Sometimes words have two (or more) meanings

The mystery of Kreplach explained

Hi, everyone, as we clear out the chametz (leavened bread products, also understood as spiritual puffery/excess) in preparation for Passover, I have some stories to tell you. Actually, it’s three different versions of one story. Let me explain.

Several weeks ago, Reb Nadya and I were talking with a dear friend who told us she had been asking artificial intelligence some very deep spiritual questions. The responses blew us away by their depth and how they responded to her follow up questions.

So, I got the idea to see what AI could do with one of my favorite Hasidic stories. Using Perplexity, I asked this simple request: to please tell this story from the perspective of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, known affectionally as the Alter Rebbe, the founder of Habad. After that was done, I asked that the same story be told from the perspective of the Ba’al Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism. What I got was a distinctly different story! In the third clip, the same story will be told by our beloved Reb Zalman, of blessed memory. That is a live version of him telling the story that was recorded at the 92nd St Y in New York City in 1995, which you’ll see at the end.

The story is called “Kreplach.”

This is what AI said at the beginning, “Here is a retelling of the Kreplach story in the style and spiritual voice of Rabbi Shneur Zalman with his emphasis on pinimiut/inwardness, divinity, and the avodah/service of the heart.”

The AI continued with a note after this. It said, “If you like, I can tell a more mystical version, a humorous version in Alter Rebbe’s style, or a Ma’amar/formal teaching-style exposition based on this idea.” I declined. Enough is enough.

Next is the Kreplach story, retold in the spiritual voice and storytelling style of the Ba’al Shem, according to AI, “it’s simple on the surface, luminous underneath, warm, wonder-filled, and full of hints of providence and joy.”

A.I. continued, “If you like, I can tell a humorous, folk-tale version, a children’s story version, or a more mystical, angel-filled Besh’t-style version.” I declined to continue.

And now, Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, of blessed memory, telling the story that he told so often it is obvious this was one of his favorites.

After doing this exercise with AI and finding Reb Zalman’s version, I felt awe and wonder. The awe was occasioned by the speed that the two AI versions were done and how accurate or faithful to the two rebbes’ ways of understanding the story. My wonder was what will happen to us humans if this is what AI can do today! Will critical thinking become an ability of the past with excessive reliance on AI to do our mind work absent the heart work?