KLM: The Mitzvas of Human Connection in an AI World with Rabbi Asher Baruch Wegbreit

your Museum [Music] oh they're not not like to welcome uh the members of giving them um always amazing to have you join us what a story to tell you true story I was putting con into contact with an Israeli businessman consultant and I saw something that he shared we shared an experience when he was traveling on vacation just give him credit his name is okay so listen to a near uh shared he was meeting his daughter in a cafe in Barcelona he was on vacation in Barcelona and he'd been to this Cafe a few times and then he and his daughter sat down and a waitress came up and you know his daughter he asked she asked what would you like you know what would you like to drink and then she looked at this man and smiled and said uh cappuccino like that and okay that was the story but what the conclusion he drew was great he said you know everyone hears about the artificial and Terror intelligence the GPT chat whatever it's called how it may be taking over the world Etc and he made the following point he said you know even if they had a robot right and an AI robot come up and then they do a face recognition on my face he said and they know he likes cappuccino so they go would you like cappuccino right so he says it it still it won't even come close to being the same because that spark of human connection is not there they'll never match that warm Smiles in cappuccino never and so and then his take home was that we have to uh make sure that we were working with people uh these human connection comes out and we and we relate that way he was probably saying that also so they'll keep their jobs and be able to keep their jobs but and and I just made a comment back to him I said you know there's always a risk when you hear all a lot of the heavy things going on in the world that you say what is happening you know the the AI monsters they're taking over the world so I sent back to him and said you know look at this you know Hashem lets this AI well awesome at the moment to kind of push us to be better human beings okay that's what I want to talk about the Torah the mitzvos push us to be better human beings and I think now more than ever genuine human connection is crucial crucial for everything for everything so with that in mind let me share um a kavana formula if you want an acronym that we created in the past um you know everyone knows there's that cable the USB cable to connect uh you know different things into your computer you will not get a a really Crystal lecture for me on that but you know what I'm talking about the USB you know cable creates a USB connection so when it comes to and the Beautiful Thing here is this is really very simple it's just having it in mind and exuding it that's the case so let me show you um the GSB connection foreign there it is how are we parents can we see uh yeah that's great you can just enlarge uh yeah great there it is dsb you cannot make a better connection than this because when you act properly to human beings you also connect to a shin that's the beauty of it it's a double connection all right so look at this three actions that really can occur basically simultaneously okay um let's make it let's see in New York it's the afternoon the states it's the afternoon so let's say I'm passing someone in the street and I say good afternoon just like that good afternoon that's three profound connections that I've created immediately all right so let's take a look at them one by one now the first one is I've greeted them okay when you greet someone that's a Mitzvah in itself a very big Miss though and it's called mocking Shalom you know to advance uh an inquiry or to Greed another person and what's the mid spot so your well the Midstate is loving your friend like yourself now why is the greeting that Mitzvah could say it's a kindness or this and that it's because greeting in Parts covered when you go out of your way to make friendly warm eye contact at a person you're giving them covered honor and I'll quote my Rebbie who has such a beautiful definition of covered of getting someone honor the definition of covered is to show the other that you're affected by their presence that's why let's say it's a parent when the parent walks in into the room you stand for them you're showing you're affected by their presence right and you treat them a certain way so when you make that eye contact as you're passing someone in the Stream you're taking time to show that you are aware they are present and you're affected by their presence and the Rambo says about loving your neighbor like yourself that that they're covered should be as dear to you as your own cupboard that's that's why when you pay attention sincerely and show it means a lot when they're there or when they're absent that's covered that's honor so already when you said when you look at them and say good afternoon right you made eye contact good afternoon that's Mitzvah number one you created the G of the GSB connection and I before I go to the next thing um I'll just tell you you know probably the best thing for me about KLM is it you know I TR I want to kind of practice what I preach so I try to work on this when I go out