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February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
Advancement of technology is a wake-up call for humanity
By Rabbi Yonason Goldson
A previous century sage's lesson is magnified exponentially by the phenomenon of the Internet. The message is one well worth internalizing
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Imagine you're on a family vacation half way around the world. You turn a corner and behold — your own life-size portrait beams back at you from a local storefront.
Impossible? Danielle Smith doesn't think so anymore. It wasn't Ms. Smith herself but an old college friend who spotted the Missouri resident and her family adorning a shop window as he was driving through the streets of Prague. The picture, sent out to friends by the Smith family on their holiday greeting cards, had found its way via the Internet to the front of a trendy grocery store in the Czech Republic.
The friend snapped a few pictures and sent them to Ms. Smith, leaving her scratching her head. "This story doesn't frighten me," she said, "but the potential frightens me."
In truth, the story shouldn't come as much of a surprise at all. With increasing frequency we hear stories of pictures surfacing on the Internet for all to see — often causing consternation or profound embarrassment, sometimes destroying marriages, careers, and reputations. In a world nearly bereft of personal privacy, where cameras hide in every cellphone and on every street corner, only the terminally naive imagine that any action can go completely unnoticed.
An office party, a late night ramble, a weekend in Fort Lauderdale over spring break a dozen years ago — any of these fleeting and forgotten episodes could easily come back to haunt us tomorrow, reminding us of a momentary lapse of good judgment in the most public and irretrievable way.
A WORLD GROWN SMALLER
Ironically, although the technology is relatively new, the identical lesson was taught nearly a century ago by the last great sage of European Jewy, Rabbi Yisroel Meir Kagan, in whose time two new devices began to gain popularity throughout western society: the telephone and the motion picture.
Always observing the world around him through the lens of Jewish philosophy, Rabbi Kagan pondered what the technological innovations of his day could teach the modern Jew about his place and purpose in the world. He concluded that these novelties might provide concrete examples of Torah principles for a humanity growing ever more desensitized to the presence of spirituality in the lives.
Before the invention of the telephone, most people depended upon hand delivered letters if they sought contact with people or places far from home. Slow and unreliable, the inefficiency of communication made the world a much larger place, with news of friends, family, and distant communities lagging days, weeks, or even months behind actual events. Conversely, the effect of one's own actions beyond the limits of one's village or neighborhood seemed insignificant.
Similarly, before the invention of motion pictures, the moments of our lives seemed particularly transient. The actions of one instant disappeared from consciousness the next, forgotten by others and often by us as well. Only acts that left something enduring behind seemed to have permanence: the building of a barn, the planting of a field, the birthing of a calf. But day-to-day existence left no mark upon the physical world and, consequently, no mark upon people's hearts and minds.
And then all that changed. Almost overnight people and communities across Europe became connected to one another. More gradually, but even more dramatically, the preservation of moving images wove itself into the fabric of the human psyche. The world contracted, collective memory expanded, and society began to think and act in ways never before imagined.
WAKE-UP CALL
Rabbi Kagan interpreted these inventions as a wake-up call. According to Torah philosophy, we live not in isolation but intimately connected to the Creator who dwells at the heart of the universe. Our actions do not pass out of existence from moment to moment but are preserved for all eternity. And so, just as the world was slipping over the brink of moral oblivion under the influence of nihilism and secular "enlightenment," Rabbi Kagan saw the telephone and the motion picture as gifts from the Master of the World, providing compelling paradigms of how our actions truly matter, how they can be perceived across the world and preserved for generations.
The phenomenon of the Internet magnifies Rabbi Kagan's lesson exponentially. After posting the story of the photo, Danielle Smith has had some 200,000 hits on her family Website. Today, news and images travel with nearly unlimited speed and circulation. A single picture can become a cause celebre literally overnight — bringing with it inspiration or humiliation, comic irony or personal devastation.
So too our actions. One small deed may send out ripples like a stone cast into still waters, traveling to the farthest reaches of the farthest shore, unrecognized for what it has wrought but no less relevant for its unseen origins. Nothing we do is meaningless, no action of ours goes unnoticed, and everything is recorded for the final day of reckoning we must all face when we reach the end of our lives, which we will look back on the accumulated moments of our existence. If we take Rabbi Kagan's lesson to heart, rather than burning with the shame of opportunities lost we will exult in the awesome potential we have achieved.
JewishWorldReview.com regularly publishes uplifting articles. Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
Comment by clicking here.JWR contributor Rabbi Yonason Goldson teaches at Block Yeshiva High School in St. Louis, MO, where he also writes and lectures. Visit him at http://torahideals.wordpress.com .
© 2009, Rabbi Yonason Goldson
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