For a long time the secular intellectual world has been on a path that does not intersect with the spirituality of Torah. In modern times we have been through periods of hedonism, materialism, hippyism, obsession with science, and obsession with money. But now a new wind is blowing across the plains of current thought-leadership: the wind of spiritual consciousness. It is now "cool" to talk of "energy", to be conscious of its healing powers, its blessing and its miraculous capabilities.
New-age intellectuals avoid using religious terminology. They avoid words like "holiness", "G-d" and even "spiritual". This is not because they do not recognize the centrality of G-d to all they believe. It is because institutionalized religion has hijacked these words and in many cases stripped them of their spiritual meaning. In religion, these terms have become ritualistic, formulistic, fear-engendering ideas. New-age thinkers distance themselves from those intonations. Instead, they use words like "the universe" for G-d, and "energy" for spirituality.
Some of these thinkers and writers use non-English, in fact non-Western, terminology. They began borrowing terms from Indian, Buddhist, and Yoga lexicons like karma and chakra. Now they are increasingly borrowing terms from Kabbala, using words likeHashem, Ruach Hakodesh, Midot and Sefirot.
These winds of change are not winds of kefirra (G-dlessness), avodah zarah (idolatry) or anything anti-Torah at all. They are the winds of a generation of people whose spiritual vacuousness has become too painful too bear, and who are questing after ruchniyut(spirituality) with a new ferocity hardly ever before experienced on so wide a level.
We would be negligent to ignore or deny this force. We would be naive to think that it does not penetrate to our own young people even inside the Kotlei Beit Hamedrash (halls of Torah study). The force of spirituality and the seeking of higher meaning is universal. The world, both Jewish and Gentile, both secular and religious is more ready than ever for authentic spiritual input and upliftment.
My purpose in RabbiLapin.com is not to transform civilization or even to be an Or Lagoyim (Light unto the Nations). I try to do more of that type of work in my consulting practice. There, by the way, I am also finding bottom-line-focused business leaders around the globe newly and fiercely curious about how to harness spiritual energy to inspire people. iAwaken's purpose is to ignite new thinking. It is to initiate spiritual and intellectual exploration amongst Benei Torah that is at the same time authentic to our mesora (tradition) and relevant to our generation.
We should embrace these new winds of our times and use them to steer our ships to new territories of Torah insight. Without sacrificing or compromising one iota of the rational science of our Derech Halimud (Talmudic methodology) and our unwavering commitment to living in the defined area of the daled amot shel halacha (objective and detailed halachik observance), we should open ourselves to the experience of Ruchniyut and accessing the energy of Kedushat Hatorah veHaMitzvot. This way we will deepen our own knowledge and experience of Torah, and at the same time appeal to an aspect of young people's personalities that we may currently be missing.
With this in mind I have just given a series of shiurim in Johannesburg that aroused unprecedented interest. Those that were not given on Shabbat are now available on iAwaken. They were inspired by my relearning of classical Seforim like the MesilatYesharim, Derech Hashem, Chovat Halevavot and most of all theNefesh Hachayim and my new focus on Shem Mishmuel and Sefat Emmet. I have found these works to address contemporary spiritual needs in an astonishingly relevant way. In these shiurim I dealt with the growing awareness of the Western World to what it calls "energy" and we call Ruchniyut. It is the energy of Ruchniyut that underlies the powers of Beracha and Tefillah. It is our ability to access Ruchniyutfrom Hashem that underlies our connection with Kedushat Hashemand Kedushat Hatorah. It is the power of Ruchniyut that enables us to elevate our lives from being governed by natural causalities to lives that are also governed by a higher level of nature, the level ofneis or miracle.
