by Ram ben Ze'ev
In the divine order of creation, G-D endowed the human mind with supremacy over the heart and body, granting it the ability to govern the “small city” — the body. This hierarchy ensures that the body’s faculties, its organs and actions, serve the higher purpose of thought, speech, and action as directed by the mind, imbuing them with meaning and intention. The Torah teaches that the body and its animalistic inclinations exist as garments and vehicles for the soul, and that the mind, as a divine gift, has the power to steer these inclinations toward G-Dly service.
However, in modern society, we are witnessing a troubling inversion of this hierarchy. Through advancements in technology and increasing reliance on nonhuman processes, mankind is gradually surrendering its G-D-given intelligence and autonomy. Just as the body is meant to serve the mind, society now encourages the mind to become subservient to tools of its own making.
The Divine Analogy: Mind Over Body
In the Tanya, it is explained that G-D created the mind with the innate ability to rule over the heart. The body, in this analogy, is like a city whose inhabitants (the organs and faculties) are meant to serve the ruling power of the mind. The thought, speech, and action that flow from this dynamic become garments for the soul — mechanisms through which the soul interacts with the physical world in a manner that is aligned with its divine purpose.
Yet this relationship is not automatic; it requires conscious effort and discipline. The mind must consistently assert control over the impulses of the heart and body, ensuring that the garments of thought, speech, and action reflect the soul’s higher aspirations rather than the animal soul's lower inclinations. This is the divine blueprint for human functioning: a balance of intellect and will aligned with G-D's commandments.
The Modern Inversion: Subservience to Machines
Contrast this divine model with the trajectory of modern society. We are increasingly encouraged to relinquish control of our minds to the tools we have created. Our smartphones think for us, reminding us of appointments, filtering our communication, and even shaping our opinions through algorithmic curation. Vehicles once guided by human hands are becoming autonomous, and we are told that soon we won’t even need to drive. Artificial intelligence is being heralded as the ultimate solution to human inefficiencies, subtly reinforcing the idea that human thought is fallible, slow, and replaceable.
Where the Torah places the mind as the ruling entity over the body, modern society is shifting the balance, making the human mind subservient to electrical signals, algorithms, and artificial processes. Just as the body’s organs are mere garments for the mind in the divine structure, we are now becoming garments for machines, reduced to carriers of the data they process and the outputs they generate.
A Spiritual Crisis of Autonomy
This shift poses a profound spiritual danger. By surrendering our thought processes to machines, we risk losing the divine essence of what it means to be human. The ability to think, reason, and choose is central to our purpose as beings created in the image of G-D. When we hand over our decision-making to algorithms, we diminish our capacity to fulfill the mitzvot and to serve G-D with our whole selves — heart, mind, and body.
Furthermore, the reliance on technology fosters passivity. Instead of actively engaging our minds to solve problems, understand the world, or seek G-D, we defer to the convenience of pre-programmed answers and automated solutions. The human intellect, a divine gift intended for growth and elevation, risks atrophy in this paradigm of dependency.
Returning to the Divine Blueprint
The antidote to this crisis lies in reasserting the divine hierarchy within ourselves and within society. We must reclaim the supremacy of the mind over the body and resist the allure of technologies that seek to supplant our G-D-given intelligence. This does not mean rejecting technology altogether; rather, it means using it as a tool that serves the mind and soul, rather than as a replacement for them.
By prioritising disciplines that engage the mind — Torah study, meditation, meaningful conversation, and introspection — we can strengthen our intellectual and spiritual capacities. Just as the mind must govern the heart, so too must humanity govern its creations, ensuring that they remain subservient to our higher purpose.
Conclusion: Choosing to Serve the Creator
In the divine order, the mind serves as the guiding force of the human being, directing the body in fulfilling its G-D-given mission. To surrender this authority to machines is to disrupt the balance that G-D intended, replacing the divine with the artificial. Our challenge in the modern age is to preserve the sanctity of the mind, ensuring that it remains a vessel for divine wisdom and not a tool for technological dominance. Only by doing so can we fulfill our true purpose as beings created in the image of G-D, stewards of His creation and servants of His will.
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Bill White (Ram ben Ze'ev) is CEO of WireNews Limited, Mayside Partners Limited, MEADHANAN Agency, Kestrel Assets Limited, SpudsToGo Limited and Executive Director of Hebrew Synagogue