SHAVUOT > The Secret Bridge Between Modernity and Faith > May 26-28, 2012

ENCOUNTER AT SINAI:
THE SECRET BRIDGE BETWEEN MODERNITY AND FAITH
ABSTRACT

As we celebrate the 3324th anniversary of the giving of the Torah, perhaps the biggest question plaguing us as Jews today is this: What is Judaism’s message to our contemporary lives? Why is Sinai relevant today? How we can awaken in our children
passion to our ancient tradition? What do we tell them when they ask us how these teachings speak to our modern world?

The decreasing relevance of religion to our daily struggles has become an ongoing reality. A deep compartmentalization exists today between faith and modernity, with some strongly arguing that the two are incompatible. What possible connection can there between the seemingly archaic teachings of millennia ago in an ancient agricultural society with the hyper-kinetic futuristic and technological world of today?! Ironically, this argument comes from both opposite extremes: The ultra-religious and the ultra-secular! 

As we recreate Sinai in our lives today, let us explore the relevance of Torah to us here and now. Indeed, when we examine what happened at Sinai 3,324 years ago we discover that is relevant today more than ever. For it contains the secret bridge between modernity and faith. 

With a pinch of humor and the disarming words of a Yerushalmi boy to the enlightened poet Chaim Nachman Bialik – we discover that bridge and how it impacts every moment we experience now. It also teaches us about the distinctive bridge we create when we say Yizkor and remember our loved ones. That we never say goodbye to these souls; we learn to greet them and say hello in new and powerful ways.

ENCOUNTER AT SINAI: 
THE SECRET BRIDGE BETWEEN MODERNITY AND FAITH

1.	Pushkin’s Bar Mitzvah

A Jewish school in Charkov, Ukraine, once invited a history expert to deliver a lecture to their school. This particular expert was still an ardent Communist. Her gods were Marx, Lenin, Trotzky, and Stalin. She had no soft spot for Judaism, to put mildly, but because she was a true expert on Russian history, she was invited to speak on condition that she stuck to her subject and stayed away from the topic of religion. 

But once the lecturer saw the faces of the pious, and in her mind naïve, Jewish students, she could not control herself. She decided that she will put the students in their place. So she began by quizzing them. The lecturer asked: Who knows what unique Russian event happened in the year 1799? One child raised his hand and said that was the year Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi—the founder of Chabad, the author of the Tanya—was released from jail.

The lecturer burst out laughing. She began mocking the class: “That’s 1799 in Russian history? Who is this Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi anyhow? Who cares of him? Religion is dead; it is outdated, gone, naught. Today there is a new world order, Socialism, which will unite the world. Forget your Rabbi and his Judaism. Every educated person knows that 1799 is the year when the great Alexander Pushkin was born.”

Pushkin who was not Jewish is considered to be the greatest Russian poet. He is the Shakespeare of Russian culture. He was an extraordinarily talented man, who was born in 1799, and died at the age of 36 in a childish duel.

“The significance of 1799,” the scholar declared with pathos, “is not your rabbi’s release from prison, but the birth of Pushkin.” Feeling that she had taught the Jewish class a lesson, the lecturer asked a follow-up question: “Who knows what happened in 1812?”

The same boy raised his hand and with a proud face said, “1812? Pushkin’s bar mitzvah!”

2.	Is Judaism Relevant to Modern Life?

This story captures the humor or tragedy – depending whom you ask – about what some see as the disconnect and schism between Jewish and secular scholarship; between faith and modernity.  

Does Judaism’s have a message for our contemporary lives? Is Sinai relevant today? How we can awaken in our children passion to our ancient tradition? What do we tell them when they ask us how these teachings speak to our modern world?

A resonating joke powerfully reflects this schism:

You may of heard the one about an aging congregation in an even older synagogue looking to hire a new Rabbi. After interviewing several candidates, the search committee found one particular young rabbi who they felt comfortable with. So after the interview, the Synagogue leaders took him on a tour around the building. While walking down the steps the young rabbi asked them, what their expectations were of their new rabbi. 

