Political and business leaders descended on Paris this week for the third annual Artificial Intelligence summit with the technology causing tensions across the globe.
We could wonder why they needed to meet in person or whether the group photo was actually real or just a deepfake but it ended by making headlines like “Global disunity” and with the US vice-president criticising European regulation and warning against cooperation with China, while leaders from Washington and London snubbed a diplomatic declaration on “inclusive and sustainable AI.”
Emmanuel Macron, who opened the summit with a montage of deepfakes of himself, acknowledged AI’s potential to “disrupt” and the schism threatened by the rapidly developing technology which was clearly apparent which is in stark contrast to the importance of unity and connection in our lives.
This week I had two different experiences which both highlighted this point for me.
The first was the Chagigat HaSiddur that I attended at Yavneh Primary School which is always a wonderful event, watching the children perform, singing the tefillot – the prayers that they’ve learnt and presenting them with their very first Siddur.
I played a game with them that I called “What’s the Connection?” asking them to tell me, as the name suggests, the connection between different items. For example: four different types of fruit; toys and kitchen utensils. The final round featured a roll of Sellotape, USB cable, Wi-Fi router and a Siddur.
If you’re struggling to think of a connection between them, it only took these year one children a second to work it out!
All these items connect things.
The second experience was at the opposite end of the spectrum as I visited an elderly person and a care home. Despite being frail and not in great health, they told me that they’d been to the Shul at the home last Shabbat and how good it felt, without being able to fully articulate what it was is, we agreed that the intangible was the connection to Yiddishkeit that just being there gave them.
This brings me to the thought experiment that I suggested we did last Shabbat, comparing Shul to the theatre.
We go to the theatre, we arrive in good time, take our seats when asked to do so, watch the performance attentively, maybe have cheeky ice-cream or G&T in the interval (if you can afford it!), retake our seats for the second half, clap politely at the end to show our appreciation and then leave.
My original thesis was that it’s similar to going to Shul. However, a week is not only a long time in politics but also in the life of a rabbi and, on reflection, while going to Shul might be like going to the theatre, going to Shul is better!
Let me explain
The theatre experience I described is, by and large, a passive one, you sit and watch, you rarely participate at all, if you do and it’s not wanted, you’re asked to leave! But there’s very minimal sense of connection to the people around you and those on stage and so you leave, perhaps entertained, moved, uplifted but that’s about it.
To understand how Shul is different and can and should be far more meaningful requires a paradigm shift in our view of tefillah – prayer.
It’s definitely not supposed to be a passive experience, nor is it a performance by a select few. Each and every one of us has to actively engage it, we don’t wait to be moved or inspired by others, because we generate the inspiration for ourselves, we participate, we join in, we create the ruach – the atmosphere.
It’s not just about saying the tefillot – the prayers, it’s more than just the words in the Siddur, fundamentally it’s about connection.
Connection to the people around us, connection to Jews around the world and connection to G-d Himself.
Our prayers aren’t just in order to ask G-d for something, to thank G-d for everything or to say sorry to G-d for failing, they’re primarily for the purposes of connecting, for a dialogue, a conversation, a relationship.
With that shift in our understanding, we must ask ourselves: What could be more important than that? What an incredible opportunity it is!
Because we can connect with G-d even if can’t say the words or understand what we’re saying. When we focus on that connection, on the consciousness of those words above the Ark “Know before Whom you’re standing” our perception of Shul is transformed with the realisation that can and should be a holy place, a place of prayers and a place of connection.
Brené Brown is a research professor, author, and speaker known for her work on vulnerability, courage, shame, and empathy. She’s a professor at the University of Houston and has spent decades studying human connection and emotional resilience. She gained widespread recognition through her TED Talk “The Power of Vulnerability”, which is one of the most viewed TED Talks of all time. She said, “Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.”
Any proof we need of the importance of connection in our lives was clear during Covid. What did people miss the most?
The human interaction, the ability to connect. Particularly those who lost loved ones and couldn’t say goodbye, didn’t feel the support of shiva and the connection to other people that such an important part of the bereavement process.
And then 7th October and the overwhelming urge for connection – people came to Shul, some for the first time since before Covid, why?
To connect to fellow Jews, to connect to Israel, to connect to G-d.
And just as much as we feel the need to connect, so too G-d wants us to connect with Him – it goes both ways. Like a parent who just wants their child to call once in a while.
We only need to look at the first of the Ten Commandments: “I am Hashem Your G-d” – it’s an already established connection. This idea continues in the second: “Do not have other gods besides Me” – this is an exclusive relationship between us and G-d, a connection that can’t be broken, mustn’t be interrupted by anything because it’s so precious to G-d and so should it be to us.
G-d says of Himself, “I’m a jealous G-d” – fiercely protective of our unique relationship and connection.
The Ten Commandments are displayed front and centre in most shuls for a reason, as a constant reminder to us.
And there comes a time in our life and the life of a community when we have to realise it, internalise it, take to heart and take personal responsibility for it.
No-one like it when their internet connection drops at home or work and the first thing we do when it’s not working is to check the light on the router. Just like the light on your Wi-Fi router shows that there’s a connection so too the Shul features a Ner Tamid – a light which is always on, but we don’t need an internet code, a Wi-Fi password, we have constant access and uninterrupted connection to the Eternal.
The connection is so powerful that G-d Himself promises us, “In every place that you mention My Name, I will come and bless you.”
So by all means, go to the theatre and enjoy the experience, but always remember that if you’re looking for genuine, long lasting and fulfilling connection, then going to Shul is much better!