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A Vision For The 21st Century
by Velvel "Wally" Spiegler

The new millennium already promises to be characterized by a radical shift in consciousness. We're already seeing the effects of this momentum. Some call it the New Age, the paradigm shift, the age of Aquarius but however it's labeled we're seeing its budding effects with such concerns as the environment, civil rights, and the return of many to the roots of their heritage, their religion.  Two recent New York Times best sellers, Gary Zukov's "Seat of the Soul" and James Redfield's "The Celestine Prophecy" suggest this new consciousness.  The message they broadcast predicts a higher dimension, a fourth dimension, a spiritual level beyond that of ordinary consciousness, a place where we can view life from a loftier crest. Judaism needs to be at the forefront of this movement. We need to fulfill our imperative to be a holy nation, a light among the nations of the world; we can only do this by first creating peace, harmony, and unity among ourselves.

The plurality issues we are witnessing, on the outset, seem to have reached a dead end; orthodox spokesmen have faith that their cause will eventually prevail while non-orthodox groups continue to resist their opponents. The only solution lies in spiritual Judaism, in approaching our higher consciousness. It's not as strange as it seems given that Jews have a two thousand-year head start. Certain extraordinary Jewish sages practiced Kabbalah since the days of the Temple in Jerusalem. To the surprise of many, Kabbalah is not the philosophical or intellectual pursuit that many writers make it out to be. It's a meditative practice that's designed to teach the practitioner deep self-understanding or as the ancient adage implied "know thyself." Self-knowledge is the basis of the spiritual life. Getting closer to G-d is synonymous with deeply exploring the contents of consciousness; the closer we get, the more joyful and euphoric life becomes.  

Spirituality will create a Judaism that brings us back to Torah in such a way that the traditional forms remain unchanged but we, as contemporary Jews,  will change by the new Jewish spirituality. This would not require a restructuring of Judaism: no need to delve into Eastern religions, no need to create new forms of prayer and rituals. Judaism has everything built in to provide a rich spiritual life. We would, however, have to learn to look deep within to find spiritual satisfaction from our own congregations, from our own rabbis and cantors.
 
Such an approach will permit Torah observance in a way that's more compatible with 21st century life and will join all Jews into a unified family. It will assure the continuity of the Jewish people both here and in Israel. It leads to an alteration in consciousness, which would enable us to learn to look deep within ourselves to make life choices. No longer would be bound to centuries-old texts to guide us, instead we would be able to explore our own hearts for knowledge.

Rabbinic Judaism, the precursor to orthodoxy served us well for survival in the ghettos in Europe and the Middle East. We have survived. We no longer need to immerse ourselves in survival mentality. The split that divides the Jewish community is founded on Rabbinic law. My vision for the 21st Century is a return to the forms mandated in Torah law which can be reinterpreted by individual communities and synagogues to meet their own needs. We would then, for example, choose, with Divine guidance, rather than text book instruction how to observe Shabbat, how to administer kashrut, who can be considered Jewish, whether the occupied territory in the West Bank is biblically mandated and so on.

Spiritual Judaism would also enable us to make the right personal choices: the big ones and the small ones. We would intuitively know how to behave in a given situation and how to respond mentally and emotionally. We would cultivate the best personal values; a proper nutrition regimen and preventive body scans to assure healthy living. We need to start the process of living spiritual Judaism now, so we can pave the way for continued Jewish existence for our children and our children's children.