The Exception We All Think We Are Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman once observed, “The confidence people have in their beliefs is not a measure of the quality of evidence but of the coherence of the story the mind has managed to construct.” We often convince ourselves that our reasoning is sound simply because the story we have created feels convincing. Kahneman and Amos Tversky demonstrated that people consistently believe they are less susceptible to mistakes than others. We think, “The rule is important for most people—but my situation is different.” The Torah understood this tendency thousands of years before modern psychology...
The Vision Beyond the Ruins One of the most remarkable moments in the Talmud (Makot 24) describes Rabban Gamliel, Rabbi Elazar ben Azaryah, Rabbi Yehoshua and Rabbi Akiva making their way to Jerusalem after the destruction of the Second Temple. As they reached Mount Scopus and saw the devastation before them, they tore their garments in mourning. Then, as they approached the Temple Mount, they witnessed a fox emerging from the site of the Holy of Holies. The others burst into tears. Rabbi Akiva laughed. His colleagues were astonished. “How can you laugh?” they asked. Rabbi Akiva replied, “Why do...
What Comes First? One of the most common regrets people express later in life is that they worked too hard and did not spend enough time with family and friends. It is easy to understand how it happens. Work feels urgent. Emails need answering. Meetings are scheduled. Deadlines loom. Meanwhile, the people closest to us are always there. We tell ourselves that we will make time tomorrow, next week, or when things finally calm down. This is not a new phenomenon. It has been a human struggle for thousands of years. In this week’s Torah reading, the tribes of Reuven...
What Are We Really Inheriting? There is a famous Patek Philippe advertisement “You never actually own a Patek Philippe. You merely look after it for the next generation.” Ironically, as far as the taxman is concerned, you do own the watch. Recent discussions surrounding inheritance tax have caused many families to rethink their financial planning and what they hope to leave behind. Yet the Torah invites us to ask a different question—not simply what we will leave behind, but what we ourselves have inherited. The Torah invites us to think about inheritance in a very different way. As the Land of Israel is...
The Blessing Test We tend to think that life’s greatest tests come from not having enough. Poverty, illness and uncertainty can all challenge a person’s faith and resilience. But what if having plenty can be just as great a test? In his book Enlightenment Now, Steven Pinker observes that in much of the developed world, people are now more likely to suffer from diseases linked to overconsumption than from starvation. Alongside unprecedented prosperity, our generation also struggles with rising loneliness, anxiety and depression. Pinker’s observation highlights an important truth: every generation has its challenges. Sometimes the challenge is scarcity; sometimes...
When Disagreement Is a Blessing Most of us see disagreement as something to avoid. We assume that if two people are arguing, one of them must be wrong. Yet Pirkei Avot offers a different perspective: “Every dispute that is for the sake of Heaven will endure. But one that is not for the sake of Heaven will not endure.” A dispute “for the sake of Heaven” does not mean a religious argument. It means a disagreement driven by a sincere search for truth. The participants are not asking, “How do I win?” but rather, “What is right?” Their focus is not...
THE STRENGTH AND WEAKNESS OF THE HEART There is something dangerous about wandering without direction. Anyone who has ever gone window shopping knows the feeling. You say you are just looking around – you have no particular plan, no clear intention, no de ned purpose. And somehow, before long, you are drawn towards things you never came for, distracted by things you never needed, and perhaps even lost in a place you never meant to enter. But when you know what you are looking for, when you know why you are there, everything changes. The same heart that can be distracted can...
Making Every Stop Count People are planning their summer holidays. Students are looking forward to a gap year of travel. Others are preparing to settle into a new university. Life itself is a journey, filled with different stages, destinations, and experiences. But wherever we travel, physically or emotionally, how grounded are we in each stop along the way? In this week’s Torah portion, the Jewish people journey through the wilderness, travelling from one encampment to the next according to G-d’s command. The Torah tells us: “At the command of G-d they encamped, and at the command of G-d they journeyed.”...
I feel so sentenced by your words. I feel so judged and sent away. Before I go, I’ve got to know— is that what you mean to say? Words are windows, or they’re walls; they sentence us, or set us free. When I speak and when I hear, let the love-light shine through me. These lines by the poet Ruth Bebermeyer, brought to prominence by the psychologist Marshall Rosenberg in his work on Nonviolent Communication, capture something profoundly human: at the heart of every interaction are our needs, our feelings, and the way we express them. His teaching invites us...
Medics have coined the term “itch-scratch cycle”—a self-perpetuating loop in which skin irritation (the itch) leads to scratching. Scratching provides temporary relief by triggering pain signals that override the itch, but it also releases chemicals that increase inflammation. This, in turn, damages the skin barrier, leading to even greater irritation and stronger itching. Rabbi Elimelech Biderman uses this concept to illustrate the skin afflictions described in this week’s Torah portion: “When a person will have on the skin of his flesh a swelling, a scab, or a bright spot…” (Leviticus 13:2) Why these specific afflictions? The Talmud (Arachin 16a) teaches that they result from...
