The Internet: A Revolution in Human Conscience 9
seek it; it is human nature to fulfill the spiritual aspects of our being. Perhaps, here, we can see a counter-cultural role for the synagogue that people both want and need, if it is made available to them. The synagogue should be a center for preserving the humanness of humanity, a place for community, moral values, service to others, reflection, berit(Covenant), mitzvah (commandment), and talmud torah(the study of Torah ).
What does the synagogue have to offer? We offer God , Covenant, spirituality, inwardness and Torah . The Internet will not go away and neither will technology because this, too, is human nature. Our role, I believe, is to offer a strong religious message; to cultivate the spirit. It is my belief and my experience that people do want it. We do not live in a pre-modern house and people are, now, educated by our culture to see, and sometimes only to see, the technological aspects of humanity. I suggest that our response to the Internet and the world it creates should be in the spirit of Buber and Soloveichik . We teach the values of Adam/Eve II in a world that, frequently, finds them irrelevant to technology and efficient management. We have our work cut out for us, but we are not trying to get blood from stones. The desire for Judaism , for spirit and religion, are built in to human nature and we should have confidence in the Judaism we offer.
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