Unpopular Opinion: I am Proud to Send My Daughter on Her Tour of Israel
My best friend, her parents, my parents, and some woman I talked to at a party last week are all against me sending my 16-year-old daughter on her teen tour […]
April 1, 2024
March 23, 2024
Upside Down in the Morning
Purim celebrations often revolve around drinking, at least for adults. It is common for people to remind one another of the rabbinic teaching to drink so much one cannot tell […]
March 22, 2024
Purim, October 7, and Holocaust Inversion
This year, one passage in the Book of Esther is particularly poignant. Before Haman could carry out his deadly plot to “destroy, massacre, and exterminate the Jews, young and old, […]
March 14, 2024
Living Life On Two Planes
Last week I went to bed very late every night.I had to stay up to see that the day’s hostages were finally safely in Israel. I felt that if I […]
February 20, 2024
Becoming Witnesses
TEL AVIV – When I landed at Ben Gurion Airport 10 months ago everything felt different. That makes sense in context; life in Israel before Oct. 7 and after are […]
January 30, 2024
Springtime in January
Tu B’Shvat never made sense to me growing up. Sometime in January, the Sunday school classrooms became flooded with stacks of plastic pots, bags of rich black soil, and tiny, […]
December 15, 2023
Here When You Need It Most
Austin Zoot is the Rabbi Educator at the Valley Temple in Wyoming, Ohio. For more content from Rabbi Zoot, visit his website: austinmzoot.com. It seems as though the weather is […]
December 8, 2023
From Generation to Generation: Shabbat as a Gift for Our Children
Austin Zoot is the Rabbi Educator at the Valley Temple in Wyoming, Ohio. For more content from Rabbi Zoot, visit his website: austinmzoot.com. My earliest memories of Shabbat are in […]
November 24, 2023
A Path to Rejoicing Amidst the Darkness: Re-igniting the Blessing of Jewish Living
Austin Zoot is the Rabbi/Educator at Valley Temple in Wyoming, Ohio. For more content from Rabbi Zoot, visit his website, austinmzoot.com. A Jew never struggles alone. It is one of […]
November 23, 2023
This Year I’m Thankful For….
In the aftermath of the October 7 attacks and the ensuing conflict, we find ourselves grappling with a disheartening rise in global and online antisemitism. It’s a stark reminder of […]