Unlike Shimen, Heidi aspires to base her beliefs solely on evidence and to choose her commitments based on these justified beliefs. She specifically aspires for her most deeply held beliefs to transcend the particular culture in which she lives.

When the author of the Mishna Berura writes, as he often does, that “the common practice is such and such, but this is wrong,” Shimen’s response is to credit the author’s claim regarding the common practice and to ignore the admonition.

if we were to characterize actual Jewish belief such as it appears in the wild, we would find that different people codify it at different degrees of abstraction.

In situations that call mainly for common sense and decency, Shimen’s first instinct is to conjure up what his bubbe (grandma) would do.

this codified version doesn’t capture what’s going on in Shimen’s mind;

younger participants in public rituals see that elders and wise people are accorded honor, and understand implicitly whom they should take as role models. In this way, they learn to value experience and knowledge, and they understand that if they wish to obtain similar prestige, they should seek to acquire such experience and knowledge.

social norms must encourage our prosocial instincts and discourage our selfish instincts. If you and I both know that we share a commitment to such norms, we can trust each other and cooperate in mutually advantageous ways.

a tradeoff here between gripping the soul with the narrative power of concrete beliefs and gripping the intellect with the plausibility of abstract beliefs.

While Shimen wants freedom to participate in a specific communal project that connects the past with the future and that gives his life meaning and purpose, Heidi wants freedom from such projects.