There are bad people in this world who do bad things. Sometimes they’ll blow up buildings or shoot people in schools or burn down a police precinct or even violently riot at the U.S. Capitol.

When these horrible crimes are committed, some of the questions we ask, especially with assaults on public buildings, are: How could we have prevented it?

Israel’s Chief Rabbi, David Lau, wears a rabbinical hat, not a cowboy hat. But last week he stood in the town square, drew his pistol, aimed, and fired. He was, metaphorically speaking, Rabbi Clint Eastwood at high noon.

In addition to the more standard promises to lose weight, read more, change jobs, etc, there are other types of outward-facing resolutions that can make a difference in the lives of others, should we care to attempt them.

In this past year of profound loss and grief, it is hard to find comfort. No matter how many philosophers or theologians seek the answers, the meaning of death remains a mystery. And yet silence in the face of this mystery is not an option for me…

Grocery-store scallions repotted on windowsills. Sourdough starters in the fridge. Cooking, knitting, jigsaw puzzles. Hobbies could not cure the coronavirus, but for a moment it seemed like they could cure the anxious stagnation of pandemic life. Time had become unsettlingly abundant, but we tried our best to avoid falling into idleness and despair.

This last era, of dark energy domination, has already begun. Dark energy became important for the Universe’s expansion 6 billion years ago, and began dominating the Universe’s energy content around the time our Sun and Solar System were being born. The Universe may have six unique stages, but for the entirety of Earth’s history, we’ve already been in the final one.

The generation of the exodus is commanded to imagine that their lives are part of a story. In so doing, they cast their eyes forward to the generations of the distant future: to us.

We are commanded to imagine that the story we are telling is our life. In so doing, we cast our eyes backward to the generations of the distant past: to them.

Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will this one be a stumbling block to us? Let the people go and worship their God. Don’t you yet know that Egypt is lost?”

-Ex. 10:7

Bracha Goetz: Even when all the voices around Pharoah are begging him to see what is being lost, his bloated and insecure EGO (Edging God Out) is the last to surrender.

In Egypt, in a place where there was no God (though there were many “gods”), the plague of darkness dramatized the extent to which people could not see each other – not because they were strangers, but because each one could not overcome self-absorption.

David and Shanni discuss what’s on everyone’s mind these days, as well as plenty of other things, like the power of art to improve mental health, Betty White’s passing, West Side Story and lots more.

Joshua Malina (yes, THAT Joshua Malina) and Shira Stutman (yes, THAT Shira Stutman) join Dan and Lex for a conversation about their (Joshua and Shira’s) entry into the Jewish podcast ecosystem, through their brand new podcast, called Chutzpod!

This week, we’re celebrating a major milestone: 300 episodes. That’s more than 18,000 minutes of tape over six years, featuring thousands of News of the Jews items, hundreds of amazing Jews and Gentiles of the Week, and way too many jokes about Belgium.