How Moses Turned a Mob Into a Movement
One of the greatest dangers in human history is groupthink. Sometimes called mob psychology, it’s when our individual faculties get overwhelmed by the energy, emotion, or propaganda of a crowd.
There are ways to guard against it, but very few of us are immune.
The Torah’s Surprising Insight into Human Nature
The Torah teaches this truth beautifully. But it does more than diagnose the problem—it shows us how to harness this collective energy for something sacred rather than destructive.
Rather than denying human nature, the Torah channels it. The same psychology that leads to chaos can also be the foundation for something divine.
Two Crowds, Two Outcomes
Nowhere is this lesson clearer than in two pivotal moments in the Torah: the worship of the Golden Calf and the construction of the Mishkan.
The very same people who fell into a destructive frenzy were the ones who later built a sacred space.
What turned a destructive impulse into a holy endeavor? The answer is deceptively simple. One was about building. The other was about chaos.
Not all crowds are the same. Some are disciplined, purposeful, and task-oriented. Others are emotional mobs, driven by impulse rather than intention.
When people gather without purpose, they are vulnerable to fear, frenzy, and manipulation. Neuroscientists describe this as an “amygdala hijack,” when emotions override reason and primitive instincts take over.
From Frenzy to Focus
Moses understood this truth. He also understood that this need to be part of something larger can be destructive, or it can be elevated!
The Israelites did both. In the construction of the mishkan, the same enthusiasm that led the Israelites to offer their gold to a false god was channeled into voluntary contributions for a sacred purpose.
The same people who once lost themselves in a chaotic frenzy now found themselves engaged in careful, intentional craftsmanship.
The difference was purpose, discipline, and structure.
The Robbers’ Cave Experiment: A Modern Lesson
Modern psychology supports this idea.
In the 1954 Robbers’ Cave Experiment, social psychologist Muzafer Sherif studied how easily humans form rival factions.
He took a group of 11-year-old boys, split them into two teams—the Eagles and the Rattlers—and created a series of competitions. Almost immediately, the groups turned hostile. They engaged in name-calling, flag-burning, and even food fights.
Attempts to resolve the tension through friendly encounters failed. But when the researchers introduced shared challenges, like fixing the camp’s water supply, the boys suddenly cooperated.
By the end of the experiment, they were no longer rivals but friends.
The Torah Knew This All Along
If you want to forge a people, you give them a task—one that no individual can accomplish alone.
The Mishkan was that task. Every person had a role: metalworkers, weavers, carpenters. And as they worked together, they weren’t just building a sanctuary; they were building a nation.
Our Challenge Today: Mob or Mishkan?
This lesson is deeply relevant today. We live in an era of mass movements, viral hysteria, and online mobs.
Social media amplifies the collective mind, often turning primarily to outrage rather than construction.
But if we learn from the Torah, we see that the solution isn’t to resist collective energy—it’s to guide it.
Be a Builder
When people are focused on creating something of value, they stop tearing each other down.
And so the challenge for us today is to be builders. To take the powerful forces of human psychology—not suppress them, not fear them—but direct them toward something higher.
When people come together, they can build a mob, or they can build a sanctuary.
Moses showed us the way. The question is: What will we choose to build?