Skin Deep?

Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

February 20-21, 2026 • 4 Adar 5786 • Terumah (Exod 25-27).

One of the best engagement activities I ever did as a classroom teacher was also one of the simplest.

You have three bowls of water: ice-cold, room temperature, and hot.

First, if put your hand into the ice water for thirty seconds then immediately into the lukewarm, how would you predict it will feel?

Everyone knows that it's going to feel much warmer.

Now repeat starting with the hot water. What's your prediction? 

That's easy.

Here's the charm: predict what will happen if you simultaneously start with one hand in the cold and the other in the hot?

After everyone makes their prediction, let them try it.

It's a bizarre feeling that we're totally not expecting.

The physiology lesson is that (a) hot and cold are actually relative, not absolute, sensations and (b) we don't actually experience hot and cold (or any other sensation) in our skin or other senses. We experience them in our brains. 

Question for the table: does this mean that if you're feeling too warm or cold you just need to change your mind? What about other feelings?


Shabbat Shalom

PS - What's the technical name for the bodily system of the skin? [integumentary]
PPS - Do you know how many days until Purim and Pesach?

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What's Jewish About the Super Bowl?

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Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

February 13-14, 2026 • 27 Shevat 5786 • Mishpatim (Exod 21-24).
Dedicated to Moshe Yitzchak ben Shoshana - may he have a speedy and complete convalescence.

Yesterday I taught a Fourth Grade class for a teacher on medical leave. He had suggested, "These boys like to talk about football, so if you can make a football reference, you'll for sure get their attention."

As luck would have it, on Sunday I'd been invited to speak at a watch party during Halftime.

So I asked the boys, "Would you be interested to hear about the "5 Things We Can Learn From the Super Bowl?"

Their rebbe was right - most of them eagerly nodded their heads.

A few looked skeptical - and rightly so; why should we pretend to learn anything from the Super Bowl?

This could be the first question for your table.

But in Pirkei Avos we learn that the epitome of wisdom is not how much you know, rather the attitude that everyone has something to teach you. There are no accidents - if someone has to go to the hospital, that's a clear message. But for those who hear the ambulance pass by, that's also a message.

Second question: can you think of any meaningful lessons from the Super Bowl?

Super Bowl Lesson #1 - What's the Nature of Teamwork?

Both Boston ("New England") and Seattle obviously were doing something right to become the two best teams in the country. I was interested to learn that they have very different approaches to building their team spirit.

In Boston, it's basically "nullify yourself to the greater good" of winning. It reminds me of the mentality of ancient Sparta, very warrior-like, and very successful.

In Seattle, their team-building strategy is completely different. It's "I love you, bro." In the Torah we call that "Love your neighbor."

Don't know about you, but I was happy to see the love-your-neighbor team prevail!

Super Bowl Lesson #2 - Which Players Matter Most?

I arrived at the party during the last minute on the clock of the 2nd Quarter. Seattle was leading 6-0 and they went for a field goal. It's remarkable to me that there is an entire team of guys whose only job is to kick a field goal or to defend against one. The entire game they sit on the bench, waiting for their chance. It could be that they never get a chance. Or, it could be that their field goal is crucial to winning the game. 

Many people feel like their role in life is minor and insignificant, but the truth is that everyone matters, not just the quarterback and wide receiver who get most of the attention. If you're on the team, you're on the team and you matter, and you'll also get a ring.

Super Bowl Lesson #3 - What's Called Progress?

The basic rule of football is that you get four attempts to move the ball ten yards before losing possession. But ten yards means 10.0 yards, not 9.99 yards. So the referees are often out there with a measuring tape - every inch counts. 

Anyone trying to do something hard has experienced times where it feels like you're not making any progress. Whether you're building a business, or learning a language, or raising a child - it can feel like you're not going anywhere. But we can be inspired by the rules of football, every inch counts. Slow progress is progress!

Super Bowl Lesson #4 - What Matters?

Most people focus on the strategies of the plays and the leadership of the coaches and the quarterback, and they pay little attention to the linemen. But if you watch what's happening, the essence of football is two lines of men trying to push each other out of the way. These guys are probably the strongest guys in the world. They're not body-builders, indeed they often have bellies. But they are massively strong. 

So too you and I - we tend to focus on high-level goals and ambitions and don't realize how important physical strength is to the Torah's ideal for a person. Most of the things we want to do, including mitzvot, require physical strength.. We have a free gift of strength until about age 30, after which it starts to decline, slowly at first and then more and more rapidly - unless we do something about it. It's not about form, it's about function. Which is good news for anyone who wants to stay strong - because it doesn't take much time.

Super Bowl Lesson #5 - Who's Watching? 

They say that the Super Bowl is the most watched sporting event on Planet Earth. Certainly it's the most watched event in the US. This is also a lesson for us. The Torah tells us that the purpose of a the Jewish People is to be a "kingdom of ministers" - what's that all about? Preaching? No - it means that we are meant to teach the world how to live ethical and holy lives by example. That's our chief job as Jews, and therefore, just like the Super Bowl, if you're Jewish, the whole world is watching. Don't ever forget it.


Shabbat Shalom

PS — Do you know how many days until Purim and Pesach?

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Ten Suggestions?

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Shabbat Table Talk from the desk of Rabbi Alexander Seinfeld

February 6-7, 2026 • 20 Shevat 5786 • Yithro (Exod 18-20).

This should be an easy question for your table:

Can you name the 10 Commandments?

Bonus: In correct order?

It's interesting but no random accident that they have become such an icon of Western culture and wherever Christianity has spread.

Albeit not without controversy. For instance, in 2018, Communist Party authorities in Henan Province forced a church there to remove one of the commandments, creating the world's first 9 Commandments.

Then there's the Los Lunas Decalogue Stone - ever heard of that (not to be confused with the Bat Creek Inscription)?

For many have argued (including Winston Churchill and Dennis Prager - click the above image) that the 10 Commandments are the foundation of Western Civilization. 

Let's perhaps put this thesis to the test.

Chances are that not everyone at your table will be able to name all ten in the correct order, so let's help them out.

First of all, as you can see in this screenshot from the Wikipedia page, there are major controversies over just what are the exact ten.

According to Jewish tradition, they are:

 1. Be a monotheist.
 2. Don't be a polytheist, pantheist, animist, scientist, atheist, or any alternative to monotheism.
 3. Don't misuse the Divine name.
 4. Keep and remember the Shabbat.
 5. Honor your parents.
 6. Don't murder.
 7. Don't commit adultery.
 8. Don't steal.
 9. Don't lie.
 10. Don't yearn to have something that isn't yours and isn't for sale.


So now that we have the What, what about the Why?

As Prager would say, Who can explain them in a way that makes sense to the modern eye and ear? 

Prager can.

But is Prager right that they create the moral foundation of Western Civilization? Or are they only a vestige of Medieval religious fanaticism?

Or, to put the question in more practical terms, could one create a totally moral society based on only nine of the ten commandments as proposed by Chinese Communist Party hacks?

Be circumspect in your answer, for how you answer the question could impact the future of Western Civilization!


Shabbat Shalom

PS — Do you know how many days until Purim and Pesach?

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This message may also be read online at Blogspot and Times of Israel (with an even cooler graphic).