Texting and Driving - The Power of One Word - Death and Life in the Power of the Tongue

There is at least one other post on my blog regarding the dangers of texting while driving. It's almost as if one wonders if there's another video that actually needs to share just how much danger there is in doing this. It cannot be over emphasized how important it is for us to take a break from staring at a screen in order to communicate with another - and to live life responsibly.

Sadly, today, with more and more technology available to make our lives "easier" to communicate with each other, it seems that not only are relationships more strained, but people are finding it harder and harder to communicate with each other as human beings - like they did in the old days - face to face! One may find people resorting to asking for forgiveness for something they have done wrong to another - by simply sending out a mass Facebook message to everyone on their "Friends" list asking all who they might have harmed for forgiveness (even from people not connected on their list,) and expecting that the request will have achieved its goals! A far cry from the Torah's definition (or quite frankly any feeling person's definition) of what the process of forgiveness is all about.

With the cost of calls coming done drastically from years ago - people are finding it harder and harder to use their phones to talk to people - as people. A quickie SMS or text message of some kind should do the job just as well - they think. Little do they realise the pain they cause to the recipients - who may really so much want to just have that real human interaction.

Ironically, today with facilities like Skype, making calls totally free - including video(!), people are finding it harder and harder to use their tools, relying on SM's (short messages,) and TOA's (tons of abbreviations) because we have come to lose appreciation for talking properly due to perceived time constraints!

Yet with all this, people are taking things to the limit by feeling that it's not only impossible to talk to one person as a person - we must resort to speaking (i.e. texting) to many people at once - multitasking - and being heralded as heroes for being so amazing!

The Torah teaches that death and life are in the power of the tongue. Indeed one word can kill. Sometimes, we don't always know what the Torah means by this. We scoff at the "silliness" of such pithy sayings - relegating them to the sayings of men of the past who "knew nothing" of the modern world.

Take a look at the video below, because it's well worth grasping all these points. Yes, death and life are in the power of the tongue - whether on a computer screen, or a word spoken in the air! One word can kill - in so many ways. Could it be that we might have accidentally killed another with just one word - without even knowing it? (Listen carefully to one of the stories and you will understand what I mean.)

Don't forget the power you have in your tongue to bring healing to others - or harm (if of course that is what you really wish.) Remember, the same word that you choose to use to another - may be a word that can cause mortal harm to you too - whether on a screen - or spoken through the air.

It's time to put down the phone - from being a slave to typing on it's screen every five minutes and dealing with so much small talk - so often, filled with abbreviations one has to be a genius to understand. It's time to value life. It's time to value other people. It's time to value the blessings G-d has given us all - to be able to use a phone (for speech) and the spoken word at such little cost to ourselves - and to be able to communicate with each other - as real human beings should.

And if we're not yet there and don't value any of this, then let us at least make a firm promise to never endanger our lives - and certainly not the lives of another - for our own pleasure of a silly word that achieves very little - which simply must be read or written down, while driving a car at a tremendous speed!

Please see my other post about texting while driving too.

Lech Lecha - Go To (For) Yourself - And The Not So Smart Smartphone (Powerful Video Included)

There's a famous teaching of the Baal Shem Tov that I often think about. He teaches that everything a person sees or hears is meant for a reason. The Alter Rebbe - the first Rebbe of Chabad also has a famous teaching. He says that one should live with the times. Living with the times means to connect one's life (and the life of the world in general) with the Parsha of the week. Encountering a particular video today and wondering what it had to do with the Parsha at the same time is by no means an easy task. Thinking it over though I realised a powerful message which I share today.

One should surely keep up with the times - because there really is no way to run away from them. Take a look around and compare the world of the "mighty" Internet and mobile technology of today, and Rome of two thousand years ago, and there is enough to realise, that one simply cannot attempt to live one's life as if one existed in that Roman period. 

At the same time, never forget the message of this week's Parsha. G-d tells Abraham - "Go to yourself", or even possibly, "Go FOR yourself." It all depends how one translates the word "Le". Either way the message is clear. Stand strong in following the path that is meant for you as a Jew. If not Jewish - the message can even indicate an importance in connecting with your soul along the path G-d indicates for you - to follow the 7 Mitzvot Bnei Noach. Connect with the real you - the soul as it exists in its essential form. Live with the times - yes. But don't forget not to get carried away with them - because in fact, one should be in a constant state of connecting with one's inner soul which surely goes back thousands of years into the essence of G-d Himself.

When I connect with my soul, I hold myself back from the whirlwind of the movement of the physical world because I focus on what is important for me as a soul. When I live with the times, I make sure I am a part of that whirlwind. My body wants a big part of the whirlwind of physical matter. Being a part of that whirlwind can be dangerous - and so when one feels that perhaps one is overstepping the normal nature of the soul - hold back...

