The Social Animal (Rabbi Sacks on Vayakhel-Pekudei, Covenant & Conversation)
The Office of Rabbi Sacks
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The Importance of Community in Jewish Spirituality
In 2009, Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler did statistical analysis of a group of 5124 subjects. They found that if a friend takes up smoking, it makes it significantly more likely, by a factor of 36%, that you will. The same applies to drinking, slenderness, obesity and many other behavioural patterns. A year 2000 study of students at Dartmouth College found that if you share a room with somebody with good study habits, it will probably raise your own performance. There is such a thing as social contagion. Jewish spirituality is for the most part profoundly communal, hence my definition of Jewish faith, the redemption of our solitude. Shabbat Shalom.
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