Apps that can aid spiritual growth - The Jewish Chronicle

Back in March I received the following message: “Rabbi, will you be able to read Megillah on the ClubHouse Shabbat-Shalom-group? It’s a great way to advance Jewish experience on another platform, for another group of young Jews!”

By now you might have heard of, or even been invited to, ClubHouse. ClubHouse is not an ordinary social media app. There are no photos, videos, likes, or comments. It is people sharing and talking with each other on a very intriguing platform that is gaining momentum.

This Megillah-reading request should not seem surprising in a post-Covid world, where organised religion of all faiths has gone digital on Zoom and YouTube.

But have these platforms and offerings simply substituted the classical shul service and typical family festivals or lifecycle events? Or have they been able to attract the non-engaged, or better yet, elevated the ritual tradition to a more spiritually fulfilling one? Something that needed improving offline as well.

I ask not out of judgment; rather, because there is a real need. Many Gen Ys and Gen Zs continue to look for self-help tools and spiritual experience especially through yoga and meditation. The valuation of the mindfulness meditation app could reach nearly £550 million by 2025.

But as with spiritual-seeking young Jews before them, Judaism is rarely the application of choice, quenching such thirst.

In short: just as organised religion caught up digitally, personalised-mindful growth technology has gone further. Where are we?

You may retort: the same technology that monetised and caused the anxiety is now monetising its antidote? Smartphones should not be used for spiritual and meaningful growth at all. Rabbi Sacks of blessed memory made this argument when he coined “dreaming, not streaming” — “Moses, 3,000 years ago gave us the Sabbath to free us from slavery to Pharaoh, and now we’ve rediscovered it to give us freedom from smartphones.”

We are left with a quandary: on the one hand, Judaism has gone technological, yet we are not developed spiritually on these applications. At the same time, Shabbat demands that we turn off completely, while the services have seen success at streaming. Do we switch off or do we switch on?

A close look at the Midrash on a verse describing God’s revelation at Sinai can guide us: “These things did the Lord speak to your entire congregation...a great voice and it did not cease.” What is this great voice that did not cease? Rabbi Shimon said that from it prophesied all the prophets who arose. The sages said that it did not have an echo.

What is the connection to God’s revelation at Sinai and later prophets? And what would be the problem of an echo?

An echo is a rebound, a voice that could not permeate. It is the natural reaction to a human call that collides with a strong rock. Not so God’s spiritual expression at Sinai: no stone, no device, no bit of creation could not serve as a vessel to His Shechinah (Divine Presence). No place is impenetrable. The great voice does not cease, it is with you on your phone, at work, home and on holiday.

We must ensure that the Torah is accessible via its technological application. We must upgrade the offering so we can learn and teach our youngsters to feel this in all life’s actions. It is an empowering and liberating sensation of feeling connected and spiritual when we use our phones and technology for work, also as part of God’s mission.

There is another dimension to the voice of God. Any prophet, rabbi or teacher that passes this message must work with the structure that was set forth at Mount Sinai: The conditions of how, when and where the Shechinah interacts with the world, and where it does not. Which takes us to Shabbat, when we must switch-off from our device as conduits for Godliness. Why?

First, because God has told us to. Second, it brings a technological detox, both from physical and spiritual usage. But we must discover the reason for both. Namely, that while we carry the voice of God to every part of creation, Shabbat ushers in a unique element of personal spiritual growth. While the phone is part of spirituality, both at work and through Torah-apps, Shabbat is a step up, still.

To that end we have introduced at Saatchi and St. John’s Wood Synagogue mindful meditations and classes aimed at offering a deeper understanding of the spiritual make-up of each person and the many rituals that we do. So they feel empowered to see both their working day and technological gadgets as part of God’s continued voice and the richness of Shabbat.

These exercises include breathing techniques aimed at quietening the chaotic world and meditative tools to discover the Godly soul and unique inner traits each person is capable of. It incorporates kabbalistic-Chadsidic disciplines that inspire people to connect to God through prayer and specific mitzvot, and to one another.

We do this in shul on Shabbat and on ClubHouse, and other technological apps during the week. We learn to welcome Godliness in every fibre of our existence.

Mendel Cohen is rabbi of the Saatchi Shul