[vc_row][vc_column][vc_tta_accordion][vc_tta_section title=”Get a Move On!” tab_id=”1624961381719-c39be8f2-b41a”][vc_column_text]Written May 2020
While most of us are sheltering in place during the coronavirus crisis, there is a pool of workers deemed essential who must go back and forth to work every day. This presents a problem, as not everyone owns a personal vehicle and public transportation is risky and in some locales, has been shut down completely.
An Israeli urban transit app, Moovit, has stepped in to fill the breach. In normal times, it provides information on public transit to millions of users across the globe. As use of public transportation plummeted due to social distancing requirements, the company launched an Emergency Mobilization On-Demand service to get essential workers to their jobs.
According to a report in Israel21C, the app enables transit agencies, operators and large corporations to convert their fleet of unused vehicles into an on-demand service for essential workers. Using the app, workers can request to be picked up and dropped off at select locations. Since the app has many users, rides can be optimized, allowing many riders to share the same journey while limiting the number of passengers per vehicle.
“By simply converting existing resources into an alternative mode of transportation, we can help get essential workers to their destination in a way that keeps both them and the driver safe,” said Yovav Meydad, Moovit’s chief growth and marketing officer.
The coronavirus pandemic has forced us to radically rethink and repurpose most aspects of our lives. Old routines are disrupted. We must find new ways of doing things, new ways of getting around. We learn to work from home, by phone or through video chats. We find out that there are many things we thought were necessities that we can do without. At the same time, we find that many things we never gave a second thought–toilet paper!–are actually indispensable. We learn that the people who never got much notice or attention, like sanitation workers or grocery stockers, are vital employees helping to keep all of us alive.
The coronavirus has meant a complete restructuring of our routines and our value system. With most venues for entertainment–the sports stadiums, the movie theaters, the amusement parks–shut down, we’ve been forced to turn inward, towards more meaningful pursuits. We’re spending more time at home with our families and need to find ways to make it all work.
In Chapter 4 of Ethics of Our Fathers, which we read this week, Ben Azzai says: “Don’t be dismissive of any person, and do not discount anything. For there is no man who has not his hour, and no thing that has not its place.” This is one lesson we can take from Covid-19–to truly value and appreciate the small things we’ve been taking for granted. And we pray to G-d to grant us the mental flexibility we need to get through this temporary disruption in our lives and rebuild a better, brighter future. Let’s get moving![/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”The Future of Education” tab_id=”1624961381734-43f23e0f-a5ee”][vc_column_text]Written June 2020
With millions of school children grounded due to COVID, we’ve seen a revolution in online learning, from Zoom classes to assignments posted and submitted electronically. Is this the future of education? Are we about to see the shuttering of brick-and-mortar schools in favor of a laptop in the bedroom?
Of course, the shift to online learning is not without its costs. For one thing, it assumes that at least one parent is home and available to supervise the online classes. Families might be limited in the number of devices they own and siblings may have to share access to a single laptop. And parents are increasingly concerned about the hours their children are spending staring at a screen. We’ve been warning for years that too much screen time is dangerous, not only morally but even physically, leading to changes in brain structure, insomnia, obesity and mood swings.
There are other, hidden dangers involved in the shift to e-learning. Children readily take to electronic media like ducks to water. But they lack the discernment to shift through the mountains of information available to them. Even in the television era, children until the age of eight could not distinguish between commercials and regular programming. Children who are exposed to vast amounts of electronic media cannot differentiate between reliable information and information meant to confuse or deceive. Without tight parental controls, they can also be exposed to indecent content that is disturbing and harmful for their young minds.
Not even the most sophisticated computer program can replace the attention and presence of caring adults who accept no compromises when it comes to educating their children. As one child psychologist put it, children these days are indeed suffering from attention deficit disorder–a deficit of adult and parental attention in their lives!
So, what is the solution? There’s no doubt that the internet and technology are part of our lives and there’s no going back. On the other hand, we need to be mindful that this is a powerful tool with potential to do tremendous good as well as tremendous harm. There’s a tremendous amount of positive, Torah content online but it’s dwarfed by the volumes of trash. Only with constant care and supervision can we ensure that internet use is beneficial for our children and not destructive.
When Moshiach comes, the “spirit of impurity” will be wiped off the face of this earth. The internet will take its rightful place as a source of light and truth, and its promise will be brought to full fruition. Media of all types will be used only to disseminate Torah. At the same time, we will not lose the human bonds that make learning so effective and meaningful. Truly the best of both worlds.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Spontaneous Order” tab_id=”1624961492644-0cf1f427-0535″][vc_column_text]Self-organization, or spontaneous order, is a process where some type of order arises from seemingly random interactions within a system. Examples in nature include the formation of the cell membrane; the differentiation of cells during embryonic development; the military-like coordination of the immune system; and the behavior of a bee colony. The system responds rapidly to external change, both to adapt and to protect itself from harm. And all of this is happening without receiving directions from a central “control room”–each part of the system apparently knows on its own just how to react, and the result is a wondrous coordination and balance.
Artificial intelligence systems have evolved greatly in recent years and are reaching increasing levels of complexity. However, none of them approach the level of functioning, complexity, heterogeneity and dynamism that characterize natural systems. Why? Why doesn’t a state-of-the-art computer reach the level of organization achieved by every little nest of ants? What is there in a simple biological system like a flower bud that’s not in the supercomputer?
The obvious answer, of course, is life. These systems function with tremendous organization and coordination because they are alive. Life is a concept that evades scientific definition. Scientists can describe the processes going on inside living organisms, but cannot define what is life itself. What makes one collection of cells come alive while the other one dies? It’s a mystery that eludes rational understanding.
