“Put Down Your Cell Phone and Focus” – based on sources by R. Josh Flug

Nicholas Carr – “The Shallows”Is Google making us stupid? When Nicholas Carr posed that question in a celebrated Atlantic essay, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the internet’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply?

With The Shallows, a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction and a New York Times bestseller, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the net’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. The Shallows is, writes Slate, “a Silent Spring for the literary mind.”

“Carr’s prescription is not to shove a sandal into the servers that are eroding our brains. Instead, he wants us to take a page from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s notebooks — the one in which Hawthorne wrote about the way a morning reverie in a spot in Concord known to locals as Sleepy Hollow was shattered when the ‘startling shriek’ of a locomotive brought ‘the noisy world into the midst of our slumbrous peace.’ The shrieking railroad has given way to the constant hum and buzz of the information highway, ubiquitous to the point of invisibility. If we want to preserve the health of our brains, we will carve out a ‘peaceful spot where contemplativeness can work its restorative magic.’ … The medium may be the message, Carr suggests, but only so long as the medium stays hidden. Reveal its inner workings — and the groupthink or brain damage it can cause — and we will see the necessity of resisting. We will be empowered to turn Google to our purposes rather than being turned to Google’s.” –Gary Greenberg, The Nation

“The core of education is this: developing the capacity to concentrate. The fruits of this capacity we call civilization. But all that is finished, perhaps. Welcome to the shallows, where the un-educating of homo sapiens begins. Nicholas Carr does a wonderful job synthesizing the recent cognitive research. In doing so, he gently refutes the ideologists of progress, and shows what is really at stake in the daily habits of our wired lives: the re-constitution of our minds.–Matthew B. Crawford, author of Shop Class As Soulcraft and The World Beyond Your Head

from “Half Shabbos Is No Shabbos”– Jonathan Rosenblum, Jewish Action Magazine, March 2012

Jewish Week reporter Steve Lipman sent more than a few shockwaves through the Orthodox world with his recent article on texting on Shabbos by teenagers educated in Orthodox institutions. He reported on a Shabbaton at which fourteen of the seventeen teenagers present were texting one another. So common is the phenomenon that it even has its own nomenclature: “half Shabbos.”

In a follow-up letter to the Jewish Week, Drs. Scott Goldberg and David Pelcovitz attempted to mitigate the impact of Lipman’s article. Their survey of 1,200 teenagers in Modern Orthodox institutions, they wrote, revealed that only 17.7 percent text on Shabbos [emphasis mine]; 15.5 percent surf the Internet; and 13.5 percent talk on their cell phones. I doubt anyone was particularly consoled by those numbers.

While Lipman’s article and the Goldberg-Pelcovitz survey dealt only with Modern Orthodox students, the phenomenon is by no means confined to that sector of the Orthodox population. A Bais Yaakov principal in a major urban center told me that at last year’s Bais Yaakov convention in Baltimore, one principal told him that he could name twenty girls in his community who text on Shabbos…..

The Shallows is also, in the words of Tufts Professor Maryanne Wolf, a sustained essay about the “loss of human capacity for contemplation and wisdom, in an epoch where both appear increasingly threatened.”

Rabbi Steven Pruzansky Being Really SmartPosted on February 28, 2014 | 11 Comments

      How should a shul respond if a member suddenly pulled out the Wall Street Journal (illustrious paper

that it is) during davening and began reading it? How would fellow members react if someone began

playing Scrabble during Chazarat Hashatz – assuming that the observer was himself not playing?

      The distractions during tefila (prayer) have certainly changed over the years. I remember when a

beeper was a novelty, but such was limited to potential medical emergencies. (Come to think of it, I

remember as a child seeing one fellow actually read a newspaper in shul, during the Torah reading!) As we all know, the scourge of today’s shul has long been the cell phone whose chimes, in many places, are regularly interspersed with the cadences of tefila. Many of the chimes are recognizable – generic,

factory-installed sounds; others are majestic (Beethoven’s Fifth), some are uplifting (Beethoven’s Sixth –

the Pastoral Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, or Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight Of The Bumblebee)

and some are inspirational and nationalistic (Hatikvah). But all, in the context of the davening are,

frankly, inappropriate and annoying.

      This problem transcends all boundaries – religions, denominations within Judaism, as well as within

Orthodoxy. Far be it from me to speculate as to where the challenge is worse – Shtiebel, shul , Young

Israel, ModO, etc.  It is pervasive. Fortunately, in our shul we have succeeded in eliminating this bane of

the modern mitpallel almost entirely through repeated reminders and gentle admonitions, such that the

occasional offender is almost always an unknowing guest or a visiting meshulach, or (rarely) a regular

who forgot he was carrying his phone with him. In fact, we encourage people to leave their phones at

home or in their cars, as they really have no acceptable use during davening.