when I go Outdoors when I see people I make it a point to acknowledge that they're there right and greet them and I'm just telling you know first of all you have to have a little bit of um humility because not everyone's gonna relate to you to that you know again as As Americans we have an edge because it's one of the positive Parts about the culture in America is it's like friendly and you do reap people so we know that we can sanctify that through the midst of showing them they matter to us okay so you know what I want you to know you may not get read it back and they may not be so affected by your presence or your green but Hashem is and I'll tell you once uh once a while you get a return that's just beautiful and you see how touched they are that you even bother to notice they're there okay so that's the first one let's go now so that's the G of GSB okay s okay uh smile right so now you could agree to person good afternoon right you look like that so you still you showed them their presence means something to you but a smile is an act of kindness and and most people are aware that the kindness actually has physiological benefits greater than a glass of milk right that's what the talmud learns that a smile is giving a person smile experience a glass of milk before Neuroscience um that statement wasn't readily understood you're okay you make them feel good but it um the studies show that that a smile this infuses endorphins on the uh to the other person and what's beautiful is you you see a Shen uh created our our minds and our neurosystems uh it's a really incentivize us why because the one who Smiles the one who receives the smile as I said he gets a hit a release of endorphins which makes the person feel very good the one gives the smile it's all three they get endorphins dopamine and serotonin all all at once that's what you get for giving the glass of milk you have a whole Dairy dinner okay so smiling so the same act good afternoon right I put a smile in there I'm doing a tangible act of kindness now kindness is really both loving your neighbor like yourself and hold up to the drop of emulating your shins ways but the Torah describes the acts of kindness Hashem does visiting the sick bearing Etc so I'm going to associate kindness with your emulating a shin right and there's another aspect we say that a shin exudes in the way he runs the world he exudes graciousness and there's nothing as gracious as a warm smile so that's the S so good afternoon you focus on them you smile you're being kind you're emulating a shin and now here is the here's the one that's underappreciated bless BSB blessed to give up now here's the funny thing that people are giving and and not it's not just limited to the Jewish people not just everybody's saying good evening good morning you know good afternoon those could be those are blessings and potential right if it's just a formality that you always say when you greet a person but you're not um you're not if you will praying to Hashem that they experience a good afternoon a good Shabbos right so you've greeted you if you gave him a smile you've done that too but if you just have Cabana Soleil meaning that we always talked about Covenant Menses which is to have intention before you speak but if you also have cavana of the heart which means mean it sincerely that you want them to have a good afternoon a good evening there's a rabbi in the issue Rabbi bar he would underscore this point because he'd say good morning Rabbi you would say Amen so that like oh yeah that's right I I couldn't I could be blessing him there right so uh two words through an afternoon good morning good evening poker Tov Arrow toe Good Shabbos good yamto with a smile and with a genuine uh conveying that the person means that you notice they're there and you're happy they're there you smile you're doing so much for them and so much for yourself you're creating a GSB connection right so this is something I like to uh I really would like to practice it at home with the family and the friends practice it on the street practice it uh at work right it's just endless opportunities to create a GSD connection read smile Bliss and you just it's a matter of training yourself right the whole idea of the acronym jst so you know there's a g Mitzvah an S and it's been an abatement so right greet smile less and you won't hit it all right away all the time but every time you do and this that's what I'm going to say is uh when you do when you keep doing it again you will be sometimes surprised how much it's this Crystal Clear the the effect the good effect you're having on another human being you will feel just wonderful uh as a result okay so I've laid out the scheme and now let's uh see if there's some questions or things we uh we need to discuss to make this uh work and happen yeah okay go ahead um all right I'll just jump in with something that that um I've told you before but I'll just mentioned it because you said about uh you know greeting people on the street there's a guy in my uh neighborhood here is that my show who um he when I first moved in a couple years ago he saw me on the street off the show and he came across and he just sort of shouted across the road Hashem loves you