Happiness in the age of AI

The 2025 World Happiness Report found that almost one in five young adults around the world had no one they could count on for support. A 2026 study published in Social Science & Medicine found that people who felt connected with their local community experienced greater well-being and less loneliness over time. 

We need other people. We need to feel that we belong. 

That need runs deeper than psychology. It comes from the neshama, our soul. G-d has created us to connect: to know and be known, to care and be cared for, to feel part of something larger than ourselves. 

Artificial intelligence (AI) brings this into sharp focus. AI is an extraordinary tool. It can transform businesses, improve productivity, solve complex problems, and help us work in ways we could scarcely have imagined a few years ago. 

But it is still a machine. It has no soul. 

That matters because, disturbingly, growing numbers of people are already turning to AI for companionship and emotional support. A machine can converse, and can even sound caring, insightful, and empathetic. But there is nothing there. It is empty of true emotion. It has no soul. Its expressions of connection are artificial. 

Human connection isn’t simply about having someone to talk to. It is about being part of a circle of mutual responsibility: being there for others, and knowing they are there for us. It is not merely having people around us that matters. There is something powerful about knowing: these are my people. This is my community. This is where I belong. 

For 185 years, that idea has been at the heart of South African Jewish life. 

When Cape Town’s first Jewish community was established in 1841, one of the first priorities was to establish a shul. As Jewish communities spread across the country, and later moved from small towns to cities, and from one suburb to another, shuls remained the central hub of community life. 

So much has changed since 1841. But that has not. 

Our shuls are still the beating heart of our community – where we find meaning and inspiration, comfort and support; warm and inviting places that make us feel at home. Shuls are an island of connectivity, love, and real human connection – places where we feel part of something greater than ourselves. 

They are where we connect to our Creator and His plan for the meaning of our lives. Shuls connect us to our rabbis and rebbetzins, who are there to guide and teach, to care, and to hold our community. 

Our shuls are the most powerful driver of the cohesion and vibrancy for which our community is famous. They are where community is lived week after week: where we pray to Hashem and learn Torah together, celebrate together, support one another through illness and loss, build friendships, raise our children, and share responsibility for one another. 

Pirkei Avot teaches, “Do not separate yourself from the community.” It is a profound insight into what human beings need in order to flourish. 

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur bring all of us back to our shuls. 

So this year, let us make that return the beginning, not the end, of our connection for the year ahead. Make it a new year’s resolution to become a more active part of your shul. Come more often. Bring your children. Learn. Pray. Volunteer. Get involved. Be there for others – and allow others to be there for you. 

Because, especially in the age of AI, the things that make life worth living remain profoundly human: faith, love, responsibility, friendship, family, belonging, and community. No machine can build those for us. No machine can meet those deep needs. No matter how intelligent our machines become, we will always need one another. 

In a world offering ever more sophisticated substitutes for human connection, let us invest more deeply in the real thing. May Hashem bless us all with a good and sweet new year, strengthened by the loving bonds of community and connection.