It is the holding of silence and also its rupture that is intriguing. Silence affords us the quiet spaces we crave and need, times to unplug, to be nourished, and to regroup our sensibilities. But, sometimes, silence is a shield, a false quiet, when we should be reflecting more curiously, speaking out, and seeking out some of the ripples that can rupture complacency. Some of us live in silence; others live amid great noise — either internal or external. This Sh’ma offers essay on pausing in order to craft really good questions; on the silence in stories — both the pauses in a narrative arc and the pause as performance; and essays reflecting on the rupture of silence in Israel last summer.