Dear Friend,
I had the opportunity to make someone feel better this week.
He scheduled an appointment with me and walked in saying he was falling into despair from the direction that the world was taking.
I asked him if it was things that were happening to him personally or it was the news he was reading in his news feeds? He told me it was the international world news that was terrifying him.
I suggested that he simply stop reading the news.
He looked at me incredulously. It had never dawned on him that one possible way to cure anxiety would be to discontinue the practices that caused the anxiety in the first place.
If I was a doctor and he would be coming to me about high blood pressure, I would suggest lifestyle changes to reduce the high blood pressure before prescribing medication. Similarly, the modification that one can make from anxiety over world news is to limit one’s news intake.
Continuing the analogy of the doctor, I wanted to check his ‘vitals’ to make sure he was ok, and it was just world news that was making him depressed.
Perhaps his anxiety was over a health scare or issue.
No, he reassured me he was feeling stable health.
Was it personal financial stress? No, he described how he had protected himself against the volatility in the financial markets.
It seemed therefore that indeed it was the news reports he was reading about the many different instabilities in the world.
I shared another thought with the sweet elderly Jew who had come see me.
While some years ago we got our news by reading printed newspapers that were printed in multitudes of copies. That has now changed. Now we get our news for the most part on our personal devices.
We must remember that because we get our news predominantly from our personal internet feed, the news we read is provided to us tailored and based on our perceived preferences. The algorithms are genius in feeding us the news we prefer to read. Just as they are incredibly suave in marketing products to us that are aimed at our unique age and stage in life. Yep, they know too much about us.
And if you think that ‘AI’ is the path to finding the truth, read on…
One of my children brought me an energy bar from the ‘Trader Joe’s’ supermarket in the USA. They pride themselves as being healthy oriented. The kosher symbol was there, and I ate the bar. And then I read the ingredients. Hmm. Tapioca syrup is the first ingredient. I hadn’t heard of that ingredient before. I decided to educate myself and turned to AI.
The first search I did is in bold font below.
tapioca syrup first ingredient trader joes grain bar is it healthy
Yes, it's generally considered okay for many people to consume tapioca syrup as a sweetener, especially when it's the first ingredient in a Trader Joe's granola bar, as it can be a healthier alternative to refined sugar. Tapioca syrup is made from the starch of the cassava root and offers some potential health benefits.
From the above it sounded like tapioca syrup was healthy and the energy bar in general was a good idea to eat.
Yet, see below when I inserted the word ‘unhealthy’ at the beginning of the very same search, the result came out painting tapioca syrup less positively and describing this energy bar as a much poorer source of calories.
unhealthy tapioca syrup first ingredient trader joe's grain bar is it healthy
Yes, while tapioca syrup can be part of a healthy diet, using it as the first ingredient in a Trader Joe's grain bar might indicate a less nutritious product. Tapioca syrup is primarily sugar and starch, lacking in essential nutrients and fiber, which can lead to quick spikes in blood sugar and be considered an "empty" calorie source.
Clearly, the computer-generated intelligence was answering me in the way it perceived I wanted to be answered.
This is the way our internet generated news sites feed us our news these days too.
If someone wants to be an antisemite the web will help provide material to supposedly justify the hate.
Conversely, for those not poisoned by the age-old bigotry against Jews, there is a wealth of positive information on why Jews should be admired, supported and emulated.
I am not rallying against reading news. Neither am I advocating to be an ostrich. However, if the news is causing you unhealthy anxiety, recognize that (if you are not a news analyst by profession), you can safely reduce the amount of news intake and live a calmer and more fulfilling life.
My friend left my office feeling a lot better. So he told me. And I felt happy as well that I was able to lighten his gloom and put a smile back on his face.
This is an introduction to the main point I want to make.
About HUMAN INTELLIGENCE.
Using AI is fine. So long as you remember it is a TOOL for you to use.
You must remain in the ‘drivers’ seat’.
It is up to you to make a conscious decision to decide if you want to have something to be grateful for or something to complain about.
Our human intelligence subconsciously notices the things we care about deeply.
