What is the reason for the rapid technological breakthrough of recent decades? How will it improve our world? Who predicted a thousand years ago the exact moment when this world-changing process would begin? And finally, what was the great revelation that occurred at that same time, on a spiritual level, within the people of Israel?
Take a moment and look around: how many tools, devices, systems and technologies around us didn't even exist two hundred years ago? And how many of these technological innovations and advanced developments have become an integral part of our lives only in recent decades, or even in recent years.
It is appropriate to raise the question: what happened? What caused this amazing technological breakthrough, which resulted in many inventions that once could only be dreamt about in science fiction, but today have become available to almost every child?
Even a brief overview is enough to realize the gigantic scale of this phenomenon, which began with the discovery of the steam engine and the industrial revolution that followed it. That is when much of the work previously carried out for thousands of years by human power or by animals (and sometimes by wind or water) was transformed instantaneously into a process powered by a mechanical engine that was far more powerful and efficient. Following that, the scientific and technological revolution entered many industries at once: transport, construction, communication technology... Steamships sailed the seas and oceans, railroads for cargo trains were built across the previously pristine lands.
About a hundred and fifty years ago, the electric light bulb was invented. That was also when telegraph devices were first used, enabling text messages to be sent without an actual physical transmission of a letter, which, among other things, enabled the safety of cargo trains to be operated over long distances.
In the last hundred years, however, we have witnessed an even more rapid leap in technological advances. In transportation, it was the invention of airplanes and other aircraft, the beginning of public use of automobiles and high-speed tracks, trains powered by internal combustion engines, then electric motors, and finally high-speed trains. In the field of space technology, people managed to land on the moon, along with the creation of satellites and space exploration.
In the field of information, it is worth mentioning the invention of the camera and the video camera, the various methods of transmitting information, the Internet and mobile communication. In the field of energy, we have seen the development of nuclear and solar energy. In the field of military development, technologies have also developed and completely changed the battlefield: missiles, tanks, warplanes and helicopters, aircraft carriers, submarines and non-conventional weapons have been created. At the same time, the arms race between the powers created competition, which in turn led to the development of many innovative technologies, including: radio, radar, audio recording, telephone, fax, computer, magnetic storage media, etc. One of the factors that accelerated technological development even more was miniaturization.
Breaking all records
So far, we have listed and reviewed the pioneering technologies created by humans in the one hundred and fifty years preceding the last three decades. About thirty years ago, however, the progress of technology in the world accelerated even further.
Rapid progress has encompassed almost every field of science and technology, in which we now see the tremendous improvements in the techniques used on a daily basis.
The incredible development of computing power is just one of the many examples of such overwhelming technological progress, with major advances over the past decade in such fields as nanotechnology, biotechnology engineering, nuclear synthesis, alternative energy technologies (such as energy cells and rechargeable hybrid cars), and electronics, particularly where researchers are seeking to improve the efficiency of LED lights and solar panels. Moreover, according to scientists' reports, new records and astonishing achievements are expected in the near future.
It turns out that this entire fascinating process is also connected with true and complete Redemption!
It all starts with Torah
Apparently, all this rapid and incredible development was predicted and even explicitly portrayed in a book! We are talking about the holy book of Zohar, which describes the inner essence of the verse from the book of Bereshit in the chapter "Noah" (7:11): "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life ... on this day, all the springs of the great deep were split, and the windows of the heavens opened up." And here is how the book of Zohar (translated from the Aramaic) explains this verse: "In the six hundredth year of the sixth millennium the gates of wisdom will be opened above, and the springs of wisdom below will be opened, and the world will prepare to enter the seventh millennium."
This, of course, requires some clarification with the dates. Today we are in the middle of the sixth millennium-the current year, according to the Hebrew calendar, is five thousand seven hundred and eighty-one from the creation of the world. In other words, the six hundredth year of the sixth millennium mentioned in the book "Zohar" began about one hundred and eighty years ago.