           But fast forward to today’s smart phone that not only functions as a telephone but also as a siddur,

chumash, newspaper, joke book, encyclopedia, Scrabble game and window to the infinite world of

knowledge and nonsense. It does everything but daven for you, although I am sure that App is in the

works. How should we relate to this modern contrivance which has both sacred and profane uses?

Our Sages went to great lengths to ensure that we would be able to maintain kavana (concentration) during davening. Reciting words by rote and without attentiveness is compared

(by Rabbenu Bachye in Chovot Halevavot, Shaar Cheshbon Hanefesh, Chapter 3) to a “body without a

spirit.” It is lifeless.

Thus, the Shulchan Aruch (OC 90) notes that, if possible, we should daven facing a wall, with nothing or no one in front of us. We should never daven in back of someone wearing bold, bright-colored clothing – it is too distracting. The Rema adds that, for the same reason, we should not even

pray from a siddur that has pictures in it.

And not only that:  the Shulchan Aruch (OC 96) contains further admonitions: “When a person prays, he should not hold in his hand tefillin, nor a sefer from the holy books, nor a full plate, nor a knife, money or a loaf of bread, because in all those cases he is focused on not dropping them, and his concentration will be disturbed and nullified.” In the initial instance, this applies to the Shemoneh

Esrei (the classic tefila) but it is extended as well (by the Pri Megadim)  to Psukei D’Zimra and Shema,

so essentially it applies to the entire davening. These laws are rooted in the Talmudic discussion

(Masechet Berachot 23b) wherein Rashi states that all these activities “unsettle the mind.” The plate

might break or its contents spill, the knife might fall and impale your foot, money might be dropped and

lost, and a book will divert your attention. What should we hold in our hands? Nothing, except for

a siddur, if necessary.

Anything that can be diverted for other uses, or whose primary purpose is not tefila, cannot be held during the davening. Anything that is valuable such that its potential loss or breakage weighs on one’s mind also cannot be held during the davening. The Pri Megadim adds another cogent reason for

these limitations: it is not derech eretz (here meaning “courtesy” or “common decency”) to stand before

eminent people holding extraneous objects in one’s hand, and certainly not while talking to them. How

much reverent should we be standing before the King of Kings?

It is obvious that cell phones should be prohibited from all shuls. Phones are a means of communication

with the outside world – the very world that we try to shut out for a few minutes several times a day so

that we can concentrate on our relationship with the Creator. I have been left aghast in some shuls in

which people actually carried on conversations after they answered their ringing phones – and nothing

that was remotely life-threatening (just mundane business, and the like). Those whose jobs require

constant access to a telephone (e.g., the president’s military aide who carries the “football” containing the

codes that the president will need in order to authorize a nuclear attack on our enemies) are really exempt

from public prayer. Certainly, a doctor’s life-saving work is held in esteem, and most know to keep their

phones on “vibrate” so as not to disturb others. This is old news. But this is new. Several months ago

after discussing this topic in shul, I announced a ban (since then, thank G-d, strictly adhered to, for the

most part) on the use of smart-phones during tefilla. A smart-phone, for all its wonders, is actually a holy

book, a full plate, a knife, money, a loaf of bread – not to mention a telephone, a newspaper and a

Scrabble game – all in one. It is everything that Chazal prohibited – valuable, breakable and a fount of

distractions. Even if the phone element is turned off, the temptation is too great and the diversions are too

accessible. The email beeps, the texts ring – and worse – it is the intrusion of the outside world that we struggle to keep afar during tefilla…..

Source 1: Talmud Berachot 30b

Hasidim Harishonim would spend an hour before tefilah clearing their mind so that they could pray properly

Source 1b) Commentary of R. Ovadia MiBartenura אין עומדין. מתוך כובד ראש - הכנעה ומורא דכתיב (תהלים ב) עבדו את ה'

ביראה, ועבודה זו תפלה היא:

Source 2a): Devarim 27:9-10

ראל היום הזה gמע יש gכת וש gראל לאמר הס gם אל כל יש oי oו gים הל oהכהנ gדבר משה ו gויעם ליהוה אלהיך. gיית ל gה oנ

ך היום. gצו gי מ oאת חקיו אשר אנכ gו תו ו gצ oית את מ oעש gהוה אלהיך ו gקול י gת ב gשמע gו

27:9 Moses and the Levitical priests spoke to all Israel, saying: Pay attention and listen, Israel. Today you have become a nation to God your Lord.

