three years ago, the self proclaimed "GDL" hung a banner proclaiming "Vax the Jews" over the highway exit near the Jewish Community Center.  Don't they know we're the most pro-vaccine religious/ethnic group in the country?  Oh that's not what they meant?  Click to hear Rabbi Scott's take.

Vax The Jews?

I write this not from the point of view of political science or as a governmental finger pointer, but more as a prayer.  I do not want to sit back and pretend that any of this is OK, “to be expected,” or “the price of admission.”  As a Prophet of the people of Israel (I am neither a Prophet nor the son of a Prophet), but at times I must step into the Prophet’s shoes and declare, “we are moving in a direction that is becoming our demise.”  Of course, in many ways, this is not new.  And there are so many who have suffered long before I raise these words today.  We have stuck ourselves into a vice grip that is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
To continue reading Rabbi Scott's blog, please click https://www.cskhouston.com/hearourvoice?post_id=1304973&edit=true%27#.​​​

If The Russians Love Their Children Too

The Jewish Position On Abortion

The Rainbow And The Matrix

If Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness doesn't encompass who we sleep with, who we build our lives with, where we learn and with whom, and when we start our families, then what does it mean?

Sinai And Philadelphia - Do They Still Matter?

What drives political violence?  Spiritual angst and loss.

Border Crossers

Shabbat is always special.  Shabbat at the Rothko Chapel is all the more so.  Enjoy this recording of CSK Shabbat at the Rothko Chapel, 10-28-22.

Shabbat at the Rothko Chapel, 10-28-22

The Inconceivable Surprise Of Living

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

Otherwise, What’s The Point?

We See You Sandy Hook

Where My Loves Are

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,.

With Love, Rabbi Scott

“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.

Shabbat In The Chappell

Calling out the two worst human beings in the world.

So There’s Pharoah’s Standing At The Gates Of Hell

“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.

Crisis In Israel

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?

I Told You So - On Parashat Mishpatim And Gun Violence

Wisdom Works

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?

Some Unsolicited Advice Before You Hit “Post”

This week's Torah portion may make you rethink your assumption that it doesn't matter what you wear - to someone else, but most especially to you!

Torah Fashionistas Unite

Hostages release must be at least a co-condition of a ceasefire demand.

What’s The Alternative?

Today Is Your Lucky Day!

The Blue Light

Perhaps the ultimate proof that Hamas means it when it says, "From the River to Sea..." is October 7, 2023, itself.  The victims of their terror lived, worked. and loved inside of the most accepted Israeli borders there are.  And still, they lost their lives.

Monumental Memory

"The horrors of war are horrific and there is no one I know who takes solace or joy in the suffering of innocents.  Not so ironically, the sooner the remainder of Hamas is disarmed, the sooner the people of Gaza can hold hands and pray for a future." (click to hear the full but brief blog post)

Not So Ironically

Musings - Jews Gone Wild

Join Rabbi Scott for a conversation about how we can use traditional Jewish wisdom to navigate the chaos of everyday life.

Remembering The Ten Commandments In Our Everyday Lives

Join Rabbi Scott as he discusses his experience with Jewish Summer Camp and why it's a life changing experience for children and families.

The Magic of Jewish Summer Camp

Join Rabbi Scott for a discussion about the Book of Life and what it really means.

What does it mean to be inscribed in the book of life?

Chanukah tells the tale of the miracle of the oil lasting 8 times as long as it "was supposed to."  When we believe that the things we need are always fleeting, our fear of scarcity overwhelms our ability to stand in the truth of what we truly have.   This meditation focuses our mindfulness on expanding the sensation and deepening the experience of what we have, such that it lasts maybe even 8 times longer.

Meditation - Shining The Light

Don't hand-wring over what you did wrong, you did nothing wrong.  You raised your Jewish child in a vastly non-Jewish world and they are achieving remarkable success and now they have fallen in love with someone who loves them back!  Be joyous!  Be hopeful!  And remember the measure of your Jewish parenting "success" is not the existence of Jewish grandchildren, it is the existence and promotion of Jewish values of love, connection and hope.

Dear Parents, You’ve Done Nothing Wrong.

Join Rabbi Scott Hausman-Weiss from Congregation Shma Koleinu for "Conversations with the Rabbi", a podcast focused on world affairs, matters of the heart and how to view it all through a spiritual lens.

Congregation Shma Koleinu

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