From an email:
“One of the biggest problems with the world today is that we have large groups of people who will accept whatever they hear on the grapevine, just because it suits their worldview—not because it is actually true or because they have evidence to support it. The really striking thing is that it would not take much effort to establish validity in most of these cases… but people prefer reassurance to research.”
SHHHAAAALOOOOOM SWEEEETEST FRIENDSSSSSSS!!!!!
So exciting!
We start AGAIN! BEREIIISHHHIIIIIIISSSSSSS!!!!!!
I will share one - with the caveat that we are talking about Adam and Chava who were created directly by Hashem. So what we are going to say is much deeper and higher than we will present it. But the Torah was written in our language so that we learn lessons and that is our goal:
Adam and Chava are told that on the day they eat from the עץ הדעת - tree of knowledge, they will die. SCARRRRYYYYY!!!
Chava saw that the fruit was תאוה לעיניים - a desire to the eyes [and MORE - see the pasuk]! It lookeedddd sooooooooooo gooooooddd!!!! IRRESISTABLE!!!!
She knew that it was DANGEROUS to eat but was overcome by her desire. Maybe she figured if she chewed while wearing a MASK - THAT would protect her.... Or maybe stand six feet away from the tree.
So she eats.
Bad move.
Like they say - "A moment on the lips and a lifetime on the hips." Totally not worth it. But we all know the challenge. We eat too much and then regret it. [This from a man who is about 5 10 tall and 125 pounds - with shoes, lots of coins in his pocket and after a seven course meal]. Here it wasn't just the calories. There was a LOT more at stake. [If she would have eaten meat then we could say "they was a lot more at steak"].
"Going cold turkey on white bread and ketchup is one of the hardest things you can do that’s also a sandwich. "
She had a "negiya". A bias. Our biases make us do foolhardy things. Her bias convinced her that it would be OK! She will eat and LIVE. Like the sneaky serpent said "You won't die, Chava'le. You will just gain that you will be like Elokim!!! He is jealous of YOU and doesn't want you to know the difference between good and evil".
OK. So in the Eve-ian narrative - the fruit DOESN'T kill.
Then she gives the fruit to Adam. Why??? B/c a good wife feeds her husband? NNNOOOOOTTTTTT QUITE.
Rashi: She was afraid that she would die and Adam would marry another woman. So she made sure to give him the poison as well.
Oh - so that means that the fruit DOES kill. What happened?? A moment ago you thought that it DOESN'T kill. That is why you ate??!!!
AHHHHH - But now you have a NEW bias. JEALOUSY! You don't want to think that YOUR husband will be with another woman. So you make sure that he goes too.
New bias. new belief. First - the fruit DIDN'T kill, consistent with the first bias - the fruit looks GREAT! Then- it DOES kill, consistent with the second bias. That Adam doesn't take another woman as a wife.
WHATTTTAAA LESSON!!!! Modern research has shown again and again that MOST of the decisions we make are really triggered by deeper, subconscious biases, desires, fears etc. There is a ton of literature about this [much of it, ironically, written by descendants of Chava herself!! And actually more specifically, the Jewish branch of her family, both from a scientific perspective and from a Torah perspective].
We see reality through the prism of our own lives and not objectively.
Like the line: "Who is this Rorschach guy and why did he paint so many pictures of my parents fighting?"
So when we make decisions in life - BEWARE!! There are many factors at work. That is why it is worthwhile to ask the opinion of others who might be less biased in order that we do what HASHEM wants and not what WE want - which would be to our detriment [as in the case of Chava].
May we ALWAYS merit to do what is good and upright in the eyes of man and Hashem- למצוא חן ושכל טוב בעיני אלקים ואדם!!!!
Much love and blessings for a SWEEEET SHABBBOS and EVERYTHING good,
Me
PS - My Yeshiva - "Yeshiva Gedola D'Zoom" is open and FLYIN'. Anyone who would like a shiur for their shul, community etc. may contact me.
Topics - anything. Almost.
