We are always looking for something new. A new place to go, a view we haven't seen, a fresh experience to inspire the spirit. There is a deep restlessness in being human, and no superficial experience ever quite settles it.

In this week's talk for Shavuot - the festival whose name means weeks, the festival of the journey - the Chief Rabbi opens with this restlessness, and what it tells us about who we are.

Drawing on Pirkei Avot's image of the human being as a traveller from another world, on the Maharal's reading of 'Adam' as pure potential, on the strange Mishnah about those who walk and learn, and on the Chief's own observation that animals don't get bored, this is a talk about a profound psychological need that we have, and why no destination ever quite scratches the itch.

What are we searching for, and where do we find it?

Key Questions

• Why is the human need for change so deep, and so easily disastrous?

• What does it mean to be a traveller from another world?

• Why are we never quite satisfied by the new things we find?

• What is the difference between travelling outwardly and travelling inwardly?