and I always think like do I know this guy who is he what's his story is he crazy is he I mean I happen to be very friendly with him now but uh he you know it was just a very uh genuine um greeting and bracha you know he was very he and he still does it to not only me but other people you know it's his someone said it's his signature thing but it is he's just very very genuine about it and and he means it as a broker so and when you hear it it's not something that you hear a lot you know you might sort of associate it some people might associate it with like somebody's a little bit uh you know over enthusiastic or or you know but but he's just a normal guy just to you know you and uh it's very yeah it's very heartwarming you know so uh yeah yeah parents I remember when you shared that with me and I uh you're just description of it like he was across the street or something and he like you say shouts over I felt good just hearing him say it to you yeah it's beautiful it's beautiful yeah good very good and the other thing I was going to say is that um because it struck me you you said it is very notable that the Americans are just naturally it's part of the culture and um in in so I was just thinking like actually if you're in an area where it's not so normal not so like a big city where people just cut their eyes down to the ground and nobody's you know greeting looking at each other then maybe you get more scarf for that yeah maybe you get like it's a bigger it's a bigger deal to like really put yourself out there and uh and and be greeting people because um for one thing's for sure I'm in a big city here in London and you know when you're traveling on public transports or uh yeah even just in the streets and in the culture it's it's very much you know everybody's in there so they're not you know looking around so much so it's uh yeah this will definitely stretch me in my in my work on November yeah for sure that's correct that it's uh because it really I have done it in environments that are not so it's not their culture not so friendly like I said you don't always get uh come a bit you don't get acknowledged your president so they look at you funny but again uh we know who really takes it to heart and then there's people who deeply appreciate it exactly yeah yeah yes uh right by Michael all right you're Chicago I'm sorry I don't want to share um but I think I mentioned the one about I won't go into that now if I haven't but there's like the security guards at the hotel and I'm reading them and that's why uh yeah mention it please yeah no so when I um when I go down uh I would say uh you know give me my pockets of Rocket reading or whatever it is and then on the way back on the way out I always say I try and say pretty much twice like on the one side of the class when I'm leaving on the other side because he can't hear me I said Thank you to them you know because just to show that so that's an acknowledgment of the existence over there with the time to do the job that they're doing of course Hashem is looking after us but they you know yeah and I appreciate that um and even the garbage guys you know like there's one guy who knows looks like a terrorist and sometimes even beats me to it is so good beautiful I'm not sure one that last week there was a wedding in beta no the deutsches from the old city I promise in Deutsch yeah sure um I was having an hour going it's it's their daughter I really know and uh but I wanna covered him and I was in beta and to help someone out to pick someone else up um and uh who wanted to give them a video gift and he was putting something together whatever it is I get there and because and as I'm watching muscle talks going up so his father you know as a special man who directed All Good People yeah and his father one by one you know he's a man one in his 70s or something or shaking hands and people from the Rover even people 10 years older than me and 15 years older than me then he saw me and I was blown away I don't know why as he turns up and looks goes whoa oh I'm like wow that made it in that second that all that that plans and the delays and the traffic and the diversity this made it worth every second I'm like wow okay that's why I came here I was just uh both ways but uh anyhow I started to share that it was very special [Music] um um yeah just one one last one for me which was um you know this point about uh that we're helping fantastic Mitzvahs but um what should our thinking be around not not trying to um objectize people as as as sort of objects to further my mitzvah observance you know um yeah what what is what's the thinking there I it's not the first time I've been asked this and I thank you for asking it um it's such an important question you know because people feel like if I'm doing it as a Mitzvah you know dsb and all this maybe I'm you know just it's not as genuine that's a I think part of the concern and uh I remember again a lot of people discuss this with me and you know so one of the so I I you know what do you do when you get like a very penetrating question like that so if you can you ask you're ready so I had a chance um to talk to my review green I hope he doesn't mind me expressing it the way he did I hopefully