This week Facebook released a list of the most-discussed topics in 2014. With one billion members, Facebook is the largest discussion forum in the world. So before I read the results, I asked myself, “What do I think is most-discussed? What do people care about the most? What major events happened in 2014? The war in Iraq? ISIS? Ebola?The President?” I was hoping maybe some religion of spirituality might be on the list.
Well, first on the list was the World Cup. Soccer. I should have guessed! Then there were discussions about celebrities, with Beyonce in first place. Ebola was also high up on the list. These are things that were on people’s minds this year.
Facebook then sent every user individual highlights of their year, probably determined by which posts received the most engagement. Not to be outdone, Google also sent their users a timeline video.
All this got me thinking: what about our own recap of the year? Are we proud of the fact that we spent so much time discussing the World Cup, celebrities and movies we watched? What were out conversations like over the past year? We know that everything we say gets recorded, not by Mark Zuckerberg, but by the A-mighty G-d. If we were able to see a timeline of all the conversations we’ve had over 2014, would we be proud of the results?
In the Shema prayer, which we read twice a day, G-d tells us what he would like to see us discussing: “And these words which I command you today shall be upon your heart. You shall teach them thoroughly to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you rise.”
G-d wants us to engage in discussion about Torah at all times. Whenever we have a free moment, we should be thinking and talking about something meaningful, something Divine.
Now, I’m not suggesting that every Facebook user only ever post Torah thoughts, but perhaps it would be wise to begin each day by sharing something meaningful. Post something spiritual, something G-dly, and who knows? Perhaps it will catch on and feature as one of the highlights in 2015!