Who Wants to Become Greek?

Rabbi Arush spoke recently about the dangers of technology. At first, I thought to myself that people wouldn’t really want to hear about it, so perhaps I shouldn’t share it in English.  

And then Rabbi Arush said that in his personal prayer, he understood that we need to be like Pinchas, and “avenge the jealousy of Hashem” so to speak. 

The problem is like this:  

It’s not only that technology is terribly dangerous for an individual person. It’s the worst drug, and it’s more addictive than cocaine or the most dangerous physical drug. Rabbi Arush literally said that it’s the most powerful drug on the planet and makes other addictions look like child’s play – nothing else comes close in terms of how fast and how easily people can fall if they have access to open Internet. And it’s extremely difficult to get away from because it’s everywhere – even in rehab, people have smartphones!  Who wants to become addicted to the greatest tumah, impurity, that has ever existed? 

The word “iPhone” in Hebrew (אייפון) ends with the letters for Yavan (יון)– Greece. Rabbi Arush says that technology is the advice and influence of Greece – running forward, PROGRESS. It’s literally Hellenism according to Rabbi Arush! 

The problem is that spirituality and technology are like a seesaw – the more of one, the less of the other. Rabbi Arush literally said: “Who wants to become Hellenized?” Chanukah is the celebration against becoming Hellenized… this is going in the opposite  direction, G-d should save us!  

There is growing research that increasing screen time increases the risk of anxiety, depression, social isolation, reduces attention span, and makes people “moody, lazy and  crazy”, plus increasing risk for physical health ailments. A new study showed that  screen time hijacks dopamine, which desensitizes the brain, which makes  everyday life seem more boring. Elon Musk himself warned against spending a lot of time on social media since the platforms are literally fighting to make the algorithm as addictive as possible. 

The Evil Inclination sells it as “progress” and, G-d save us, it’s making people slaves and taking humanity backwards in leaps and bounds… People can’t focus, people are filled with anxiety, people are depressed, they have an attention span of maybe  six  seconds… They can’t write or spell anymore and they can’t focus to read a book, forget about really learning a topic in depth. They can’t even write essays alone anymore!  

And it’s not only that technology brings a person to sins. Rabbi Arush warns that a single hour online can lead to more sins than a person could commit in a thousand lifetimes in previous generations. Sure, it’s always possible to do teshuva and repent in theory. No despair in the world! But tell me who can recover from 1,000 LIFETIMES of sin?! How much must we protect ourselves! 

We must be prepared to give up everything to not sin even the tiniest hairsbreadth of a sin, forget about burning up our soul altogether. That’s Rabbi Arush’s exact words – the eye sees, the heart desires, the body lusts, and the neshamah (soul) is burned and leaves altogether, G-d forbid! With the neshamah goes all the person’s good desires, good will, and desire to learn, grow, and pray.  

And a “kosher” smartphone? Total falsehood and lies he says. If it has WhatsApp, then you can connect to other people of the opposite sex easily. And that is forbidden! Even at work, you can’t have any connection to anyone of the opposite sex.  

How many lives and how many families have been destroyed by not holding by the guidelines of the Torah? Torah is truth! We must hold the line! 

Continues in Part 2 – Don’t Push Hashem Away!

*** 

Rachel Avrahami grew up in Los Angeles, CA, USA in a far-off valley where she was one of only a handful of Jews in a public high school of thousands. She found Hashem in the urban jungle of the university. Rachel was privileged to read one of the first copies of The Garden of Emuna in English, and the rest, as they say, is history. She made Aliyah and immediately began working at Breslev Israel.   
  
Rachel is now the Editor of Breslev Israel’s English website. She welcomes questions, comments, articles, and personal stories to her email: rachel.avrahami@breslev.co.il.