Smartphones and Technology

Excerpt from my new book about “Smartphones and Technology” (work in progress):

 

As someone who spends his life using technology to teach Torah, the topic of Torah and technology is one very close to my heart.

On the one hand, technology is a wonderful blessing: it provides accessibility, increases productivity, offers a wealth of information, and connects us to friends and family all over the world. 

 

My rebbe and the nasi of Torah Live, Rabbi Yitzchak Berkovits, applies the Yerushalmi at the end of Kiddushin that says that when we get up to Shamayim at the end of our lives, one of the questions they will ask us is, “Did you partake of everything wonderful that Hashem put in the world that you were allowed to?” Hashem put it there just for you and you didn’t bother using it? Not bothering, is simply ignoring Hashem. Someone showers you with gifts and you just ignore it.

 

Technology is Hashem’s gift to us. Not only did He create nature in a way that it's capable of being thrown into what it is, but He also gave us the wisdom to think how to use it. We have to take full advantage. Not only use it, but thank Hashem for every part of it. When we thank Hashem for טבע in Pesukei dezimra every morning, we should not just thank Him for the sun and the moon, but for making the microchip work! The fact that the human being managed to figure out how to make it is another thing but there is nothing really synthetic. It's just bringing together different elements that exist in nature and taking advantage of how they work together. Pesukei dezimra today has to go a lot further than just taking it literally. It's also thanking Hashem for how they all power technology. All of that is included in the Infinite wisdom that Hashem created in creation.

Yet at the same time, technology causes social, behavioral, psychological, and other issues. And the speed at which it advances is so fast that we get sucked into it without being aware of what is happening and before we know it, our peace of mind is ruined, our ability to focus is suffering, and relationships are faltering. What looked so positive at first - improved efficiency, time saving tools, instant knowledge - often ends up turning against us. 

 

The purpose of this book, which will eventually become a video course on Torah Live, is to bring to your attention the potential dangers and offer solutions so you can maintain personal balance. 

 

Technology is all consuming and has a way of sucking us up. By putting on the brakes and stopping to look at some Torah’s insights and seeing how they apply to contemporary situations, as well as some of the modern research, I hope this book / course will give you the ability to use technology responsibly and appropriately and build the skills needed to develop a healthy relationship with it.

 

I'd love to hear your feedback and thoughts. Please comment below.