Welcome to Emotional Wellness Daily. Rav Wolbe discusses pesukim in Yeshaya (perek ב) in two places that I know of-once in Alei Shor, volume two, and also in a sefer called Olam HaYedidut.
This chapter in Yeshaya is talking about the downfall of the Jewish people during the destruction of the Temple. And as we know, since the Temple has not been rebuilt, we're suffering with the same issues. He starts off on a positive note, and says (many siddurim have this in their morning prayers)
בֵּ֖ית יַעֲקֹ֑ב לְכ֥וּ וְנֵלְכָ֖ה בְּא֥וֹר ה׳
The House of Hashem, let us go with the light of God.
A lot of times the siddur quotes pesukim from different places, and the next pasuk in that prayer is not actually the next pasuk in Yeshaya. The next pasuk in Yeshaya explains why we are asking the House of Yaakov to go in the light of God- What have they been doing? כִּ֣י נָטַ֗שְׁתָּה
עַמְּךָ֙ בֵּ֣ית יַעֲקֹ֔ב כִּ֤י מָֽלְאוּ֙ מִקֶּ֔דֶם וְעֹנְנִ֖ים כַּפְּלִשְׁתִּ֑ים וּבְיַלְדֵ֥י נׇכְרִ֖ים יַשְׂפִּֽיקוּ
We have left our nation. We're following in the ways the outside world.
He doesn't specifically mention issues of idol worship, in the sense of what we call idol worship today.
Number one,
וַתִּמָּלֵ֤א אַרְצוֹ֙ כֶּ֣סֶף וְזָהָ֔ב וְאֵ֥ין קֵ֖צֶה לְאֹצְרֹתָ֑יו
Their land is full of gold and silver. There's no end to their treasure houses,
They have an abundance of wealth.
Number two,
וַתִּמָּלֵ֤א אַרְצוֹ֙ סוּסִ֔ים וְאֵ֥ין קֵ֖צֶה לְמַרְכְּבֹתָֽיו׃
Their land is full of horses. There is no end to their chariots art.
Thirdly,
וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א אַרְצ֖וֹ אֱלִילִ֑ים לְמַעֲשֵׂ֤ה יָדָיו֙ יִֽשְׁתַּחֲו֔וּ לַאֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשׂ֖וּ אֶצְבְּעֹתָֽיו
Their land is full of idols. They bow to their own handiworks.
And because of these three issues, what's the outcome?
וַיִּשַּׁ֥ח אָדָ֖ם וַיִּשְׁפַּל־אִ֑ישׁ וְאַל־תִּשָּׂ֖א לָהֶֽם
Man has become lowered. Man has become diminished. And God will not forgive this.
We're not worried so much about the gold, the silver, the horses, the chariots, or the idols.
Rav Wolbe says the main issue is that man has become limited and diminished. What does this mean? He explains that first of all, the gold and silver- that's an external. We’re living life on a standard higher than we can afford, using those externals as a way of showing who I am, or what we call status symbols.
Number two,
וְאֵ֥ין קֵ֖צֶה לְמַרְכְּבֹתָֽיו
there's no end to our chariots, our cars, and the need for every young child to get his self-confidence from his license. Again, this is an external charge from the car. It's not about me, it's about my assets. It's about my car. And lastly, what is the idol worship of today?
Rav Wolbe says a very big hiddush- idol worship was the supernatural of those times. We had the Godly supernatural of prophecy, and since God always has a counterbalance, there was a supernatural of idol worship and whatever came with it. He says today, the force that has replaced that supernatural is technology. We no longer see the beauty of creation, as we've mentioned in the past from Rav Wolbe. We don't see the beautiful view. Rather, in comes the camera to take the picture. We no longer hear the music, we have to record it.
And the outcome of all this is the
Man has become diminished. Man has become a midget, he says, and all of our internal abilities and talents have atrophied because there's a machine to do everything for us. The calculator will do our math. The machinery will do the medical tests for us (we know that there's nothing better than a real doctor). To create feelings, we have to go to the media, we have to listen to music to arouse ourselves. This is the downfall of man. And the more man looks to the outside rather the inside- That's the breakdown of his internal world. There's no person anymore. As we’ve said, we're using our iPhones (or any smartphone or device) as a replacement for the human being. We are no longer here. We're all here through our technology. We're present through our technology. And that is a lack of the human being.
I once watched a video of a famous psychologist, Carl Rogers, well known in the field of psychology. In this video, he talks about the instruments of the therapist- What does he need to do his work? Today, due to our push to technology, we like to have MRIs of the brain so we can see when people have OCD, and anxiety and PTSD. We want to see it on the screen. But he says, You need to sit in a comfortable chair. You need a table just to have something to put your things on. You need to have a tissue box because sometimes people cry and he says, the main instrument is, I'm the instrument. I'm the instrument. You need me there. I am the way this person is going to get better.
It’s very interesting that as the world becomes more technologically advanced, mental health needs are growing.
I wonder about this, based on what Rav Wolbe was saying. We are looking for a human connection. We're looking to be people, but in the world we live in, we're no longer people, we're just highly developed devices. We want to put artificial intelligence into our brains… We're just becoming bigger devices and the human being isn't there anymore. And that is the challenge of the times that we live in-To start getting out of the world that sucks us up, and become more of who we are.
Have a wonderful day.