Plus: our latest episode, and suggestions for supporting the Middle East.
Mar 06, 2026
Welcome back to Chutzstack, the Substack for Chutzpod listeners – or our Chutzsquad!
This Substack gives you a weekly dose of Chutzpod to keep you learning and pondering life’s questions, both big and small, and a community space to connect with each other.
This week, Rabbi Shira shares some words about the recent violence in the Middle East:
This has been another violent week in the world. There has been so much bad for so long that I honestly don’t know anymore when we stop and say: this is especially bad. The headlines keep arriving with the same blunt force. My heart has learned a terrible new skill: how to keep going.
I imagine some of you, people who care deeply about the U.S. and Israel and also about human rights for people all over the world, are like me right now: a little unsure about how to feel about the war in Iran, but also quite certain that we don’t want the steady drumbeat of violence to train our hearts into some sort of moral surrender.
So let me tell you what I’ve been doing this week, in addition to my usual refuse-to-look-away / check-in-with-friends / etc.
I’ve been reading Tehillim. Psalms. Every day, for five minutes, I sit down and ask our tradition to give language to it all — to let words come to the fore that I can’t seem to find on my own. One of the ways Jews have moved through unbearable history is exactly this: when we couldn’t change the world, we let ancient words carry fear, grief, anger, and hope all at once.
For me, it’s been the tiniest solace, because it keeps me tethered to feeling and it reminds me that this is not the first time humanity has suffered. Today, for instance, the book fell open to Psalm 40: “For misfortunes without number envelop us; our sins have caught up with us; we cannot see… Favor us, God, and save us; hasten to our aid.” Amen.
If you don’t know what to say anymore — you’re not alone. You don’t have to have the “right” words to still care about human lives and still believe that a different future is possible.
May life be protected. May the vulnerable be sheltered.
May there be restraint, wisdom, and a turning back from further harm.
May we not get used to this.
Listen
Is Botox kosher?
What about filler, extensions or hair dye? Can a good Jew be too vain? And does Judaism value beauty?
A listener reaches out for help when her two daughters are horrified to discover their feminist mom has a secret desire for luxurious lashes.
Rabbi Shira and Hanna help her navigate personal vanity, Jewish values and 21st century parenting. And they reveal their own insecurities and zoom primping rituals.
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The world is in a difficult place, and the best thing we can do right now is support our communities. Giving donations, whether material items or money, is a wonderful way to make positive change in your world. Some organizations we’re donating to right now include:
