Recently in Nature Neuroscience, a trio of researchers at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel presented some important new insights into what stretches and compresses our experience of time. They found evidence for a long-suspected connection between time perception and the mechanism that helps us learn through rewards and punishments. They also demonstrated that the perception of time is wedded to our brain’s constantly updated expectations about what will happen next.

For nearly as long as human beings have gathered in sufficient numbers to form cities and states — about 6,000 years, a flash in the 300,000-odd-year history of the species — we have been coming up with theories to explain the downfall of those polities. The Hebrew Scriptures recorded the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, and divine rage has been a go-to explanation ever since. Plato, in “The Republic,” compared cities to animals and plants, subject to growth and senescence like any living thing.

…when I see the mainstream media’s all-out assault on Trump’s refusal to concede, I can’t help but wonder: Would they be reacting the same way if the shoe were on the other foot? If Biden was refusing to concede, would they mock him for being a fool and accuse him of undermining our democracy?

Would they categorically dismiss Biden’s contention that there are enough examples of irregularities to merit a legal challenge?

Our tradition reminds us that shaming someone is akin to murder. There is no room for understanding or insight. The other person only remembers that another human being took the time to engage in public embarrassment and deep humiliation.

“I am not an anti-Semite, I’m anti-Zionist” is the new version of the “some of my best friends are Jewish” defense.

In fact, when news came to light of USC student Rose Ritch being bullied into resigning as student government vice president, the defense of many was that the attacks were because Ritch is a Zionist, not a Jew.

Byock pointed out, “The Abrahamic covenant is not merely between God and people. It’s between each of us as individuals and each of us to the community. In the eyes of God, each person has inherent worth and value, and we should treat each other with dignity and compassion.”

What are the lessons he hopes stays with us after the pandemic is over?

“We all matter to one another, and life is a gift — don’t take it for granted.”

“It’s a challenge to think of this parsha being called ‘the life of Sarah’ because in the first part of the parsha, she dies. That challenges us to think about her presence throughout this parsha, even after her death.”

And they summoned Rebecca, and they said to her, “Will you go with this man?” And she said, “I will go.” -Gen. 24:58

Heftsibah Cohen-Montagu: Rebecca answers her family decisively: “I will go.” Her response echoes God’s call to Abraham, “Go forth,” which reveals her as a female counterpart to Abraham, ready like him to set out on a life-changing journey.

and she will say, ‘Drink, and I will also water your camels

…Whenever they say
can you help fund, I’m already mailing
them dimes before they finish their sentence.
I’m permanently perched at the well
with a water bucket. You’ll be sated before
you even know you are thirsty.

Click here to read more.

Political Editor Shmuel Rosner on the death of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks and the rise of President-elect Joe Biden.

“Rabbi Sacks was trying to do something that seems quite impossible in today’s world, which is to be both very orthodox and very modern, very tribal and also very universal.”

Shmuel Rosner and Professor Eytan Gilboa discuss his latest article and Israel-US relations under future president Joe Biden.

“All these variables–demography, bipartisanship, generation gap, and American Jewry–are interconnected and influence the development of attitudes towards Israel in the general American public and among American Jews.”

” What happens if we understand Judaism as a medium of art, like paint, which can be deployed in all sorts of creative ways? How would this differ from an image (get it??) of Judaism where it’s similar to an already-completed painting, which we wouldn’t be able to change now that it’s done? This episode is the final episode in a series exploring the history, and contemporary leadership, of America’s Jewish women.”