From conversation into interpretation

Schneur Zalman of NY comments to the zal is no longer the only forum in which Lubavitch teens are educated:

Sometimes I wonder if I am living in the same universe with other people on this blog. Times changing is outrageous. No times do not change there was no Holocaust, no fall of the Iron Curtain, no creation of Israel, its all just in my mind ! No modern technology, no cell phone era, no communication revolution. All this did not affect the way we live. You know what if you told the Rebbe that he would laugh at you, because he was the master in detecting these changes and using them to benefit Judaism. These events have no effect on anyone?? Was there a sexual revolution in America in the 1960's and did it effect the moral condition of America? Did the 6 day war have a major impact on Jewish identity in the US in its aftermath? Well I choose to remain outrageous.

Tzemach Atlas:

Schneur, the proud claim in Chabad is that they use the latest technology in the name of G-d. They also train to manipulate some of the technology at YU but non of it addresses the fundamental question of the integration of knowledge with the Torah. It is one thing to treat a calculator as a branch form a tree or something you can use, it is another thing to internalize the history of thought on G-ds earth including cybernetics, philosophy, alchemy, etc. that had it�s crowning moment with the invention of a calculator.

At the time of Talmud there were no divisions between the ideas at large and understanding of G-ds ways. Talmud is a conversation centered on a curiosity and interpretation of then current state of science within the G-d�s law. Exile populates detachment form this tradition. Departure from conversation into interpretation snuffed creative spirit from the generations of Jews. It looked for a moment that the Rebbe, who was exposed to the advanced philosophical and scientific pursuits of the western civilization could have become the reintegrater of the traditional Jewish quest for knowledge into the sacred conversation. But alas this did not happen. In fact the use of the latest gadgetry and clever letters to scientists will not camouflage this fundamental breach. There is no one today who can even attempt it.