Lately, I’ve been attempting to limit my nightly doomscrolling and overconsumption of Israel news by replacing my phone with something far superior: the volumes of Jewish books that adorn the bookshelves of our home. Last week, I re-read Primo Levi’s Survival In Auschwitz, a book I first read in high school when I likely did not fully understand its depth and meaning. Levi was a Jewish-Italian chemist who was arrested by Italian fascists in 1943 and deported to Auschwitz, where he survived ten months of systematic cruelty. While, of course, it is difficult to relive another painful chapter in our people’s history, Levi’s words frequently—and surprisingly —filled me with a remarkable sense of hope. He explains, in short, that while perfect happiness is unrealizable in a human life, perfect unhappiness is equally unattainable. A man who lived such a dehumanizing experience might be filled with hate and despair, but instead, Levi clung to [...]

Shabbat ends each week when three stars appear in the sky on Saturday evening, but we are still permitted to say “ shavuah tov” or perform the havdalah ritual as late as sunset on Tuesday. Our tradition understands that during some weeks we might feel a hasty enthusiasm for the start of a fresh week and during others we might need a bit more time to jump into action with renewed energy. In Pirkei Avot, Rabbi Tarfon teaches us: “The day is short, the work formidable, the workers not always active, but the wages plentiful, and the Boss ever-insistent!” (Pirkei Avot 2:16). Rabbi Tarfon understands that each of us has a normal balance of apathy and inertia. During our most energized days, we remember that life is short and we pursue our purpose. On those days, we must ask ourselves “If not now, when?” and commit to the sacred work of [...]