The path of Torah is beautiful. While life moves on at speed, the Torah path allows one to keep moving in a far calmer manner. One knows to rest on Shabbat. One knows to eat only Kosher. One holds back from constant physical touch with one's wife by fulfilling the laws of Family Purity. There are always stops. Some people think it's too restrictive. But much like driving a car, and knowing that the "Stop" sign is there to keep you safe from danger, these restrictions calm the body and soul, allowing both to be healthy - and happy. When one begins to drive one's "car" (the body) in the slower lane of that apparent restrictive life - as one learns more Torah each day, practices more acts of kindness, and simply flows with the gentle breeze of life that Torah brings, one knows that one is living in as safe a lane as is possible. There is a beauty to such a lifestyle and a calmness that only one devoted to such a lifestyle can understand.

Nobody is ever exempt from life's activities and the bills that must be paid - but the Torah way of life puts life into perspective. It makes it meaningful and it allows one to live according to a set of laws which keeps one safe from the many dangers that exist outside.

In our fast paced world of technology (you know... "living with the times" and all that...) many refuse to ever learn the dangers of texting and reading their messages on their "smart"phones. It will never help - no matter how many times one asks others to respect the lives of others (at the very least!) and to be aware of the dangers involved in using their phone while driving. Liz Marks also thought she had it under control. Addicted to her smartphone she took the path of least resistance. A path that indicated something to the effect - that since everyone else does it - she could too. It could never happen to me - were surely words she had thought of - as so many others have too.

Her story (in the video below) is beyond tragic. The message brought by it is clear. Life is far too precious to get swept into the fast lane of keeping up with technology, keeping up with the social world, keeping up with the Joneses. Live with the times indeed. Just don't forget, even when the modern world is calling a phone "Smart", it does not mean it really is...

Go to yourself. Go for yourself. Keep in touch with who you really are as a person. You are great just being who you are. You never need to feel the need for everything else that everyone else has - or the need for keeping up with the lifestyle everyone else does - just because they do it. G-d tells Abraham that going to oneself is really a message of going for oneself. When one relates to who one is and pursues his path of growth, he really does himself a favour for himself. He keeps himself outside of additional dangers that can be avoided - and becomes a calmer person who can love life - even when it seems like there are restrictions. Mostly - those restrictions are not there to actually "Stop" you. They are there to warn you of oncoming traffic. Your pause - though seemingly a time-waster and frustrating - may one day be the very reason you are alive - and you may never even realise what should have happened - because it didn't!

"Celebrate" the Shabbat day. Enjoy its calmness. Enjoy the warmth it provides body and soul - even if it's freezing outside! Go to who you are - and pick up a book of the Torah and spend some time reading it - without the need to check your phone every few minutes. This is who you are.

If nothing else has any impact in this message - never text and drive nor use your cellphone in any way that is against the law - against your life (even if you think you can get away with it.) There may not be an officer to stop you, but there are other things that can...

Safety First - Protect Yourself - Be Aware

Though this is a blog about Torah - I found it worthwhile to include the video below - because part of Torah observance is about being safe. One is commanded to look after one's health on a variety of levels, and it is essential that everyone do everything they can to keep themselves safe at all times. The video below speaks about the dangers of a seemingly harmless item in one's home - a 9V battery! Amazingly keeping these batteries lying around without taking care to look after them correctly - can result in a fire - ultimately burning (as in this instance) an entire house down!

Many people laugh at the "silliness" of people who speak about things that seem so far off - but the video clearly indicates just how dangerous leaving a battery like this lying about can be. 

After seeing a social networking post recently posted by a well known rabbi with thousands of friends watching his every word and picture - I commented on the danger he was sharing with others - albeit unintentionally. He had posted a "sweet" picture of his young son/grandson learning some Torah via an educational CD filled with audio and visual stimulation to help him learn. The boy was watching it on his laptop on the bed in his pyjamas clearly ready to fall asleep - which he was now doing! I commented that the picture was extremely dangerous to show. Leaving a laptop on a bed actually causes the extreme heat coming from the computer to heat up the material of the bed - which can in fact ignite the entire bed. This very incident happened just recently in Israel and an entire family - save for the mother - died in the tragedy. Again, I mentioned this in the post. Comments raged from, "I'm sure the rabbi would never let his children fall asleep like this. He was surely just taking the sweet picture for illustration purposes and then removed the computer immediately," to, "The computer would never fall off the bed causing a health hazard," to, "Don't be over judgmental," and then a variety of other scoffing remarks. In the end, the rabbi was lauded for his outstanding creative ability in taking this "awesome" picture - ultimately advertising the importance of using this particular product - so that others would buy it too.

Most agreed it was certainly in keeping with fun, Torah and the rabbi's good name to show this image - so that G-d forbid - others would do the same - by allowing their own children to play on their laptops, fall asleep later at night at the computer and simply already be in bed!

Never be fooled for a moment. The Torah demands we keep safe at all times. This video below does a great job of telling things as they should be. Laptops on beds can make fires (even if the rabbi owns it and his sweet children harmlessly play on it,) and a 9 volt battery can bring an entire house down.

You're welcome to choose the side you want. Support the rabbi - or scoff at those who insist on safety. But never forget - it's your life and the life of your own family at stake. To me, it's a "no-brainer"! Wise up to everyday happenings, everyday dangers - and do everything you can to keep safe - always! By being alive - you'll be able to serve Hashem - just as He wants.