At the same time, in the text of the holy Zohar we find reference to two types of wisdom vividly revealing and evidencing themselves in this very period. It refers firstly to the opening of the "gates of wisdom above" - that is, the divine wisdom that illuminates our world - the Holy Torah. At the same time, the other part refers to other, additional revelations of the "sources of wisdom below."
In other words, the rapid development of human knowledge - the understanding of the world and the ability to use its possibilities, in other words - the opening of the "sources of wisdom below" occurred, of course, by the will and with the blessing of the Almighty, began exactly as it was planned by the Creator of the world beforehand.
While this is what referred to the development of wisdom "below," we cannot, of course, ignore the grand opening of the "gates of wisdom above" - in other words, the completely new revelation that occurred at that time in the Torah world as well - the emergence and expansion of Chassidism, which until those days had been hidden from us.
The reign of a consecutive generation of Chassidic Chabad leaders, beginning with the Alter Rebbe, and then his successors, who opened up a clear and powerful path for the Chassidic teaching, allowed many knowledgeable Torah scholars to discover the inner meaning of Torah and thus to discover new wisdom that was previously unknown to us in our world.
Some may ask: "What, therefore, in these wisdoms that are being revealed to us will make our world better on the approaching of the seventh millennium, bringing it closer to a righteous world? Suppose we can understand that the spiritual enrichment brought to us by the revelation of Chassidic teachings toward seeking and clarifying the world will prepare the people of Israel and everything that surrounds them to enter into the future phase of a righteous world. However, how do technological innovations have anything to do with this?
Rambam (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) wrote about the days of Moshiach that then "the world will be filled with the knowledge of the Almighty, as the waters which cover the sea." Clearly, on the approach to the knowledge of the Almighty, Chasidism has to be studied and learned, but what does all this have to do with the revelation of wisdom to the world?
A complete change
And this is where we come to a whole new understanding of the essence of the coming revelation. The verse "And the glory of the L-rd shall appear, and all flesh shall see at once, what the mouth of the L-rd has spoken" (Yeshaya 40:5), the Chassidic Torah explains as follows: the revelation that awaits us in the very near future has not only spiritual but also material aspects.
Our world is made up of materiality and spirituality, but if we thought that Redemption would only take place on the spiritual level, Chassidic teachings explain that the creation of the world on all its levels is part of a divine plan to bring the world to perfection in the age of Redemption. Therefore, it is impossible to deny that materiality is an integral part of the created world. And therefore, it, will also be part of the changes that are coming in the world, with the coming of the days of Moshiach. Then and only then will we be able to call this Redemption - true and complete.
The New Look
This idea is precisely the basis for the use of a variety of platforms to teach the teachings of Chassidism to large segments of society. It began with the introduction of the radio as a device suitable for private homes, and the call of the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach SHLITA to take advantage of this new opportunity to spread Chassidism.
While some other rabbis called for the arrangement and prohibition of a new device capable of transmitting the sound of voices and any other information at the speed of light to numerous listeners throughout the world, the Chassids, in contrast, followed the Lubavitcher Rebbe's command to set up new classes and lessons on Jewish tradition and Chassidism, achieving millions of listeners and completely changing their life perspectives.
This was the Lubavitcher Rebbe's approach to each and every new creation and innovation that existed and emerged in the world. Indeed, as our sages used to say, "Everything that the Blessed One created in his world was not created for anything except for his glory.
Over time, this tendency to use every invention or thing to increase and spread goodness and holiness continued, finding its fulfillment in other developments that multiplied the divine word and that helped more and more Jews and non-Jews to realize the existence of the Creator.
The culmination of this process was the use of the power of the Internet in modern times and the ability for each person to publish information. Today, almost every Chabad messenger uses these platforms to publish Torah lessons, Chassidic sayings, Shabbat hours and much more. Surely without all these discoveries and inventions, many would not know the fascinating essence of Jewish thought, which today they can absorb literally unlimited and continuously.
It is this integrity of union between the material and the spiritual that provides the path to the immediate acceptance of the Lubavitcher Rebbe King Moshiach SHLITA. And that is why we are now experiencing such a large-scale advance in discoveries and innovation, which not only improve the lives of each individual person, but also change the entire world for the better.