#64 – Crash Theory: Managing Crisis ** February 18, 2015
Guest // Rabbi Benay Lappe ** Host // Toni Bark, MD

Crisis is inevitable.

We know this. But what happens during those moments of tumultuous and dislocating change in our lives… when we’re caught flat-footed and lacking in grace, emotional reserves, and judgment?

Did you know that we’re faced with only 3 choices when things don’t turn out as planned? There’s something called “Crash Theory.” It explains why we stubbornly cling to truths we have been taught, even when we realize they are not actually true. It is a simple paradigm that explains how we can better navigate all life’s “crashes” — social, religious, and personal.

Rabbi Benay Lappe is the founder of SVARA, a “traditionally radical” yeshiva that welcomes learners of all faiths. Her teaching focuses on the radical methods of legal change recorded in the Talmud. Her work on the evolution of religious traditions has led her to develop her Crash Theory (listen to her TEDx talk). Benay has served on the faculties of the University of Illinois, Temple University, The University of Judaism, University of California, Berkeley, and The Wexner Institute. She is Director of Education and Senior Fellow at the Institute for the Next Jewish Future. Ordained by The Jewish Theological Seminary, Benay is one of The Forward’s 2014 Most Inspiring Rabbis and Jewrotica’s Sexiest Rabbis of 2013. She is a licensed pilot, shoemaker, and patent-holding inventor.