Cars have them. Drivers have them. Today, we have all sorts of technology, lights, sensors, and warning beeps to alert us to our blind spots before we crash.
But here’s the thing: human beings have blind spots too. And yes, we can crash because of them.
The difference is that no technology can fully warn us. We need something else: outside perspective.
Our brains are wired to protect our interests. If an idea doesn’t fit our assumptions, desires, or agenda, it often doesn’t make sense to us. We think we’re being logical, but our logic is frequently serving us rather than serving the truth.
It reminds me of the story of a seasoned attorney who began handing over his practice to his son and finally took a well deserved vacation. When he returned, his son excitedly announced:
“Dad, I solved that case you’ve been working on for ten years!”
The father looked at him in disbelief.
“You did what? That case was supposed to continue for another ten years. It was going to pay your mortgage and your brother’s law school tuition!”
Our interests shape our thinking more than we’d like to admit.
The Talmud teaches that when King Ptolemy sought wisdom, he turned to the sages of Israel. He gathered them, posed questions about leadership, values, and human behavior, and listened carefully to their answers. Why? Because wisdom is hardest to find among those who have something to gain. The sages were not running for office, seeking promotion, or protecting personal interests. They were seeking truth.
Seeking advice from a truly objective source may be one of the wisest things a person can do.
Most of us ask for advice. But too often, we ask people who already agree with us, people who think the way we think and reinforce what we already believe. Rarely do we return to the drawing board and seriously challenge our assumptions.
It is easy to climb the ladder of hierarchy within an organization.
It is much harder to climb the mountain within ourselves.
We are blind to our own blind spots.
We need to challenge ourselves.
Yet we struggle to do so, because we are blind.
Imagine if leaders spent as much time searching for criticism of their ideas as they do searching for support.
Imagine if we stepped outside our immediate circles and sought out different Jewish perspectives. Are we afraid of what we might hear?
Imagine if we were as courageous in our search for authentic Jewish values as we are in our fight against antisemitism.
Perhaps that is one of the things missing in the Jewish world today.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mendy
