Letter from the Founder
In our search for modern meaning, we've lost sight of the Great Conversation. Our universities have become factories of credentials, churning out degrees while leaving curiosity and critical thinking behind. Even at elite institutions, our youth no longer immerse themselves in books. Professors, caught in the grind of endless publishing, speak only to echo chambers, retreating into ideological silos while life's profound questions go unanswered.
The technology meant to save us has only deepened our emptiness. Language apps teach us how to order coffee but not how to appreciate Don Quixote. We binge on content that neither challenges nor nourishes us. Leisure has been hijacked by an economy of endless scrolling and addictive consumerism.
A generation searches for meaning in a marketplace flooded with shallow solutions. While modern approaches to wellbeing have their place, they often miss the deeper dimensions of human flourishing. The great books that once shaped civilizations gather dust as we trade depth for disposable feeds. We've lost the common language that once united us in meaningful conversations.
I was born into a tradition that offers another way. In Judaism, learning is not just a path to knowledge but a spiritual practice, one so essential that each day begins with a blessing of gratitude for the obligation to study. We approach texts not as puzzles to solve but as timeless dialogues to enter.
In our tradition, multiple interpretations coexist, each holding a shard of truth. For thousands of years, we've survived exile by making our home in the enduring power of great conversation. This approach moved me so deeply that I chose to become both a Rabbi and a Doctor of Theology.
This wisdom tradition offers a path through our modern crisis. What if we approached every text with the reverence of a sacred scroll? What if our technology, rather than distracting us, deepened our engagement with what matters?
Artificial intelligence provides an extraordinary opportunity to breathe new life into the classics. But this demands a shift in how we view learning—not as passive consumption but as active soul-craft, not as the transfer of information but as a journey of transformation.
This is why I founded Lightning. I envision a future where great books are not merely assigned but encountered as companions. Where timeless questions become living conversations, where ancient wisdom speaks to contemporary life, where each person discovers their own voice in dialogue with the past. A future where the rigor of academia meets the wisdom of timeless traditions—freed from the confines of ivory towers and unyielding dogma.
Learning is a practice that can change your life. The history of thought is not simply a catalogue of theories that are either right or wrong, but a great conversation, one that you can join. Your intellectual DNA contains traces of the conversations that have shaped your inner and outer world. By decoding it, you discover not just who you are, but who you can become.