They all replied with the same answer: “We don’t expect much more than the rabbi simply maintaining what we have. Deliver a weekly sermon, inspire and entertain us a bit. But that’s it.” “What about your children – do you want the rabbi to motivate and encourage them at all?” “Ahh, forget about the young,” they sighed. “Our young are not interested in Judaism, they don’t come to Synagogue. They have other priorities. No hope there. No point in investing and wasting your energy on them.”

As they continued down to the lower floors of the Synagogue, one of the elders said to the prospective rabbi. “By the way, we need to warn you. This is a very old building, and as much as we’ve tried hiring different exterminators, we could not get rid of the infestation of [I don’t want to repulse anyone, but this is how the story goes] rodents in our basement. No danger here, rabbi, but we did want you to know about this issue.”

The young potential rabbi suddenly stops cold on the steps, and turns to the Synagogue committee. With a straight face he tells them: “I have an immediate solution to the infestation problem.” “No way, rabbi. We have tried for years; no one has a solution.” The rabbi insisted: “I have a guaranteed solution. Actually, I got the idea from you; from the way you were sure that the young would never come to the synagogue. 

“Here is my idea.” The rabbi had gotten their attention, and all the members of the Synagogue committee were very curious as to what he had to say. They circled around him and waited with bated breath, as the rabbi continued.

“My idea is simple. We have the Synagogue’s Womens’ auxiliary knit little tallits, perfectly fit for each of the rats. Then we will fit them with kippot (yarmulkot). We will then bar-mitzvah them. And guaranteed, as sure as the day – we will never see them again…”

Yes, my friends, we laugh. But this joke is actually the tragedy of our times. Synagogues – Torah and Judaism in general – do not speak to our youth. We bar and bat mitzvah then, and we never see them again. Indeed, we don’t even expect to see them again.

The decreasing relevance of religion to our daily struggles has become an ongoing reality. A deep compartmentalization exists today between faith and modernity, with some strongly arguing that the two are incompatible. What possible connection can there between the seemingly archaic teachings of millennia ago in an ancient agricultural society with the hyper-kinetic futuristic and technological world of today?! Ironically, this argument comes from both opposite extremes: The ultra-religious and the ultra-secular! 

But standing today, on the 3324th anniversary of Mattan Torah, when God gave His mandate to us all, I am here to declare that this schism is false and wrong. If the young are not coming to our Synagogues and are not attracted to Judaism it is because we are doing something wrong. In America they say “customer is always right.” [In Israel “the customer is always wrong.” Knowing this will help you navigate your way around the holy land. But here in the West, the customer is always right]. So if the prospective customer is not showing up, we don’t look to blame the customers, as so many rabbis and elders do, but to look squarely at ourselves, and see what we are not doing right in attracting the next generation.

As we recreate Sinai in our lives today, let us explore the relevance of Torah to us here and now. Indeed, when we examine what happened at Sinai 3,324 years ago we discover that is relevant today more than ever. For it contains the secret bridge between modernity and faith.

3.	Three Thousand Years Ago
It happened 3,324 years ago. The mountain trembled violently. Thunder rolled and lightning struck. And then, amid fire, smoke and shofar blasts, God spoke and gave the Torah to the Children of Israel.

The Torah was an unprecedented document – one never imagined in the ancient dog-eat-dog world. It described man’s obligations to God and also to his fellows – his neighbors, his relatives, his servants, his slaves and his livestock. Yes, a lot of it dealt with agriculture, and yes a lot of it we barely understand today.

So, many people ask: What does it have to do with me – here and now? I am not likely to encounter my enemy’s donkey carrying a heavy burden, nor is my ox likely to gore my neighbor’s lawn. Why should I care, since so much of the Torah has nothing to do with my modern life in the age of technology?

And I am here to tell you that the Torah has everything to do with your modern life in the age of technology. 

What happened at Sinai 3,324 years ago is relevant today more than ever. For it contains the secret bridge between modernity and faith – between spirit and matter, between the past, the present and the future.

So let’s talk about what really happened at Sinai, and how it impacts every moment we experience now.

4.	What Really Happened at Sinai 
Here is what really happened at Sinai:

Sinai actually changed the universe and all its details forever.

Before Sinai there was an impenetrable rift between heaven and earth, between matter and spirit. An invisible wall separated the transcendental from the material. A schism divided above and below. “That which was above could not descend below, and that which was below could not ascend above.”
 
