The Science of Connection

In 1912, a sociologist named Emile Durkheim discovered a crazy phenomenon. When a large group experiences something together, a ceremony, a show, a national moment, something physical [music] happens. He called it collective effervescence. And in 2011, researchers [music] proved it. They connected people to sensors during a firewalking ceremony [music] and discovered that the spectators' heartbeats match the rhythm of those walking. The body knows, the spirit is synchronized, and yet we [music] are a generation that consumes content alone. Let's admit it, headphones, selfies, private [music] stories. We're digitally connected, but we don't experience anything together. In the next room, dad, mom, siblings, each one in their own world. Physically close, [music] emotionally distant. At the moment of the giving of the Torah, something happened [music] that had never happened before. Rashi, commenting on the verse, "And Israel [music] camped there," writes three words whose power is infinite, "as one person with one [music] heart." Millions of people, no arguments, no disputes, no jealousy, because the Torah [music] does not descend upon a fragmented group, only upon one heart. Science has proven [music] that when people connect, the heart becomes synchronized. Rashi knew that without one heart, the Torah would [music] not descend. The Holy One, blessed be He, did not give the Torah to individuals. He gave it only when an entire nation stood together. Let's not experience the world [music] alone. Let's stand together and receive the Torah anew.