27:10 You must therefore obey God your Lord and keep His commandments and decrees, as I am prescribing them to you today.

2b) R. Ovadia Seforno

הסכת. צייר במחשבתך כמו את סכות מלככם (עמוס ה, כו)::ושמע. והתבונן

Source 2c) Shem MiShemuel, Ki Tav

The actions of the hasidim harishonim are really required for everything we do, especially in the area of self-improvement. As such, we are given the month of Elul to properly prepare for the Yamim Noraim so that we enter it with the proper mindset

Source 3: Ohr Yehezkel, Elul Talks

The ideal is to always clear one's mind in preparation for tefillah. It's too difficult to spend so much time for each prayer, so we have a minimal preparation. However, for Rosh HaShanah, which is a once in a year event, we need to have the proper preparation to clear our minds and focus on the themes of the tefillot of Rosh HaShanah.

Source 4: Resisi Laila 36b

Tishri and Nissan are the two times in the year when we build up a warehouse of spiritual gains that sustain us in the month between. In order to do that, we need to be mentally prepared for these months and Elul serves that purpose

Source 5: Kol Menachem, Perashat Shoftim

If the world was created in Tishri, the thoughts to create the world took place in Elul. This is why Elul is considered ימי רצון.

Source 6: Talmud Rosh Hashana 34b

Source 7: Writings of the Saba of Kelm

Source 7: LeDavid…Sefer Tehilim 27

Source 8: Midrash Vayikra Rabba 21

Source 9: Netivot Shalom Rosh Hashana

Source 10: Rambam, Hilchot Teshuva 9: 1-2

נמצא פירוש כל אותן הברכות והקללות על דרך זו כלומר אם עבדתם את ה' בשמחה ושמרתם דרכו משפיע לכם הברכות האלו ומרחיק הקללות מכם עד שתהיו פנויים להתחכם בתורה ולעסוק בה כדי שתזכו לחיי העולם הבא וייטב

לך לעולם שכולו טוב ותאריך ימים לעולם שכולו ארוך ונמצאתם זוכין לשני העולמות לחיים טובים בעולם הזה המביאים לחיי העולם הבא שאם לא יקנה

פה חכמה ומעשים טובים אין לו במה יזכה שנאמר כי אין מעשה וחשבון ודעת וחכמה בשאול ואם עזבתם את ה' ושגיתם במאכל ובמשתה וזנות ודומה להם

מביא עליכם כל הקללות האלו ומסיר כל הברכות עד שיכלו ימיכם בבהלה ופחד ולא יהיה לכם לב פנוי ולא גוף שלם לעשות המצות כדי שתאבדו מחיי העולם

הבא ונמצא שאבדתם שני עולמות שבזמן שאדם טרוד בעולם הזה בחולי ובמלחמה ורעבון אינו מתעסק לא בחכמה ולא במצות שבהן זוכין לחיי העולם הבא. ומפני זה נתאוו כל ישראל נביאיהם וחכמיהם לימות המשיח כדי שינוחו ממלכיות שאינן מניחות להן לעסוק בתורה ובמצות כהוגן וימצאו להם מרגוע

וירבו בחכמה כדי שיזכו לחיי העולם הבא לפי שבאותן הימים תרבה הדעה והחכמה והאמת שנאמר כי מלאה הארץ דעה את ה' ונאמר ולא ילמדו איש את אחיו ואיש את רעהו ונאמר והסירותי את לב האבן מבשרכם מפני שאותו המלך

שיעמוד מזרע דוד בעל חכמה יהיה יתר משלמה ונביא גדול הוא קרוב למשה רבינו ולפיכך ילמד כל העם ויורה אותם דרך ה' ויבואו כל הגוים לשומעו שנאמר

והיה באחרית הימים נכון יהיה הר בית ה' בראש ההרים וסוף כל השכר כולו והטובה האחרונה שאין לה הפסק וגרעון הוא חיי העולם הבא אבל ימות המשיח הוא העולם הזה ועולם כמנהגו הולך אלא שהמלכות תחזור לישראל וכבר אמרו

חכמים הראשונים אין בין העולם הזה לימות המשיח אלא שיעבוד מלכיותבלבד.

When the Torah promises beracha for mitzvot and kelalah for aveirot, it is not reward and punishment in this world. Rather, HaShem encourages us to continue our ways. If we want to observe the Torah, HaShem will provide us a lifestyle that allows us to continue to do so by removing the obstacles that prevent us from serving HaShem. Rambam continues that this is why we long for the coming of Mashiach. It is a time when many of the distractions of life will be removed and we can focus on serving HaShem