But at Sinai all that changed. Heaven was unplugged. And earth was unleashed. For the first time, the human race was given the opportunity to bridge heaven and earth – to fuse matter and spirit. For the first time, we had the power to spiritualize the material, and to make our lives sacred, not just ethical.
 
5.	Why Should That Matter?

Now you say: Fine, good, but why should that matter to me?

You are not the only one to ask that question.

Philosophers, thinkers and theologians have always pondered the limitations of humanity. They have asked: Are we humans just sophisticated beasts? Can we ever bring heaven down to earth? Can we fuse the finite and the infinite?

And Sinai said yes. In fact, the Jewish people’s encounter with God at Sinai was the very first example of that fusion.

6.	Too Small a Head

But this fusion doesn’t come easily, because heaven and earth are ostensibly very far apart. Not only physically, but also and primarily conceptually. I mean, after all, why should I here on earth submit to heavenly commandments? I have my self-interest in mind, I have my many mundane needs and wants. I have my share of temptations and delights. My body and my ego are hungry. Why in the world should I surrender to a divine calling? And even if I should, could I? Is it possible for a finite human to touch the infinite; for the mortal to reach the immortal; for earth to kiss the sky?

Once in a while when I get in the mood for transcendence I will carve out a compartmentalized corner of my life, perhaps designate a weekend or a holiday, to pursue my more sublime and spiritual yearnings. But generally speaking, my grounded ego and my gravity-propelled self really don’t have much room for heavenly pursuits.

The need for Sinai fusion – integrating our material and our spiritual lives – is beautifully captured in a disarming response of a young Yerushalmi kid to the famous poet Chaim Nachman Bialik:

Bialik, known as Israel’s national poet, was once walking the streets of Me’ah She’arim, the ultra-orthodox narrow-streeted enclave in Jerusalem, looking for a shul to say Kaddish for his father’s yahrzeit, when he meets a young Yerushalmi Chassidic boy. 

Vu ken me gefinen a shul, yingele? (“where can one find a shul, little boy”?) asked Bialik. 

The boy sharply retorted: A shul is nor far Yidden, nit far a goy (“a shul is only for Jews”). 

Fun vanent veizt tu az ich bin nit kein Yid? (“how do you know that I am not a Jew?”), asked Baliak. – Mind you that this conversation was taking place in fluent Yiddish, Bialik’s mother tongue from his yeshiva years. 
Veil du gayst on a kappel (“because you are walking without a kippah/yarmulke, i.e. bareheaded”).

Answered Bialik, looking skyward: dos gantze himmel – kipat shomayim – iz mein kappel (“the entire sky – the heavenly canopy – is my kippah”).

Without missing a beat, the Yerushalmi child – these children were known for their sharp minds – replies: Tzu grois a kappel far aza kleine kop (“too large a kippa for such a small head”)…

When the Jews watched Moses climb Mt. Sinai whose peak reached into heaven, they learned the lesson that earth can be connected with heaven, matter can be integrated with spirit, but it comes first through the humble recognition that life is “not all about me;” we must first put aside, or at least subdue, our selfish earthy drives, in order to make way for the fusion of matter and spirit. We must recognize our small bodily head in context of the vast heavens. 

7.	Kabbalistic Insight (Optional)

The fact is that matter and spirit are always in a perpetual struggle. Matter by its very nature is selfish. Spirit is selfless. No wonder that people have always speculated whether these two worlds can meet, let alone merge.

The chief work of the Kabbalah, the Zohar explains it all in this rather cryptic fashion:

In the third month [when the Children of Israel left Egypt and arrived at Sinai to receive the Torah] a supernal and recondite light shone forth … and that light is contained in two lights, which are one. The first light [chesed or loving-kindness] is white, too bright for the eye to behold. The second light [gevurah or discipline/diversity] is one which gleams and sparkles in red. The two are united and become one... 

