Can Intellectuals be Spiritual?

This questions came up at shul this past Shabbat.  Is it more difficult for intellectual people to daven?  Try and follow my argument:


My first assumption is that all of the readers of this blog are intellectuals.  By that I mean to cast intellectual in the broadest definition possible; people who extol higher learning and rational thinking.  To be more precise, I mean intellectual with a lower case i.  Perhaps we need to re-learn our own vocabulary to realize just how powerful these words are.  Similarly I would argue that we are all liberals (again with a lower case l, meaning liberalism) which reflects our Western democratic values (liberty, equal rights,. freedom of religion, open and free elections, etc).  While some readers might embrace a political agenda with a capital Liberal or Conservative, we, by virtue of our upbringing and societal influence, are indeed liberals.  Our educational upbringing are similar enough that signify a common direction and I think this reflects current attitutides to teaching tefilla.

With that in mind, I think it is a reasonable deduction that most of us are also intellectuals and thus have invested a great amount of our time in schooling, reading, and professional training that is more "white collar".  The trend for me that is instigating this specific blog post is that I observe a great dissatisfaction among some people in tefilla settings. Many of my co-participants bring books to read during shul, or open a Jewish text to pass the time, or just chit-chat with the person next to them on either a mundane or holy topic (I am not judging).  Further, the highlight of many shul-goers is the sermon/drasha where the attendees sit and receive the inspiration and digest the intellectual discourse.  Learning/reading is indeed easier than it is to daven, but have we detached ourselves from passion and emotion as well?

One final point for this esoteric post:  William Wordsworth wrote, "The world is too much with us" and I find this true today.  With the great competition for attention with information and technology, individuals have a more challenging time reflecting.  It seems that schools today generally succed in preparing our young people to be intellectuals; to read, write and think critically - but do not in helping them daven, why?

Postmodern Tefila Tip #2

In my ongoing reflections on how to evaluate and improve tefilla in schools, I came across an unrelated comment by Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter - aka the Sfat Emet. One of the themes that he often riffs on, no matter the topic, is based on Psalms 34: 15:

סוּר מֵרָע, וַעֲשֵׂה-טוֹב;    בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ.

Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.

The Sfat Emet denotes the difference between actively refraining from evil actions or thoughts and the movements that direct one towards goodness and effectiveness.  Accordingly, a person needs to regularly examine one's deeds and actions to remove any negative attributes toward the goal of personal improvement; such a tactic only brings a person to a neutral state.  This defensive approach to the world differs from one that seeks engagement and enactment.

In my humble opinion, one of the significant differences between liberal democratic values and Judaism is precisely this point - the obligation to refrain from harmful actions versus a command to be an active participant in society.  There are rules in society about what you cannot do, or when you can drive or vote, but no obligation except to pay taxes.  In Judaism, while there are negative commandments (thou shall not), there are many active mitzvot that propel are person into the world to do good, and hopefully spread peace.

With this Sfat Emet dichotomy in mind, I wish to frame tefilla education according to skill based vs. spiritual development.  Often students are taught just the skills in order that they know how to appropriately act if they were to arrive in a synagogue.  There needs to be more emphasis on what can motivate and excite our young people to be agents of positive prayer.  Bringing students to a parve spiritual state just isn't doing it.