Amazing lesson - The Scientist and the Rabbi (4 minutes)

0:00Science provides us with funny stories, and sometimes they're also meaningful life lessons. There was this occasion with a rabbi and his son boarding a plane. At the same time, a scientist, a professor, quite a respectable gentleman, was on the same flight with his son. This was a long journey, either from Israel to America or the reverse—it doesn't really matter. They were on this extensive flight, and just a few minutes after takeoff... The scientist's son says, "Abba, I'm hungry." So Abba says, "Okay, don't worry. Tell the stewardess, please, can you get my son food?" She gets him the food. A few minutes later, "Abba, I'm thirsty." Abba responds, "Okay, get some. Don't worry, I'll get you the drink." "Abba, I'm cold." "Okay, okay, I'll get you a blanket." He goes and gets him the blanket. "Abba, this, Abba, that." And then the scientist sees the Rabbi. A few minutes into the flight, it's the exact opposite. He says, Abba, are you hungry? No, no, I'm okay, I'm okay. A few minutes later, Abba, are you thirsty? Yeah, okay, okay, I'll get you something. The kid goes to the steward, gets a drink, and gives it to Abba. A few minutes later, the kid gets up, goes, gets a blanket, and gives it to Abba again. Doesn't even ask him, just gives it to him to make sure that Abba is comfortable. The scientist can't take it anymore. He says, I don't understand.

1:25All my life I've spent going to school, and college, and teaching, and learning, and I have this degree, and that degree, and I'm a doctor in this, and a doctor in that, and I'm smart, and I'm successful, and I make this much money, and I have this kind of car, and you, what education do you have? Well, you went to some yeshiva your whole life, big deal. But how is it that the entire flight... My son is asking me every two minutes for something, and I have to go get it for him. But your son is like your servant. How did you train him like that? Did he learn that in the Torah? He goes, no, no, let me teach you something different. He says, in my religion, in my belief, we all came from Adam. We all came from one person, and each generation after that is one level lower. So there's Adam, then you have Noach... then you have Shem, then you have Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, eventually the 12 tribes, Moshe, and then we have the sages, then we have the Rabbanim, the Gemara, and today, and each level is lower than the last one. So my son knows that I am closer to the greater people than he is. He's lower than me. So he gives me respect. He goes, okay, so...

2:47He says, in your belief, you trust in science, right? He responds, yes. In your belief, you say we came from a monkey. So your son says that you came from a monkey, and you're closer to the monkey than he is. So you're lower than him. And that becomes the problem. That's the difference. It's not necessarily that he believes. It's not necessarily that he thinks our education is better. So he's showing that your education is the problem. You're telling people that we came from monkeys. So your son is saying, you're right, Abba. You came from a monkey. So you're closer to the monkey than me. I'm a better person than you. I'm more developed. Your grandfather was probably even closer to the monkey, so he's probably even worse. So we've continuously improved over time in science, whereas in Torah, we've descended over generations. This reflects a fundamental difference in understanding our history and purpose, emphasizing that in Torah our spiritual heritage and connection to the Divine is meant to elevate us above the materialistic view. gotten lowered. And that's the difference. That's the difference in teaching, that you wouldn't think something so small would be so significant in the way people live their lives. Scientists didn't like that story but realized something had to change after that.