We’ve Got Ruach; Yes, We Do!

Have you heard that the average attention span is down from 12 seconds in the year 2000 to eight seconds now? That is less than the nine-second attention span of your average goldfish.

The origins of this data can be tracked back to a Microsoft report published in 2015 and was then included in a host of articles and analyzed and reviewed in different publications ever since.

Now if you’re still paying attention…

This eight-second myth has been busted. The idea of an “average attention span” is pretty meaningless. There’s no hard data behind it. There’s also no evidence that goldfish - or indeed any fish - have particularly short attention spans.

Whatever the research, as a parent, teacher, and rabbi, I can tell you with authority: People today have less patience. We have little attention for things not directly in front of us or that come in doses of more than 120 characters or that can’t be conveyed with a picture or a meme.

I experience this myself. So did the Jews in Egypt. When Moshe relays God’s promise of redemption to them, they don’t listen.

וַיְדַבֵּר מֹשֶׁה כֵּן אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלֹא שָׁמְעוּ אֶל־מֹשֶׁה מִקֹּצֶר רוּחַ וּמֵעֲבֹדָה קָשָׁה׃

“Moses spoke to the children of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses because of kotzer ruach, a shortness of ruach, and because of their hard labor.” (Shemot 6:9)

What is kotzer ruach?

Kotzer ruach can be defined as three types of limited mindsets: impatience, narrow-mindedness, and a lack of spirit. These mindsets interfere with the ability to overcome challenges, think big, or feel passion.

1) Impatience

Rashi explains that the Jews were working so hard that they were out of breath and couldn’t concentrate. The American poet W.H. Auden wrote, “Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.” Impatience breeds fear, stress and discouragement.

For Bnei Yisrael, Moshe’s speech about 5 stages of redemption was simply too long. They did not have the patience for such a long process. We have become accustomed to things being easy and convenient. Maybe too convenient. As Evan Williams, a co-founder of Twitter, put it, “Convenience decides everything.”

Kotzer ruach means we have limited patience beyond what we’ve accustomed ourselves to have. The response is to develop a little more tolerance for what’s outside the ordinary way things usually are. It may seem hard, or it may seem inconvenient, but it’s necessary.

2) Narrow-mindedness

Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin says that Bnei Yisrael were just too busy working to actually stop and listen. When we are overworked, we don’t have the capacity to be receptive to anything else - even good news. Our vision – our spirit – is limited. That’s kotzer ruach. We need to broaden our horizons.

The Talmud (Berachot 55b) states that someone who goes 7 days without dreaming is evil. What is so wrong with a week without dreaming? Rabbi Yehuda Amital explained that a dream represents one’s aspirations to develop. A person should not go for 7 days without the desire to progress and to explore something new. It’s comfortable to stick with the familiar. It’s also kotzer ruach. We need to expand.

In October 1939, an American educational reformer named Abraham Flexner published an essay in Harper’s magazine under the marvelous title, “The Usefulness of Useless Knowledge.” Noting the way in which the concerns of modern education increasingly turned toward solving practical problems, Flexner made a plea for “the cultivation of curiosity” for its own sake. When was the last time you tried something new or read a book of a different genre than usual? Something lishmah, just for the sake of studying and expanding the range of views and ideas you encounter?

We’re all busy and, nowadays, overwhelmed by what vies for our attention. Let’s retake control, escape the echo chamber, and try something new – a different author, musician, or even a different news channel. (Just not a different rabbi…)

3) Lack of spirit

Rabbi Ovadiah Seforno, the 15th century Italian commentator, explains that kotzer ruach literally means religious spirit. Bnei Yisrael lost faith in the promise of redemption. The Zohar notes that the ruach that the people lacked was the “ruach Elokim, the spirit of God” that was “hovering above the waters” in the beginning of the creation of the world. According to this approach, Bnei Yisrael had become so entrenched in Egypt that they became disconnected and unexcited about anything spiritual.

What about us? Do we, at times, fall prey to this kind of “kotzer ruach” syndrome? Losing this religious feeling may come at a cost.

In October 2023, a Harvard report about youth mental health found that “nearly three in five young adults (58 percent) reported that they lacked ‘meaning or purpose’ in their lives in the previous month. Half of young adults reported that their mental health was negatively influenced by ‘not knowing what to do with my life.’” This sounds a lot like kotzer ruach, a lack of focus and mental wellbeing. The study noted there was a variable that helped the situation. Young adults who belonged to any religion were more likely to report having meaning and purpose. Having ruach helps.

We can all use a little more religious spirit, energy, and passion. We need to be open to the power of an expanded spiritual experience.  There are so many possibilities. A short, inspirational Torah thought. A small act of kindness in the middle of a busy day. A rousing niggun or song. An act of charity, kindness, or a smile to a neighbor.

We are not always in the mood to be spiritual. Nevertheless, we cannot let these moments allow us to let kotzer ruach define us.

Bnei Yisrael needed to overcome their kotzer ruach to be freed from Egypt. Let’s tackle our kotzer ruach. Let us consciously find ways to be more patient, more broadminded and tolerant of different ideas and experiences, and more open to our souls and spirituality. Let’s have more ruach.