There is a human superpower that every person possesses, yet so often it remains underutilised and underdeveloped. Not because it is difficult, but because it looks like nothing at all. It appears passive, unimpressive, almost invisible. And yet it may be the most powerful capacity a person can master.

In this talk on the Parsha of Yitro, Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein explores why listening may be the most underdeveloped - and most transformative - human capacity.

The Parsha introduces Yitro, a man whose life changes because he truly listens. Later, Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest leader in Jewish history, does something even more telling: he listens to criticism and acts on it, preventing collapse and reshaping Jewish leadership for all generations.

But if listening is so powerful, why is it so rare? Why does silence feel uncomfortable? What makes us resist ideas that challenge who we are? Why does the Torah define wisdom not by how much we know, but by our willingness to learn? Why do our Sages teach that silence is the "fence for wisdom"?

And why is the Parsha of the Giving of the Torah named after a man whose defining trait was that he listened?

The shiur then turns to Shema Yisrael, "Listen, Israel," and reveals why Judaism's most famous declaration is not a call to see, but to hear.

KEY THEMES EXPLORED

• Why the most powerful force in life is almost invisible

• What separates hearing from truly listening

• Why wisdom requires silence before knowledge

• Why real listening demands the courage to be changed

• Why the Torah places listening at the heart of truth

South Africa's expulsion of Israel's senior diplomat is one of the most extreme diplomatic actions a government can take. It shows how much President Ramaphosa and his government hate Israel and the Jews: that the government is prepared to let its own people die rather than concede that its foreign policy on Israel is misguided.

And that is why the President is a cursed leader of a cursed party.

In this uncompromising address, Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein explains why the South African government's decision represents state capture 2.0: the sale of South Africa's foreign policy.

The Israeli embassy was working with local communities to help address a devastating water crisis in the Eastern Cape. Millions of South Africans lack reliable access to clean water. Children fall ill from preventable diseases. Families queue for hours or share contaminated water with livestock.

When Israel offered help, the programme was halted. The diplomat was expelled. Because allowing Israel to alleviate human suffering threatened the optics of the ANC's anti-Israel agenda.

This decision cannot be viewed in isolation. It forms part of a broader pattern: hostility toward Israel, silence on Iran's human rights abuses, and growing alignment with regimes that export repression and terror. Time and again, South Africa's foreign policy has drifted away from the country's own national interest.

The Chief Rabbi warns that this path carries serious moral, economic, and political consequences, from undermining trade relations and jobs to deepening poverty and international isolation.

This is not about Israel alone. It is about governance, corruption, and the cost of allowing ideology to replace responsibility.

KEY INSIGHTS

• Expelling a senior diplomat is an extreme act that signals political breakdown

• South Africa's foreign policy is being traded away to serve external interests

• The poor bear the cost when ideology overrides humanitarian need

• This decision fits a wider pattern of moral inconsistency and selective outrage

• State capture has evolved from looting institutions to selling national interest

Resentment is one of the most destructive forces in human life. It corrodes relationships, clouds judgment, and undermines long-term happiness.

Yet it can feel deeply enticing.

In this talk on the Parsha of Beshalach, Chief Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein explores why bitterness takes such a strong psychological hold, and why the generation that left Egypt struggled so profoundly to let it go.

This week's Parsha is filled with complaints. Our Sages teach that of the ten times the Jewish people tested God in the desert, seven occurred here. These were not only cries of fear, but repeated expressions of frustration, cynicism, and longing to return to Egypt.

Why was a physically freed people unable to move forward?

Drawing from Pirkei Avot and the insights of our Sages, the Chief Rabbi reveals a psychological truth: freedom from slavery is not the same as freedom from the mindset of slavery. The Torah contrasts this mindset with another model entirely - one that endures hardship without surrendering to victimhood.

What is it that makes the difference? Why is faith alone not enough? And what does it take to move from resentment to responsibility, from complaint to inner strength?

• Resentment can feel emotionally stabilising, even as it erodes inner freedom

• Attachment to the past often feels safer than the risk of growth

• Letting go of victimhood requires courage, not comfort

• True freedom begins with responsibility, not release