"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
Apr 25, 20234 min read
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, 20232 min read
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
Feb 14, 20232 min read
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, 20232 min read
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
Jan 27, 20232 min read
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 6, 20233 min read
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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rabbiaustinzoot
Jan 5, 20232 min read
Mediocre Book Review
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America was an uncomfortable book to read. And that was kind of the point. I’ve read some of...
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rabbiaustinzoot
Jan 3, 20231 min read
Book Review: We Need New Stories
We’re not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but are we allowed to judge a book by its title? Because We Need New Stories, by Nesrine...
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rabbiaustinzoot
Dec 4, 20223 min read
Vayeitzei - What Are We Supposed to Learn?
Different people approach the Bible with different needs. Some read the book in order to learn the history of our people (reading the...
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rabbiaustinzoot
Nov 28, 20223 min read
Representation Matters...Except When It Doesn't
When the original Black Panther came out, it instantly became my favorite Marvel movie. The hero was a badass, the action was...
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rabbiaustinzoot
Nov 24, 20223 min read
Toldot: A Guide to How To Do Thanksgiving The Wrong Way...
Generally, when we read the Bible, we are looking for lessons about how we can live a more fulfilling, meaningful, moral life. But the...
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rabbiaustinzoot
Nov 20, 20223 min read
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 15, 20223 min read
Jason Heyward is the Cub We Didn't Know We Wanted
On November 2nd, I texted to wish my father a happy anniversary. It had been six years since the night in Wrigleyville when we celebrated...
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rabbiaustinzoot
Nov 1, 20222 min read
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, 20223 min read
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
Sep 29, 20220 min read
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rabbiaustinzoot
Jun 27, 20220 min read
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