fbpx
[additional-authors]
May 14, 2026

Dear all,

How often does your day fill with meetings, obligations, and responsibilities—

and yet the first thing we postpone, minimize, or erase… is time for ourselves?

Sometimes we give ourselves a few scattered moments.

Sometimes we deny ourselves that time altogether.

And yet, if we can make time for everyone else, surely we can make time for ourselves.

Time to breathe.

Time to read.

Time to learn.

Time to move.

Time to play.

Time simply to be.

Creating “me time” isn’t about indulgence.

It’s about intention.

It’s about recognizing that we are not machines, endlessly producing,

but human beings who need space to restore, to reflect, to reconnect.

Because without that space, we don’t just lose ourselves—

we diminish what we are able to give to others.

As Rabbi Hillel taught,

“If I am not for myself, who will be for me?”

Making a moment (or 2 moments, or 10 or 60) in time for ourselves is not stepping away from our responsibilities.

It is what allows us to meet them – as fully present souls.

With love and Shalom,

Rabbi Zachary R. Shapiro

Did you enjoy this article?
You'll love our roundtable.

Editor's Picks

Latest Articles

Batya’s Moment

NewsNation host Batya Ungar-Sargon talks about her new book, “The Jews and The Left,” her rift with Megyn Kelly and why antisemitism has spread like wildfire in America.

Jewish Power and Other Myths

Historically, Jews have been accused of controlling politics, the banks and the media. I haven’t read yet that they control the weather, but that wouldn’t be any more bizarre than the other charges.

To Love Israel Is to Demand More of It

When we fall short — as individuals, as a people, whether everyday Jews or the Prime Minister himself — we must have the courage to face it honestly, call it what it is, and do better.

Prayer in Times of Illness

How should we approach prayer for an end-stage dying patient, for whom medical professionals predict no chance of recovery?

The Philanthropic Pivot to Jewish Joy Is Misguided

The problem is not Jewish joy itself. The problem is the growing belief that Jewish joy can replace the difficult work of protecting the conditions that make Jewish flourishing possible in the first place.

Zionism and the Bones of Ezekiel

Nothing about the Jewish story—with its revolutionary insistence that there is one God, its history of relentless suffering, its triumphant return to the land it was expelled from millennia ago—is normal, and we shouldn’t try claiming it is.

Papa, Thank You

There are moments in my own life that I would not have overcome without what my father gave me. His resilience became mine. His mindset became my foundation.

The Two-State Conundrum

While I continue to personally believe that a two-state solution is preferable to sacrificing Israel’s Jewish or democratic foundations, I would never attempt to impose my priorities from 7,500 miles away.

Jewish Angelenos and our Allies Deserve Better

Los Angeles City Council member Nithya Raman wants to be mayor of Los Angeles, but after her actions earlier this month, many Jewish Angelenos are left wondering whether her vision for the city truly includes all of us.

More news and opinions than at a Shabbat dinner, right in your inbox.