I'll couch it and it'll be okay but you know I said uh I was representing the people who have that question I said you know Rabbi if we're like you know trying to have a mind loving your neighbor like yourself or kindness you know you know I I'm aren't I just treated in like a Lula right you know like should I be treating them like a luau so you can pause this he says yes you should treat them like a little love with feelings that has feelings now let me explain that I must explain it's a very deep thing right so the thing is this is really what is our motivation to do something and we we uh we uh we associate being authentic when no one's telling us to do it right but if you think about it just to start with this metaphor to explain what he's saying is you know when parents teach a kid to have you know good behavior you know uh Rabbi uh Kiva tats's son is in my minion here in harno and I'm always like uh moving from this cramped Corner in the front and going to stand behind the Corning for the deer Cusco Island and he just like every time he's like totally got it and he likes opens the space closes his face he's he he's so gracious you know he's like it's like very amazing so finally I uh we were at a Simca together uh for the show and I said I want to thank you you know your Derek Erickson's Grace is don't thank me you thank my parents or my wife right so the right so they obviously did a good job in stealing in him to be accommodating gracious Etc now that that is such a gift you know now do I do I think he's a robot because he does it well no he was trained let's say it's true his wife and his his parents trained in right we must remember that the shin avinu he's our parent he's training us he's training us to bring out genuine feelings towards the other right and and you don't I spoke to her he was an expert in in our neighborhood who's written at least 17 volumes on 17 volumes and he's and I asked him the same question he says he says you're not shamwan the Mitzvah is to be genuine and sincere and caring and gracious that is the Mitzvah you didn't do the Mitzvah if you treated them like without feelings in other words Hashem is really he's see because here's the thing it'd be great or I'm genuine uh I just I just um nice to be nice it's a beautiful thing but I want to make two points is when it's not an obligation when you don't feel it's an imperative if you don't feel like it you're you may not be so friendly you're passing by and if you don't feel an obligation to acknowledge their presence give them some endorphins do these things if you don't feel it you may just pass it by right that's number one and the other reason and this is what an amazingly counterintuitive inside of the Torah is the famous thing I remember parents we've discussed this in the past is who is greater the person who out of his heart volunteers to do a mitzvah or a person who doesn't miss but because Hashem commands him so I mean for sure I would have said the the one it rises in their heart and they act that way it's beautiful right so they but guess what no the one does it because Hashem command is greater why and this is so important mentals don't take place in a vacuum all right now we're we're gonna feel tired grouchy this and that and to actually make sure that you do what uh your parent Your Divine loving parent is trying to instill you to do that that's a big thing to do it no matter what so the bottom line is is we have to know Hashem made it people with sensitivities and feelings and you really haven't succeeded to do GSB and make an actual connection if if it wasn't sincere and one with the heart but what prompted you because your parent is training you your parents to train you to really make sure you do what's you really want to do deep down inside your soul that's what I would suggest okay thank you okay great I'm glad that was uh brought up and great stories Michael and parrots and uh thanks to everybody for joining is there anything else yeah okay great all right thank you what was our homework just remind us thank you thank you okay uh by the way if you're just uh oh good you wrote it down DSP I'll also for anyone in in the Years this on YouTube and in our group if you would like this uh uh a PDF of the GSB right what Rabbi Michael did is he didn't treat it like a TV show he wrote it all right down and it posted but I what this this part of the class and this applies to people listening to we want to try to live this so I I hope this inspired you some but the real thing is to put into action so next week we're going to check in so I really encourage you first of all make an effort to either write down GSB or to ask for uh the materials and then let's go back and see how it is and while we're talking about acronyms and letters uh the previous weeks class about work the ABCs of work all right so I want to reassign that as well and uh please God will be able to discuss uh it in more depth next week as well [Music] what's our homework assignment and you'd seen on the WhatsApp keep bring some posters so I would say embarrassing that is fantastic because you did it it's greater when you do it yourself beautiful no embarrassment okay everybody thank you thanks bye-bye foreign [Music]