When I was an undergrad, one class I took for my psychology degree was The Study of Dreams.  We learned different methods of dream interpretation, including Freudian, Jungian, and quantitative.  Analysis was not done on a single dream, but on a dream journal, containing multiple entries gathered over a month or longer.  A quantitative analysis, as the name suggests, was done by counting instances of a certain element in the dreams.  For example, how many times was the setting indoors verses outdoors.  Another example could be how many times does the dreamer fly.

 

Quantitative analysis can be used in other areas too.  When I pull up a product review, the AI summary appears to be a quantitative list of the most common items.  I’ve even started using it when listening to sermons. 

 

I noticed that I commonly end my sermons the same way:  May it cause us to be better people, a better community, and a better world.  Why does this, or a derivation of it, get included so often?  I think it’s indicative of my belief that Judaism provides a moral construct, and when we follow it, good things happen.  To quote someone who says it better than me:

 

Rabbi Akiva would say…:

הַכֹּל צָפוּי, וְהָרְשׁוּת נְתוּנָה, וּבְטוֹב הָעוֹלָם נִדּוֹן. וְהַכֹּל לְפִי רֹב הַמַּעֲשֶׂה:

Everything is foreseen yet freedom of choice is granted, And the world is judged with goodness; And everything is in accordance with the preponderance of works (amount of man’s positive deeds).

(Pirkei Avot 3:15)

 

As we enjoy our summer months, and the country’s 250th birthday, may we remember that we are the ones who create greatness.  And that is how we can let our holy sparks fan into a flame of light for the nation.