Because it is contained in two lights, it is called the “Twins” (ti’umim). Therefore, in the month [Sivan] in which the Torah was given, the constellation of the “Twins/Gemini” rules, and from them issue lights of various grades to illumine the world…

[The Book of Genesis states] “there were twins [Jacob and Esau] in [Rebecca’s] womb.” And there the word for twins, t’umim, [written without the letter alef], indicates that Jacob alone is under the sign of this constellation. [That is, Jacob represents both Twins of Gemini, because Esau] separated himself and turned toward impurity, chaos and desolation, and he is not included in the Twins. And because Jacob is the Twins, the Torah was given to his descendants in the month of the Twins. The Torah itself is a “twin,” the written and oral Torah; it was given in the third month [Sivan] … and it is all one. 

Cryptic indeed. 

I mean, we know that Jacob is Esau’s twin. Therefore, Jacob cannot be considered a twin without Esau. How then can the Zohar tell us that Esau is not included in the Twins of Sivan?

What the Zohar is actually saying is that the twin brothers Esau and Jacob represent dual forces in our lives. In microcosm and macrocosm – both in our psyches and the larger universe – there are two conflicting forces that drive us at all times. And they are body and soul, matter and spirit. In general terms: the battle – and tension – between matter and spirit is an inherent part of every aspect of existence. 

This dichotomy manifests itself in so many ways: 

The conflict between career and home. The battle between our personal higher standards and the pressure to conform to marketplace standards. The struggle between our yearning for transcendence and the need for material survival. Between existential loneliness and the sense of connection to a greater whole. Between the outer and the inner, form and function, packaging and substance. Between the pull from above and the tug from below. The list goes on.

The Torah was given in the month of the “Twins/Gemini” to teach us that these two forces are truly two sides of one coin – a set of twins that can either be at each other’s throats or unite into a synergetic force. As Maimonides put it: “The entire Torah was given in order to create peace in the world.” 

The giving of the Torah is all about creating unity in a world of duality – not by annihilating the duality, but by transforming it into “twins” who are really one.

Esau represents the warrior in us. On his own, a warrior can go in one of two ways: 1) he can be an aggressive force representing material belligerence, or 2) he can channel his aggressive nature to conquer the elements of the world and transform the material universe into a Divine home. We need his intense strength to stand up to the challenges of life and not conform. 

Jacob represents the soul in us. And it is the soul that directs the aggressiveness of the body so that it can become a healthy partner. Then together the two – as twins – can transform the universe.

8.	Kabbalistic Insight cont. (Optional)
The Zohar tells us that when Esau “separated himself” and indulged in material conquest, he essentially disqualified himself from being a part of the “twins” as a unit in Rebecca’s womb. Technically, he remained Jacob’s twin, but conceptually he allowed the apparent duality of the universe to control his life – hence they could not be true twins, only two separate forces at war with each other.

In truth, Sivan, the month of Twins, is actually a month of the Triplet. It is the third month, which corresponds to the third emotional sphere of beauty/harmony (tiferet). 

Loving-kindness (chesed) reigns in the first month, Nissan, the month of Passover, when the Divine revelation from above freed the people from bondage in Egypt. Diversity/discipline (gevurah) is the energy of second month, Iyar, when our human initiative from below works on refining our 49 emotional traits as we count the days of the Omer leading up to the third month, Sivan, the month of harmony/beauty (tiferet), when the Torah was given.

The Torah united heaven and earth. As the Midrash explains, up to that point in history, there was a schism that divided above from below, matter from spirit. But at Sinai, they were given the power to marry. 

We achieve their marriage by spiritualizing the material – fusing them both into a twin-like relationship. It takes the special energy of the third dimension (tiferet) that transcends both body and soul, to ultimately harmonize and integrate the two into one whole, without annihilating or compromising either one of them.

In the three millennia since Sinai, much has transpired. The world of Esau has evolved and continues to refine itself, aligning itself more and more with the teachings that the original Esau learned from his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham.

The universe as well has evolved to a point where matter and spirit have become interchangeable (e=MC2), and they continue to evolve to the point where we can now see that they soon may be synonymous, or better put: Twins. In physics, technology, communications, medicine, we are witnessing the convergence of duality that has always been the staple of the universe.

The time is almost here for the Twins to unite. The final frontier is personal and psychological: we still need to allow the Twins to emerge in our psyches. We now have the chance to finally bring some peace to our fragmented (if not tortured) spirits, and by extension, to our ailing world.