Lately we have been seeing in the world a new type of self-organizing. For most of human history, ruthlessness and brutality were the rule, not the exception. Conquerors would simply invade a country and take what they saw fit, without a thought to the rights of the people living there. Individual human rights were rarely acknowledged.
In recent times, as a society we have for the most part rejected the concept of subjugating other people by force. The Constitution of the United States is based on the principle that all men are equal under the law. Yet the liberation is incomplete. Our cities are in upheaval to protest injustice and disparities in the way people are treated.
Thanks to the Internet and advances in global communication, networks of people form easily across the world to share in a common goal and purpose. People across the world are organizing themselves to fight for peace, justice and morality. We’ve become so accustomed to it that we forget that less than a century ago it was not the rule for people to help others outside of their limited circle. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Where does this urge to unite and help each other come from? It is evidence of the hidden influence of Moshiach in this world. The ancient prophecies of world peace and stability are finally beginning to come true. Now it’s up to us to get in on the action. With just one good thought, one kind word or good deed, we can transform the entire world and bring about the revelation of Moshiach.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”Linked In” tab_id=”1624961582901-c9adc4eb-407f”][vc_column_text]Today, about 3.9 billion people (about 57% of the world’s population) have access to the Internet. However, that number is rapidly expanding – each year the number of Internet users grows by 9%.
As for the 40% who are not online, many of them are trapped in a vicious cycle: They live in poverty-stricken areas without electricity, and cannot afford the technology that would enable them to gain the knowledge and expertise to lift themselves out of poverty. At the same time, though, many of those “afflicted” by lack of Internet access don’t think they’re missing out on a thing.
If “connectedness” is what people are lacking, it’s hard to argue that Internet is a solution to the problem. In fact, the more people connect to the Internet, the greater is their disconnect from their surroundings and the people around them. Texting while driving has become a leading cause of traffic accidents and fatalities, and pedestrians on cell phones have bumped into poles (as well as other walkers), wandered into traffic, and even fallen onto train tracks.
Connectivity is the blessing of our generation and also its greatest challenge. All that instant access to every form of information in existence – how do we channel that into meaningful forms of communication, rather than the vacuous and mundane? Can we use our devices to keep us connected to something greater than ourselves?
When G-d gave us the Torah on Mount Sinai, all of us were “plugged in” to an unprecedented experience. All barriers were swept away, and G-d revealed Himself directly to us. After that event, most of the Jewish people were no longer able to sustain that same level of connection to the Divine. They could no longer hear or see G-d, even though G-d’s voice continues to reverberate throughout the world, keeping it going at every moment. In the future, however, with the complete Redemption, we will once again experience that profound connection to G-d, which will never again be broken.
We will have none of the false, inane “connectivity” that we have now, but a real, vibrant, meaningful connection to each other and our Creator. We will share a deep and unifying awareness of the G-dly force that sustains us all and brings the world into being at every moment.
In these frenetic days of the 21st century, with every moment filled with bleeps and tweets and dings, we have one day that we can turn it all off and savor the world of the future. That day is Shabbat, a foretaste of the time of Redemption, when it will be “peace and tranquility for all of eternity.” Keeping just one Shabbos united, as a people, can help usher in the era of Moshiach. Call your local Chabad Center to find out how you can celebrate Shabbos this week and experience the blessing of the World to Come.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section title=”You’ve Been Phished” tab_id=”1624961634372-55437772-91b1″][vc_column_text]An email pops up in your work inbox. “Please click here for an important voice message.” Your heart leaps up in your chest. With great anxiety, you click on the link. A page pops up warning you that you were almost a victim of a phishing attack.
The dangers of phishing cannot be overstated. Phishing is how hackers are able to penetrate the most secure systems—major chain stores, banks, government agencies. All it takes is one employee to carelessly click on a link and enter their ID and password, and a hacker can gain entry into the entire system.
Just as our inbox gets flooded with spam, our brain is similarly spammed throughout the day with a bombardment of random thoughts, impulses, and desires. But over time we’ve built up a rather robust spam filter. We know that we can choose to divert our attention from thoughts and feelings that are counter-productive.
A phishing attack is different. Phishing attempts take advantage of the very mechanisms that we rely on for filtering out spam: Our conscientiousness; our desire to do the right thing. “Attention: You have an important message from work!” Uh, oh. If my work is calling I need to pay attention. I can’t ignore this. I better click on the link.
What is phishing for the soul? The evil inclination has already learned that we’re going to ignore overt appeals to our baser instincts. So the evil inclination tugs at us in a different way. “I have an important message for you! You’re not doing a good enough job! You’re failing!”
This week’s parshah, Ki Tavo, enumerates the most dreadful-sounding curses that will come upon the Jewish people if they fail to serve G-d properly. The section concludes with these words: “These will fall upon you because you did not serve G-d with joy and goodness of heart.”
Chassidic teachings explain that the emphasis is on the words “joy and goodness of heart.” The evil inclination does its best to rob us of our joy in serving G-d, and thus leaves us vulnerable to the worst threats.
How do we phish-proof ourselves? We need to stay alert to the tricks of the evil inclination. Even when it presents itself as the voice of our conscience, telling us that we’re not good enough, stop and think: Is this thought really for my benefit? Pay attention only to the thoughts that uplift you, that inspire you to do good out of a sense of joy.
This precaution against spiritual phishing is especially important during the month of Elul when we take stock of the past year and prepare for the new year. It’s a somber month and can easily lead to thoughts of anxiety and inadequacy. But we need to take every precaution not to allow ourselves to lapse into melancholy. The month of Elul is also a joyous time when G-d’s love and compassion predominate when He graciously welcomes our every overture to return to Him.[/vc_column_text][/vc_tta_section][/vc_tta_accordion][/vc_column][/vc_row]