Ep 367: The Butterfly Effect with Gilad Avrahami & Bernie Furshpan on hmTv

Ep 367 – The Butterfly Effect

With Gilad Avrahami & Bernie Furshpan | hmTv

In this thoughtful and wide-ranging conversation, Gilad Avrahami and Bernie Furshpan explore the powerful idea of the Butterfly Effect—the notion that small actions can ripple outward in ways we may never fully see or predict.

Beginning with its scientific roots in chaos theory and moving into lived human experience, this episode examines how words, choices, and moments of kindness shape individuals, communities, and even history itself. Drawing connections to education, Holocaust remembrance, moral responsibility, and everyday decision-making, the discussion reminds us that no action is ever truly insignificant.

Recorded at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County, The Butterfly Effect invites listeners to reflect on their own impact in the world—and to recognize that change doesn’t require grand gestures. Sometimes, it starts with a single choice, a single voice, or a single act of care.

Listen, reflect, and become part of the ripple.

Transcript

Ep 367 – The Butterfly Effect

With Gilad Avrahami & Bernie Furshpan
hmTv | Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County

Gilad Avrahami:
Hello, and thank you for joining me today. I’m your host, Gilad Avrahami, Programs and Development Coordinator here at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center. I’m pleased to welcome my co-host, Bernie Furshpan, Director of Marketing, Public Relations, and Media at HMTC.

This podcast is a production of the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center of Nassau County. On today’s inaugural episode of The Butterfly Effect on hmTv, we’ll explore the meaning of the butterfly effect and its surprising relevance to daily life, purpose, and the consequences of our actions.

Hi, Bernie.

Bernie Furshpan:
Hi everyone, and thank you for joining us. It’s an honor to be here and to explore a topic that many people have heard of—but maybe haven’t really sat with deeply.

Gilad:
Bernie, what inspired you to guide us into such a philosophical discussion today?

Bernie:
First of all, the butterfly is a powerful symbol here at the Holocaust Memorial & Tolerance Center. It represents the children who were murdered during the Holocaust—and really, all children.

But the butterfly effect goes even further. It reminds us that words matter. Actions matter. What we say and do can impact people positively or negatively in ways we may never see.

We talk a lot here about inspiring young people to be upstanders. Small acts—kind acts—can have an enormous impact. So this idea isn’t just philosophical. It’s practical. It’s happening all the time, whether we notice it or not.

Gilad:
As I prepared for today, I realized just how often the butterfly effect shows up in our own lives. It reminds us that we’re part of a much bigger system—and that even the smallest moments matter.

Bernie:
Exactly. Scientifically and philosophically, there’s an infinite number of events happening around us at any given moment. Every small action leads to another, and another, and another.

That’s why it’s called the butterfly effect. The idea that a butterfly flapping its wings in one place could ultimately influence weather patterns somewhere else. Everything ripples.

Gilad:
The term comes from meteorologist Edward Lorenz in the 1960s. While studying weather patterns, he discovered that a tiny rounding difference in data could completely change long-term outcomes—like whether a storm would occur.

That realization helped give rise to chaos theory: the idea that complex systems are incredibly sensitive to initial conditions.

Bernie:
And that’s where it connects to life. Every moment we’re in is the result of countless small events that came before it.

You walk down a supermarket aisle, turn a corner, bump into someone. You help them pick up their groceries. You make eye contact. You fall in love. You have a child. That child grows up and changes the world.

All because you turned left instead of right.

Gilad:
It reminds me of the film Sliding Doors. One small moment—whether a woman catches a train or misses it—creates two entirely different life paths. And yet, the film suggests that who we are still pulls us toward certain outcomes.

There’s randomness, but there’s also order.

Bernie:
I think of it like a magnet. We’re drawn toward certain moments because of who we are and what we pay attention to.

If I trace my own path—why I’m here today—it goes back through a chain of events: family decisions, education, relationships, even the pandemic. Every piece mattered.

And I’m grateful for where it all landed.

Gilad:
That perspective matters, especially today, when so many people feel overwhelmed. Sometimes it feels like there’s already a storm raging—and our actions feel insignificant by comparison.

Bernie:
But storms don’t cover the whole planet. They’re local. And sometimes the lesson is that it’s not your moment to speak loudly—it’s your moment to be somewhere else, doing something quieter.

Even storms were started by butterfly effects somewhere else.

We don’t always see how we matter—but we do.

Gilad:
That’s especially true in education. Teachers often don’t realize how one sentence, one moment of encouragement, can shape a student’s entire life.

Years later, a student may say, “You changed everything for me”—and the teacher doesn’t even remember saying it.

Bernie:
Which is why mindfulness matters. Words linger. Actions echo.

You don’t have to change the world. You just have to impact the people you’re connected to. They’ll carry it forward.

Everything is connected.

Gilad:
That idea is at the heart of what we do here. Looking at history, especially the Holocaust, we see how moments of despair could have led humanity in very different directions.

And yet, people chose hope. They chose to rebuild. That choice shaped the world we live in now.

Bernie:
And here we are—talking about it.

That alone proves the point.

Gilad:
By listening, sharing, and reflecting, you’re part of the butterfly effect too. You’re participating in something larger than yourself.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of The Butterfly Effect on hmTv. If you enjoyed today’s conversation, be sure to explore our other podcasts here on hmTv.

Please subscribe, share, and stay connected.

Until next time—take care, and be well.