In later life, Sir Roger Bannister was the perfect gentleman, a retired neurologist living in the suburbs. But in 1954 he shocked the world when he broke through the four-minute-mile barrier, running a mile in 3 minutes 59.4 seconds.

Beloved and respected, he played down his achievement, often saying that as far as he was concerned the barrier had been psychological, not physical, as many had said.

Rabbi Dunner connects this humble idea to a question posed by Moses in Eikev, and the remarkable answer he suggested to the Jewish nation just weeks before he died.