Spotlight on CLAL Archive

Welcome to Spotlight on CLAL. Here you will find stories about what's happening at CLAL and about the work that CLAL is doing across North America. Sometimes we will focus on a program, or a special event, or upon a CLAL faculty member's work and interests.

Bookmark this page if you want to get to know us better.

To access the Spotlight on CLAL Archive, click here.

To join the conversation at Spotlight on CLAL Talk, click here.

Kula Urges a 'Technology of the Spirit' in Speech to Major Hi-Tech Conference

By Andrew Silow-Carroll, Communications Director

Rabbi Irwin Kula, President of CLAL, told an audience of top technology and communications leaders that this century's challenge is to create a conversation between technology and the spiritual lives of individuals.

Rabbi Kula delivered the closing address at the TEDX (Technology, Entertainment and Design) (http://www.ted.com) Conference, held Feb. 23 to 26 in Monterey, Calif. Rabbi Kula was the only religious figure to address the sold-out conference, an annual event that has been described as a "who's who of tech movers and shakers."

In his address to the conference Saturday night, Kula spoke of the technological breakthroughs demonstrated at the event, including revolutionary designs for wheelchairs, voice simulation devices for the handicapped, and computer imaging techniques for cinema.

"A number of these demonstrations brought tears to the eyes of those attending," said Rabbi Kula after the event. "My challenge to those in the room was to develop technology that continued to speak to people's spiritual needs-a technology of the spirit as well as the microchip. Technology can be evil or trivial, or it can speak to the deepest aspects of how we live our lives."

With Rabbi Kula as its president, CLAL has emerged as one of North America's most important voices in exploring the connections between religious traditions and a world of rapid technological, commercial and communal change. CLAL works with individuals around the country to enhance how they experience their work, leisure, family and philanthropic lives.

The TEDX conference, founded by entrepreneur Richard Saul Wurman, is described by The Industry Standard magazine as a "competitive, sometimes ruthless and always entertaining show [that] explores the convergence between design, high-tech and entertainment industries." Speakers at this year's conference included Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, AOL-Time Warner CEO Steve Case, journalists Tom Brokaw, Art Buchwald, Arianna Huffington, and Forrest Sawyer, musician Herbie Hancock, television producer Norman Lear and author Ray Kurzweill (The Age of Spiritual Machines).