For example, if you give five people the same newspaper to glance at for a few seconds, not everyone will notice the same things. The banker, the barber, the rabbi, the real estate broker and the sports fan will all notice different things.
If you are trying to find problems and issues with the ingredients of your life or with the people around you, no doubt you will find them.
When you look for positive things in those around you and in your individual set of circumstances, the rosier items will jump out and identify themselves to you.
Even more than that. When we aim and try to be optimistic and upbeat, the same objective reality will be perceived differently.
Here is a classic joke that points out how two opposite perspectives can emerge from one unarguable fact.
Once, a shoe company dispatched two salesmen to the vast continent of Africa, seeking to understand the potential for their products. One was sent to the east coast, the other to the west. Both set out to assess the local market, each returning with their findings.
The east coast salesman reported, "Here, I see that no one wears shoes; clearly, there is no market."
Conversely, the west coast salesman proclaimed, "Here also, no one wears shoes, but this indicates an enormous opportunity—a market still waiting to be born. Send inventory immediately."
Make a conscious decision to try to be joyous.
It’s a major mega mitzvah to be joyous.
So now we have to figure out how do we do that. How do we change our perspective to be upbeat and positive rather than morbid and negative?
First of all, let us be grateful to the Almighty for the great gifts we have before we even get out of bed in the morning. G-d has given us back our soul and we are alive!
Don’t just think of your gratitude. SAY IT.
מודה אני לפניך מלך חי וקים שהחזרת בי נשמתי בחמלה, רבה אמונתיך
I thank You, living and enduring King, for You have graciously returned my soul within me. Great is Your faithfulness.
In R’ Tzvi Freemans words explaining the first prayer of the morning immediately after we open our eyes:
In its most simple sense, Modeh Ani is a statement of gratitude. At night, I gave my weary soul into G-d’s hands, and He returns it to me in the morning—not as I left it but refreshed and renewed. Now, if you left say an old Chet Atkinson hollow body electric guitar at the pawn shop, would you expect to get it back all shiny and well-tuned? Especially, if let’s say you still owed that pawn shop a lot of money?
Well, we have a huge debt of unpaid bills to our Creator, and nevertheless He continues to return our collateral back to us for daily use, all spruced up as well.
Click here for some more joy generating meditation.
With an attitude of gratitude, one becomes a much more positive oriented person.
Now let’s talk about the fact that, yes, there are very unsettling things going on in our world. There is much suffering and pain. There is fear and uncertainty. It seems like there is much to panic about.
For most of us it leaves us feeling helpless.
What can we do to help?
We can change our mind set. That helps not just us, but the cosmic reality starts to alter.
The Kabala based aphorism ‘think good and it will be good’ has never been as critically important as in today’s times.
Hashem created his world with us at its epicenter. The Jewish people fulfilling the precepts of the Torah and thus creating an abode for G-d here on earth is the supreme purpose of creation.
Hashem wants us to be the initiators, movers and shakers in the process of bringing Heaven down to Earth.
Hashem promises to mirror our efforts by sending down infinitely magnified energies commensurate with the efforts we have put forth.
Positivity will draw down positive energy.
The reverse will engender the reverse.
Here is the irony.
The more you are concerned about the state of the world, which makes you anxious and negative, the more you ought to try and stay focused on being joyous and upbeat. Because that is the only way to make cosmic changes in the universe that will transform our world into a more positive environment.
The Rebbe insisted that we are on the precipice of something incredibly great. However, it may look to us from our vantage point, he reassured us that from his Divinely inspired perspective, Mashiach’s arrival is imminent.
We just need to keep doing and doing and add even more and then even more.
More what?
Deeds of goodness and kindness. Torah and Mitzvot. Living with a mindset that Redemption can and will happen imminently.
The Moshiach-world of no more wars, of swords being transformed into civilian tools for planting is waiting to begin.
May we see it NOW.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Yosef Kantor
PS. Are you sad because you missed opportunities to do good? Check out his mitzvah of the ‘second Pesach’ – Pesach Sheni – which empowers us to push harder and fix and redo what we thought was lost and hopeless. Click here if you want the message in a minute or less. And here for a plethora of information about Pesach Sheni and ‘second chances’.