9.	On-Going Struggle

[Meanwhile] the struggle of matter and spirit is continually with us. Narcissism, greed, corruption are staples of life. When we look at ourselves, each of us knows that we are often selfish, and sadly, sometimes even to the detriment of others. When selfishness becomes extreme, it can destroy lives of those around us. On the other hand, we also have a divine spirit inside of us. We have the power to live noble lives, filled with dignity and selflessness.
 
So we have an inevitable clash. Matter by its very nature is selfish. Spirit is selfless. No wonder that people have always speculated whether these two worlds can meet, let alone merge.

10.	Two Approaches
In general, we find two approaches evolving in history: self-denial and self-immersion. 

The former holds that, in order to experience the spirit, we must separate ourselves from the physical tentacles of life by living ascetic lives – like Christian or Buddhist monks – meditating and becoming absorbed in a higher reality. In other words, we must deny the material life. If we want to reach the infinite, we must deny the finite.
 
The other extreme is self-immersion. This approach assumes that we can never reach heaven. The best we can do is live ethically, build healthy homes and workplaces, and find spirit in limited ways within our limited lives. Because we are essentially mortal creatures, with inherent selfishness or even evil tendencies, we cannot expect anything more than the best an earthy creature can achieve. The infinite can never be integrated into our own finite lives.

In fascinating irony, these two antithetical perspectives suffer from the same mortal flaw. They both assume that the infinite and the finite cannot coexist. God and the universe are irreconcilable. Heaven and earth can never meet. Sinai and life’s details are forever incompatible.

11.	The Secret
Although we are the inheritors of the Sinai legacy, often we need to be reminded of the integration Sinai created, because it seems easier to choose one option or the other.

Jewish fundamentalists would separate themselves from the world at large, reject all modernity and technological advances such as the Internet, because they seem them as portals to sin. 

And Jewish modernists would wallow in the material and secular, rejecting anything spiritual or religious.

But both are wrong – both suffer from the same flawed assumption that modernity and spirituality cannot co-exist. Both forget that there is a third option, which is exactly the secret of Sinai.

12.	The Third Option 
The third option is an interface bridging heaven and earth – the power to integrate matter and spirit, utterly and completely, without compromising one or the other. 

The finite can become one with the infinite; matter can become one with spirit; the sacred can become one with the secular. 

How can this be?

Because God is neither spirit nor matter. And He gave us the power to completely integrate the two.

It is true that this third option does not come easily. As limiting as the first two options may be, they seem simpler, while the Sinai option requires a continual straddling of the thin line between matter and spirit.
 
That is why the encounter at Sinai came to the Children of Israel after so much pain and suffering, after so much hard work, and why it has taken thousands of years since to integrate its power into our every days lives.
But Sinai gave us the power to integrate the two. We do this by first recognizing how small we are. Bittul. The small head we have in context of the vast heavens (“Tzu grois a kappel far aza kleine kop, “too large a kippa for such a small head,” as the child told Bialik). And then we come to the realization of how large we can become when we dedicate our lives to our higher calling. We thus relieve the tension between matter and spirit by sublimating the material. We neither escape from heaven, nor do we allow it to overwhelm us.

Sinai teaches us that the world – with all its pitfalls – was created by God not for us to destroy, or to retreat from in fear, but to engage it and transform. For we have the power to influence it before it influences us.

Indeed, throughout time we have done exactly that:

Can you believe that Socrates was against writing? Yes, he taught that writing things down caused people to use less of their memory banks to remember. He famously said that writing “weakens the mind, relieving it of … work that makes it strong. [It] is an inhuman thing.” 

Yet somehow, we applied the tools of writing to make the world a better place. Indeed, we are known as the People of the Book.

We did the same thing with the printing press, with the telephone and the telegraph, which – by the way – Thoreau was against. Thoreau objected to the telegraph arguing that even though it speeds things up, people won’t have anything to say to each other. 

These condemnations are only amplified today in our ADD, fast-food, instant-gratification world of Twitter and sound-bytes. Who was it that famously said: “The illiteracy rate today is not lower than in the past. It’s only that today illiterate people know how to read.” 

Yet, despite the negatives of modern technology, we, Jews, can see so many positives in it – because we know how to adapt it to be a force good. That is, by making it more than just a material tool. 
 
