Talmud Class: Changing our Minds?

Last week, toward the end of our recorded class together, Elias asked the question, “In the past 45 minutes of talking to each other, have any of us changed our minds?” The answer was a clear, “No.” While we had conducted a respectful conversation, the truth is, that each of us remained committed to the same positions and principles with which we had begun the conversation. Which got me thinking… what does it look like to be influenced by another’s position and actually change your mind?

Given that earlier this week we celebrated Lag Ba’Omer, an obvious Talmudic text jumped out: the story of Shimon Bar Yochai and his son.  At the start of the story, Shimon and his son hold one position – learning is the most important thing, anything else is an infuriating waste of time.  By the end, they are both transformed.  But through the middle of the tale they are not on the same page at all.  How do they get on the same page?  And what might their trajectory teach us about holding open the possibility of change in our own interactions today?