Andy (אברהם נפתלי) Blumenthal Leadership, Technology, Life, and Faith ✡

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "My Supernova."

Years ago, there was a time when I rebelled against religion, Judaism, and G-d. It was my version of running to the Supernova Music Festival, where I could dance and party to the music under the desert sky. I was young, and probably like many others, went through a stage when I wanted to express my freedom and independence.

On October 7, of the almost 1,200 people massacred that day, 364 were at the music festival. No one can say why anyone lost their lives, were brutally tortured and raped, or were abducted by these radical Islamic terrorists that day—it was pure evil—but like me missing Rosh Hashanah years ago, people at Supernova were also misplaced from the holy Shabbat services and the singing and dancing with the Torahs for the holiday. This is a kind of Jewish tragedy.

(AI Generated Image via Craiyon)

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "Preventing a Future October 7."

First and foremost, we need more and better capability to think outside the box and see things not only as they appear, but what's behind the curtain as well. War gaming, planning, modeling and simulation, and using artificial intelligence are just some of the tools at our disposal for breaking the paradigm and thinking about what's possible and even what's probable. Most importantly, we need a diversity of thinking to end the groupthink and mind-numbing stasis of seeing things only as we think they are and not as they really are or could be. Whether we employ think tanks and advisory boards; military and intelligence assets; strategic planners, futurists, and statisticians; technologists, scientists, and engineers; psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists to get into the heads of our adversaries or the realm of the unthinkable, we must break down the barriers to novel thinking and creative solutions. Along with faith in the Almighty and a strong, technologically advanced, and well-trained IDF, this deep planning must become the bedrock of our security preparedness.

(AI Generated Image via Craiyon)