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Rabbi Says Facebook and Twitter Creating Yom Kippur Cop-Outs
Yom Kippur, the Jewish holy day commonly known as the Day of Atonement, occurs on the 10th day of the Hebrew month Tishrei. To honor the occasion, which just happens to be today, followers typically fast and, in order to atone and repent, spend the week leading up to the holiday asking specific acquaintances for forgiveness for perceived wrongs.
According to the Detroit Free Press, at least one member of the Jewish clergy, Rabbi Jason Miller of Oak Park, Michigan, is asserting that the rise of social networking is diminishing the significance of repentance. He believes that people are using sites like Facebook and Twitter to issue mass, unspecific apologies in order to eliminate uncomfortable, individual personal interaction. Miller said that, in order to protect the true meaning of Yom Kippur, "There should be an effort, a little challenge to go up to another person and seek forgiveness, to admit our wrongdoing."
Incorporating technology into religious holidays and services is a hotly debated issue. Some groups welcome modern and creative ways of attracting new members, specifically young folks, while other religious leaders bemoan technological advances. Miller's comments, though, should cross all denominations. Some sentiments and feelings are best and most effectively expressed in person -- unless, of course, you're comfortable with your failures being eternally stored for public judgment. [From: Freep.com, via InterWeber]
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Comments
6
Subscribe to commentssteveSep 28th 2009 5:15PM
I gave up on jewish holidays 20 years ago.sorry. Oh and I hope the new twitter is working for ya :) @fabric2000
eimatSep 28th 2009 11:23PM
What if the alternative is not apologizing at all? If you don't have the guts to face the person - maybe they're way bigger than you, or maybe they're so mad at you they're no longer talking to you - certainly this is better than nothing, and might open the door to a more meaningful, face-to-face apology once everyone has cooled off.
(A written apology might be more personable... Does Hallmark make Yom Kippur cards?)
shanedieselblackSep 28th 2009 8:01PM
Who did BERNIE MADOFF apologize to, do you wonder? What about the LEHMAN BROTHERS? Who did they apologize to?
againsowhatSep 28th 2009 8:25PM
Madhoff is not religious and shows what happens when people reject G-d.
The Lehman brothers is the name of a large company and the origional brothers who must have started it may not have been involved with the company for many eyars before it's collapse.
Also all those Wall street problems were not solved by fgovernment interference anyway.
In fact it was government excessive regulation that CAUSED the problems, not "the Jews" as you are obviously implying.
Plees EetmeeSep 28th 2009 11:13PM
I think Jerry Seinfeld should apologize to us for that terrible sketch he did with Oprah Winfrey on Jay Leno's new show.
Rabbi Jason MillerSep 30th 2009 2:46PM
As the rabbi who delivered the sermon about asking forgiveness via social media sites like Twitter and Facebook allow me to further explain my point and respond to a couple of the comments above.
First, I have no issue with individuals reaching out to those they have offended or hurt during the past year using forms of non-face-to-face communication (telephone, snail mail, FAX, email, text messaging, Facebook, Twitter, Pony Express, etc. What I take exception with is using these social media sites to send out a mass message to everyone you're connected to asking for their forgiveness.
That strikes me as missing the point of the Jewish "High Holy Days" (a.k.a., "The Days of Awe"). One should communicate directly with the other individual. Performing repentance (the Hebrew: "teshuvah") by updating your Facebook status update or tweeting on Twitter to everyone you know is akin to asking forgiveness on a highway billboard. As the Jewish teaching goes "tafasta meruba lo tafasta" - When you try to grab too much, you grab nothing at all. That is, when you try to ask forgiveness from everyone at once, you actually don't perform repentance at all. Repentance should be a challenge and a highly personal endeavor.
Eimat: If you're afraid of the individual from whom you seek forgiveness, try calling them on the phone or sending them a carefully written email message.
Shanedieselblack: Madoff is an interesting case. According to Maimonides, one has to be in the position to commit the same sin already committed and consciously choose not to err again. Madoff will likely be behind bars for the remainder of his life so he will not be able to perform Maimonides' idea of repentance. He could (and should) be allowed to meet face-to-face with each of the individuals whose financial lives he ruined and ask for their forgiveness. If you mention Madoff and "the Lehmann Brothers" because of their Jewish roots, I think you are stereotyping and acting bigoted. Many people of Jewish heritage were very negatively effected by the Madoff scandal including the Holocaust survivor and humanitarian Elie Wiesel.
Regarding comment #5, I would strongly advise against watching Jay Leno. He's not funny. Try Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, or Conan for laughs instead.