Our Gemara on Amud Aleph describes the actions and words that the Inciter (to commit idolatry) must say in order to be liable for the death penalty. An example is how he might educate someone about a particular mode of idol worship and its rituals:

“There is an idol in such and such a place, which eats like this, drinks like this, does good for its worshippers like this, and harms those who do not worship it like this.”

It is curious that one part of the description involves specifying that the idol is in “such and such a place.” Why is location part of the pitch?

I believe this highlights a psychological message about the appeal of novelty. Many Jews today grew up with what I call “Gefilte Fish Judaism”—a Judaism reduced to simplistic notions of theology and hollow rituals. Their connection might consist of eating matzoh ball soup on Pesach, attending temple on Yom Kippur, and hearing the rabbi speak about Israel while making a few jokes from the pulpit. To them, Judaism feels devoid of spirituality. Then, in college, they meet a devout Christian friend and become enamored with Christianity’s approach to sin and forgiveness. Or perhaps they discover meditation and are captivated by Hinduism’s mystical philosophies. Suddenly, these foreign ideas seem profound, while they remain unaware of the vast philosophical and mystical depths in their own Jewish heritage.

I believe this is what the Mishna is hinting at when it describes the pitch of the Inciter. If the idol was local, it wouldn’t be very interesting. But because it hails from some distant, exotic place, it suddenly becomes appealing.

Ibn Ezra (Shemos 2:3) uses a similar idea to explain why Hashem orchestrated Moshe’s upbringing in Pharaoh’s palace. In addition to the education in arts and sciences that royalty received, which contributed to Moshe’s own enlightenment, Ibn Ezra muses:

“If he had grown up among his brothers, and they felt familiar with him, knowing him from his youth, they would not have had the appropriate reverence, because they would feel like he was just one of them.”

Though applied in the opposite way, Ibn Ezra still highlights the human tendency to assign greater weight to something that is novel, foreign, and exotic. This is just one of many ways in which humans do not actually function rationally. We fail to appreciate how many of our decisions stem from subtle emotional cues that bias our thinking, leading us to construct intellectual rationales to support what is actually a deeper intuition or instinct.

The Nobel Prize-winning economist Daniel Kahneman spent his career demonstrating how so-called rational decisions are often deeply influenced by intrinsic biases. People tend to give much greater weight to the fear of loss than to opportunities for gain, and they often define an experience by its “peak-end” rather than its entirety. That is, the final moments of an experience disproportionately shape their recollection of it. Research supports this: when individuals report their enjoyment levels during a vacation or event and later recall the experience, their memories are often heavily influenced by how it ended. (Imagine a wonderful vacation where, on the last day, the hotel’s electricity shuts off—suddenly, the entire trip is remembered as unpleasant.)

The human mind operates with these intuitive and instinctive shortcuts because, while they sacrifice accuracy, they enhance efficiency. Our consciousness can only process so much at once, so many decisions are made on autopilot. This is not inherently bad; it is a necessary function of cognition. However, we should strive not to be naïve. By recognizing our biases, we can make more deliberate and objective decisions when the situation demands deeper thought.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families as well male sexual health. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com