Updated Sunday, November 30, 2025, from my apartment in New York.
I don't know if this is the ultimate path for how education will be delivered in the future. But I do know that the current system has serious flaws that drive up the expense and doesn't deliver on the expected value.
Last time I was this excited, it was because of Khan Academy and as a result, I encouraged Rabbi Fohrman to create videos. The result was AlephBeta. Let's see what happens this time.
Why do people learn Torah?
I like this question. It's a way to tease out the motivations behind the actions we do. We've discovered that the weekly parsha cycle is an excellent habit that many people use. Also the holidays are another cycle where people are willing to pay attention.
We are exploring if there is a desire for self improvement as a motivating factor. And we are open to the idea that it is not. Perhaps the cycles of daily Torah reading, weekly parsha, and monthly-ish holidays are the core cycles to pay attention to.
While the other projects are in the realm of 'non-profit' in the sense that while I believe they can create lots of good for many people, I do not profit financially from either of those. I also have projects in the world of 'for-profit' too.
I've been in the world of custom software development for over 30 years now. And I've lived through a number of epochs. And now with AI showing up there are fundamental differences of perspective on how that will play out.
Will it be AGI? Will the AI be good enough to operate autonomously and made decisions? Or will be be Augmented Humans? AI tools that need humans to collaborate effectively?
I believe in the theory of augmented humans and AI being a powerful tool that we can use. At work, I experiment and study what works really well to create teams of forward deployed developers who act and learn at newly found speed while developing sophisticated features with the help of AI.
In fact, the lessons of making grounded assessments and cultivating good moods become ever so important as the landscape changes around us.
What fun it is to be alive at this moment!
TV: Black Dove on Netflix must of been written by a philosopher who was meditating on what is truth? The spy story is an excellent canvas to examine how ultimately what we believe is subjective and actually reject an external truth.
TV: The Diplomat on Netflix was a revelation. The redemption arc of a verbally abusive spouse to a loving one revealed to me how accepting I am of harsh language in the name of truth and practicality.