Secretary or Mistress?

The Lubavitcher Rebbe called technology a great way to serve Hashem. Over the past 30 years, we have seen it fulfill his vision and, at the same time, poison it.   

Technology is both a secretary and a mistress. Treat it as an assistant, and it will enable you. Use it as a mistress, and it will destroy you.

My wife and I were purchasing a license for Microsoft™ Office for our new desktop. We had two options. For $325, we get the basic Office™ applications plus Microsoft Outlook™ email and document sharing. For $186, almost half the price, we get the core Microsoft Word™/Excel™/PowerPoint™, but no Outlook or document sharing.

I almost got snookered by the same tech scheme that has been going on since the Atari 800 back in 1979! If it’s newer, faster, or has more bells and whistles, get it!  

Then, I looked at my wife. Shula was raised in a border town in the mountains of the Soviet Union. There was a primary rule in her household: Nothing goes to waste. To this day, every shekel we spend goes through a quick process of “Do we really need this?”

I looked at her and began my calculations. I already have email and Dropbox, so why pay more for the same?  I realized that I’m not like a dog whose master commands, “Go fetch”. When advertisers want me to buy their product because it’s the latest, I don’t have to obey!  I smiled and saved myself NIS 500.  

Is Technology Really Worth It? 

Realizing that even technology is something we can do without is a liberating idea. 

If we use technology to put food on the table, it’s a secretary. Use it for work. Use it for clients. Use it for leads. We can trust our computer to do these tasks just like a CEO can trust his secretary to file paperwork.

In contrast, technology can steal our time and money. It can take these precious gifts that Hashem give us and return nothing but darkness – just like a mistress. A mistress takes everything. The relationship is based on pure betrayal – betrayal of Hashem, betrayal of a wife or husband, betrayal of children. Everyone.

A mistress can never be trusted, nor can applications that act like one. If we get suckered into using technology to read the news, make friends, or play video games – then technology is a mistress. We misused the time Hashem gave us to do His Will and to gain merit for the Next World.  

The Narrow Bridge of Technology 

Today, more than ever, the immortal words of Rabbi Nachman of Breslev ring true. We all walk the tightrope between technology the helpful secretary and technology the mistress. 

It’s up to us to determine how things like social media, the news, and video games impact our lives. If we only read a physical newspaper for all our news, we’d read far less news and waste less time! Even better, we’d stop getting angry at people we have reason to hate.

Let’s ask the real question about our online usage: “Is this worth the lost time – are we getting more out of it than by doing something else right now?” If the honest answer is no, then we need to liberate ourselves from the internet that has seduced us.

Although technology can be a great way to serve Hashem as the Lubavitcher Rebbe stated, it has also caused devastating effects in life itself.

Let’s act now to eliminate any technology that is marginalizing life.  

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David Ben Horin lives in Afula with his family, millions of sunflowers, and Matilda, our local camel. David‘s Israeli startup, Center Stage Marketing, is a lean marketing agency for startups and small businesses that creates and promotes SEO optimized ROI-driven to the right audience on LinkedIn to make your business the star of the show.