Technology

Technology is a term for contemporary advancements that help people do complex things more easily. Technology was created to help people serve Hashem.

The Rebbe is giving a talk on a 'Chanukah Live' broadcast to the entire world. In front of him is the broadcasting screen.

This question asks whether a person standing on the moon can perform Kiddush Levanah (the sanctification of the moon ritual).

Technology in Torah

Can a person standing on the moon make Kiddush Levana?

The Rebbe says that through technology, new concepts and explanations in Torah are revealed that would not have been revealed without technology.

For example: Now that it's possible to reach the moon via spacecraft, a new halachic discussion has emerged about whether a person on the moon can fulfill the custom of Kiddush Levana. This is something that in previous generations, despite all their greatness, such a possibility never came to mind.

This is the meaning of the verse: "Halichos olam lo." About which Chazal said, "Don't read it as 'halichos' (ways) but as 'halachos'." That the ways and advancements of the world cause elevation in the halachos of Torah.

At the End of Galus

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai writes in the Zohar:

"And in the six hundredth year of the sixth millennium, the gates of wisdom will open above and the wellsprings of wisdom below, and the world will prepare to enter the seventh millennium. Like a person who prepares himself on Friday afternoon for the entrance of Shabbos, so too in this."

This means that beginning from the six hundredth year of the sixth millennium from the creation of the world (year 5500), the wellsprings of wisdom will open and descend to the world. This is to prepare the world for the great wisdom that will be revealed in the days of Moshiach - "A new Torah will come forth from Me" - like a person who prepares himself for Shabbos.

Indeed, we see that around that time the Baal Shem Tov was revealed (in the year 5494), and the Alter Rebbe was born (in the year 5505/1745), who revealed the inner dimensions of Torah to prepare the world for the teachings of Melech HaMoshiach. And likewise in worldly wisdom, the Industrial Revolution began at that time.

The Rebbe explains that the Zohar counts two revelations that will occur: the windows of heaven above - the wisdom of Torah, and the depths of the earth - the wisdom of the nations.

The Rebbe continues to explain that not only was the Torah wisdom that would be revealed meant to prepare the world for the seventh millennium - Moshiach. But also the wisdom of the nations of the world that would be revealed then, their entire purpose is only to prepare the world for Moshiach, as they assist in understanding Torah concepts that were previously difficult.

The Rebbe's Approach

Unlike other movements, the Rebbe does not completely reject the use of technological products, and encourages their use for holiness and spreading the wellsprings. The Rebbe compares technology to gold, which can be used for good or the opposite, like the Children of Israel in the desert who once used it to make the Golden Calf - idol worship; and later elevated the gold to holiness when they built the Mishkan from it.

Beginning in 5749/1989, children's gatherings were held in 770 on Chanukah, broadcast via satellite to the entire world - which at that time was one of the most innovative technological developments. This broadcast was called "Satellite."

At the Satellite event in 5752/1991, the Rebbe said that all technology was created to increase the honor of Hashem: "Since 'everything that Hashem created in His world, He created only for His glory,' it is understood that this is also true regarding all scientific discoveries that have been innovated and revealed in recent years, whose purpose and goal is to add to the glory of Hashem, by utilizing them for matters of holiness, Torah and mitzvos."

The Rebbe also added that the advantage of technology is that through it: "All this is done in a way of 'publicizing the miracle' throughout the entire world, so that even the nations of the world see that through the actions of the Jewish people... light is added... throughout the entire world that reveals the glory of Hashem... through this the entire world becomes illuminated with true light..."

Nevertheless, the Rebbe completely rejects the use in Chabad of technologies that cannot be utilized for holiness. For example, having a television in the home.

Different Technologies

Radio

Expanded value – Radio

The radio device is one of the first technological developments created, and accordingly - one of the first means Chassidim used to spread the wellsprings.

Lessons in the Tanya

'Lessons in the Tanya' was the name of a radio program, in which lessons on the Tanya book were delivered weekly. The teacher was Rabbi Yosef Weinberg.

Each week, they would bring to the Rebbe the page with the content of what would be said in the program and the Rebbe would edit them. These comments are written in the series of books "Lessons in the Tanya Book" - transcript from the program.

Satellite

Expanded value – Satellite

A satellite is a device, man-made, sent to orbit around Earth, for various purposes such as photography, espionage, etc. One of the more well-known purposes of the satellite is enabling communication between people (in phone conversations or visual interaction), without any need for cables or other aids.

At the Satellite gathering in 5752 (1992), the Rebbe explained that through a Jew's observance of Torah and mitzvos, he influences the entire world. In that same talk, the Rebbe said that a Jew might think that what he does in his own place indeed affects his immediate surroundings but not all parts of the Earth and certainly not all parts of the world that are located at great distances. In order to make it easier for the Jew to understand this, Hashem revealed additional secrets in the management of the world through which places located at great distances from each other can be connected, enabling people to talk with them, encourage them and strengthen them.

Television

Expanded value – Television

Television is a technology for broadcasting and receiving images and sounds. In common language, a television receiver itself is also called a television.

The Rebbe says that television is a breach like no other, since until now the priest was in the church and the Jew was at home, but now through television, the priest is brought into the home, Heaven forbid!

Even when the device is not used at all, the Rebbe's opinion is that one should not possess this device at all.

Internet

Expanded value – Internet

The Internet is a global computer network, connecting many different computer networks, and linking billions of computers all over the world. The scope, the enormous amount of information stored in it through internet pages and internet sites, and the extensive commerce that takes place thanks to it - have made the Internet in the late 90s of the 20th century a significant factor and an arena for economic and cultural development.

Of course, the advantages and disadvantages of proximity to good and evil are added and multiplied through the Internet, for good and for bad, which raises the importance of the Internet when used for good, but causes it to be a disaster on a large scale when used for evil.

Artificial Intelligence

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External Links

• Ben Zion Frishman, Technological Developments Herald the Redemption in the Geulah Newspaper No. 41 Page 6
• A Movie-Like Story: The Hollywood Screenwriter Made an Amazing Transformation
• Can a GPT Robot be a Dayan (Rabbinic Judge)? Torah Convention in Nachalat Har Chabad • Documentation
• Artificial Intelligence and Technology? This is How Mashpia Rabbi Shlomo Chaim Kesselman Envisioned It • Inspiring and Contemporary, on the 'Lachluchiut Geulatit' website