Cancel Culture
Popular culture is trying to cancel something new every day, but there is one thing that cannot be cancelled… without dire consequences.
In San Francisco, they are trying to replace the name of a High School named after Abraham Lincoln.
In Washington, they are trying to erase Dr. Seuss.
Pretty soon the UN will protest our celebrating Independence Day because in the course of preventing another Holocaust, we killed too many people of color.
It’s not a surprise that history’s greatest liberators are the ones they are trying to silence. Anyone who paved the way for an individual to reach his full potential is the new enemy of the people.
They are moving to cancel righteousness. They are trying to cancel work. They are trying to cancel family.
They are trying to cancel G-d.
Oblivious to History
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein
Try again bozos!
They tried to erase Hashem in the Soviet Union. They tried it in Nazi Germany.
They tried it in Greece, in Rome, in Ancient Egypt, and in the nations that lived in the Land of Israel before we came.
They are trying it right now in China.
They all tried to cancel G-d.
They tried it in the generation of Noah – all in the name of theft, murder, and sexual license.
Before that happened, G-d destroyed everything on earth. He canceled everyone for trying to cancel Him.
Billions of citizens of empires too massive to measure have been erased trying to do the same – erase He Who is immutable.
Will this time be any different? Absolutely not.
America will disappear. Europe will disappear. Even the Israel we know of today will disappear.
Hashem will not. Those of us who acknowledge Him will not.
Every generation had their elites who thought they could pull it off.
Hashem gives every age something new to delude themselves into thinking that “this time it’s different.”
Smartphones and Social Media. Call it the 21st century version of the Telephone and Automobile. Did the great tech boom – the greatest ever – at the turn of the 20th century grant success to the Theory of Evolution trying to cancel out the Book of Genesis?
To Cancel or To Confirm
When the wicked flourish like grass, and all workers of violence blossom, only to be destroyed to eternity. (Psalms 92:8)
We sing this song every Shabbat.
Shabbat is the day we cancel them. We turn our backs on their accomplishments to recognize the works of G-d.
We turn off their every line of communication to our senses to remember Who created us, and why we are here.
The age we live in is another great test. G-d is hiding Himself behind a billion screens to see who has the determination to see through them all.
They can’t cancel Hashem, but we can.
The Baal Shem Tov masterfully asked his students, “Where does Hashem exist?” They all replied “Everywhere!”
He said, “God exists where man lets Him in.”
If we squander away our precious time in their devices, we tear ourselves away from the Source of our own existence and effectively execute their plan by cancelling God.
Our closeness to Hashem is like swimming against the tide, you have to make a constant effort to stay where you want to be. The moment we stop, we move farther and farther away from our destination.
They employ all the tricks to move the tide, we have to always be on guard to stand strong:
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– We cannot give way to the anger they stir up in us with each post. We cancel Hashem by engaging in idolatry – and the Sages call anger, absolute idolatry in every sense.
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– We cannot spend excessive time on their platforms, sinking into obscene sights, one upping each other, and needless gossip. When we block ourselves from contemplating G-d, and we cancel Him.
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– We cannot obsess over who is #1 in the world by talking about the American President all the time. If we obsess over who rules the world, we cancel He Who reigns over the earth. Hashem gives us a hint here: The first name of the current American Vice President is the name of an actual idol.
Psalms 16:8 perfectly captures the primary purpose of life. It stands front and center in Synagogues everywhere, telling us exactly what to do:
I have placed Hashem before me Always.
Every time we say this, we negate the forces of evil culture trying to delete our spirit, and purge our purpose in life.
Reinforce your position with these acts:
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– Learn about Trust in Hashem at least 15 minutes per day
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– Learn Torah every day, in particular learn emuna every day
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– Remember Shabbat, and guard it
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– Make sure to turn off everything around you during prayers
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– Do everything that you can to limit your time on the internet through phones, tablets, and computers
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– Avoid any type of newspaper or magazine throughout Shabbat and Yom Tov, and even better – the entire week.
Like the Communists, Nazis, Greeks, Egyptians, and Pagans who polluted His world, Hashem will toss these evil people into the wastebasketet of history.
Ultimately, it is they who will be canceled – for all eternity.
Our job is to make sure we are on the right side of His line in the sand.
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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his wife and children. Since moving to Israel in 2002, David has discovered Torah, writing hi-tech, hiking, coding ReactJS Apps, and hearing stories about the Land of Israel from anyone excited to tell them. Check him out on Highway 60 or email him your favorite Israel story at: david.ben.horin@spreadyourenthusiasm.com.
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