Farewell, Facebook!

The force of evil in the world knows that we are only a generation away, if not sooner, until we will see the Holy Temple built with the coming of Mashiach. In that respect the evil inclination is using every force it has to fully thwart us as a nation from organizing, uniting and getting closer to Hashem. It’s especially attacking our kids. Facebook, twitter, iPhones are all wonderful devices when used properly, but they more often than not carry with them the harmful threat of distracting us from our true purpose. Wasting time on silly games, or making ourselves try to look perfect and that we have it all together on your Facebook page deters us from really focusing on our unique and inherent purpose. We worry about how we look, and which pictures to put up but forget about what’s really important.

Social media is not reality and it consumes a lot of time and can at times lead to a feeling of emptiness and lack of self-worth. Not to mention how it attacks our kids with the fad of cyber bullying and porn addiction. Unfortunately this is the reality of our youth today. The sad part is that disconnecting from all these devices is seen as being ‘uncool.’ OK the enemy is extremely strong, and we need to muscle up to fight the darkness and bring the light. But how?

People ask me, where did you get the strength to move to Israel and do the IDF, you didn’t know the language, you were older than the other soldiers, you did difficult things…? The answer is that I got rid of my Facebook page and that enabled the focus to do what I thought Hashem wanted me to do and not try to look cool for anyone. Instead of focusing on what other people think if I wear a kippa or learn Torah, I cared about what my G-d cared about: making it in the land of Israel and being focused on my mission.

For us as parents to educate our kids about Israel in its most organic way we need to teach them Emuna.

What is Emuna? Simple Faith…

That everything is from God. That everything is for the best and that there is a reason for everything. We need to teach them that they are unique, and encourage them and show them how strong they can be if they just focus. We need to enhance our efforts to be a good example of living our Emuna and giving our kids a positive atmosphere in the house that builds communication and trust. In addition we need to ensure that they know that Hashem wants to hear their own unique prayers and cherishes each of them.

We have to understand that Hashem didn’t just bring the Jewish people back to Israel so that they’ll have a Birthright organization for college kids to enjoy and a killer IDF. Hashem Himself has a plan for our people to one day again return the light to the world in a manner that will help humanity on all scales – environmentally, politically, economically and most importantly spiritually. That is the entire idea of the Holy Temple, to bring world peace – whereby adherence to the Torah actualizes the potential of all mankind. It is an expression, the complete expression of our faith in the Torah that we received at Mount Sinai.

But to get there takes a lot of pain and prioritizing what’s important.  Our mission is to bring the Holy Temple through peace for the benefit of all people. You need to first live this before you give it over to your children. We need to realize that there are only a few million Jews in the world, and only a small number of them are today believing in this reality for the future of Israel. That being said, as Jews we account for .10% of the entire world. If you are internalizing these words then you account for maybe .04%. That is something to be extremely proud of, that’s what we want our children to feel.

Before Yom Kippur, let’s minimize any use of social media so we can focus on our true mission in life, getting stronger in Emuna, and being a true light for the world. Let’s set the tone for our kids and change our habits before we lecture. Only by example and lots of prayers will we succeed in influencing them. Wishing you tremendous success for a New Year. May you have harmony within your home and merit seeing your family walk always in the path of Hashem, amen!