If the RPMs of your brain waves keep getting interrupted by a record scratch that repeats phrases like, “Why me?” or “What about me?” or “When is it my turn?”, you may have fallen into the circle of control. To climb your way out, just try to remember, “It’s always your turn. You just need to remember to take it.” Then reexamine your yearning in terms of what you can actually do – what power is in your own hands already? And as the Nike commercial says, “Just do it.” 

Just Do It

And there we are, on Rosh Hashanah, check in hand, with a list of what we have consumed over the past year: how much credit have we drawn upon and how much did we reinvest? How much stability have we weakened, and how much have we shored up?  How much optimism have we squandered and how much hope have we reinstilled? 

Check please!

For anyone old enough to remember where they were when the towers came down on September 11, 2001, we still live with the shock. Maybe we learn from our past. May we learn from our strength and resilience.

Kaddish for September 11

Millenial survival against all odds (the story of the Jews) isn’t at all the only reason we should observe our rituals and traditions, but it’s a good start. Showing up, inviting ourselves into the moment, freeing ourselves from only rational measures of the successes and failures of our lives is what we are called to, and especially because we can do so without fear of missiles and rockets raining down on us, I ask you to not only bring your bodies to our Yamim Noraim (Days of Awe), but don’t forget your minds, and souls, memories, and imagination. 

Tzeva Adom - Red Alert

Rejoice!

Find the good!

Rabbi Scott in the Ham

Why I signed the letter opposing Zohran Mamdani

This Torah portion, Chayei Sarah, was the parashah for my Bar Mitzvah. Back then, 43 years ago today, I couldn’t possibly have seen this parshah with these eyes in this way. And that is precisely the point. Torah remains as a singular beacon calling out to our souls...

Wrinkles in Time

“Eat the giblets, don’t take the bait”

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.

Just Do It

Congregation Shma Koleinu

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