13.	Fusion
Only by balancing the material aspects of the world – science, technology, modernity – with the spiritual can we transform the dream of an ideal future into a functional blueprint for society. 

Why? 

Because true communication can begin only when human minds and souls interact. With communication comes understanding; with understanding comes compassion; and with compassion comes a natural movement toward universalism.

So the current technological revolution is in fact the hand of God at work. It is meant to help us make God a reality in our lives and unify our natural state of being. And as time goes on, it will show itself more and more to parallel the truths of God, thereby revealing the intrinsic unity in the entire universe.

The divine purpose of the present technological revolution, for instance – which gives each of us as individuals unprecedented power – is to allow us to share knowledge. And that also means spiritual knowledge, which empowers and unifies individuals everywhere. We need to utilize today’s interactive technology not just for business or leisure but to interlink us as people – to create a welcome environment for the interaction of our souls, our hearts, our visions.

There is much to learn from the technological revolution, as long as we understand its role in our lives and see it as a final step in our dramatic search for unity throughout the universe. 

14.	Where Are We Headed?

For many people technology is disconnected from its soul. It seems to be just a new way to make money, or entertain, or further indulge. 

It can be that all those negative things and more. We all are aware of the shortcomings of technology devoid and divorced from its soul.

But that doesn’t diminish the true and vital nature of the technology revolution – for it is nothing less than as a mirror expression of the revolution happening in the upper levels of knowledge and consciousness, and precursor to the age when (in the words of Prophet Isaiah) “the world will be filled with Divine knowledge as the waters cover the sea.”

15.	Nothing Was Created for Naught

Indeed, a fundamental principle in Torah is that “nothing was created for naught.” 

This also applies to technology. Even though the actual instrument and machines are man-made, they are using and tapping into forces embedded in nature that are part of God’s creation from the beginning of time. The purpose of these formidable forces is to be used to refine and sublimate the material world, and transform it into a spiritual environment and home. 

God wanted us to be partners in this drama and process, so we have the free will to choose and initiate the use of technology towards its intended ends, namely to fill the world with Divine knowledge.

Yes, we have a long way to go. But, as writer Malcolm Gladwell points out in The Tipping Point, little changes can have big effects – when small numbers of people start behaving differently, that behavior can ripple outward until a critical mass or “tipping point” is reached, changing the world. 

Although most people learned this from Gladwell’s best-selling book, in truth, Maimonides wrote of this phenomenon long ago. It is a fundamental Torah principle, given to us at Sinai: “A person must see himself and the world as equally balanced on two ends of the scale – by doing one good deed, he tips the scale and brings himself and the entire world redemption and salvation.”

So, despite that fact that the task appears to be bigger than us all, one small act by even one of us has the power to tip the entire scale. Consider it like the “butterfly effect:” the flutter of wings on one end of the world can create a typhoon on the other.

Indeed, each of us is a “small universe” and the universe is a “large organism.” When we integrate our own personal lives, realizing unity in our individual world in microcosm, this fusion spills over and impacts the macrocosm – introducing unity in the world at large. 

16.	Yizkor: We Don’t Say Goodbye

Indeed, Yizkor reminds us of this mission, and how close the worlds of spirit and matter really are. Do we ever really say goodbye forever to the souls of our loved ones? Why is it that we seek to reconnect with them today – by remembering them, mentioning their names, committing to give charity in their honor?
Think about it – isn’t it odd to connect ethereal souls to the most materialistic of things: money?! It seems more sensible to honor the souls by committing to do something soulful, spiritual. 
But the whole point is integration Despite our myopic vision, in reality there are no two world, spirit and matter, but one. The neshomos of our parents live on in us, in our bodies. We are their arms and legs, and we build physical structures, living memorials to them – creating homes for their legacies.
Yizkor reminds us that we never say goodbye to our loved ones. We simply learn to greet them and say hello in new and powerful ways.

Today, as we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, let us remind ourselves of how far we have come and – not how far we have yet to go but – how close we are.
Let us renew our commitment to the fusion of matter and spirit, so that we can witness with our own eyes, the end goal of it all – total and complete fusion in the Final Redemption, arriving soon, speedily in our days, Amen. 

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