Unless you've been on an internet cleanse this week, you must have heard all about the new game, Pokémon Go, which has taken the world by storm. It's been downloaded more than 10 million times since its launch on July 7, which means that in just one week, it has almost as many users as Uber!
The game is based on augmented reality, but unlike other games which are usually played while sedentary, Pokémon Go requires the player to physically move around, exploring different locations in an attempt to find and capture virtual creatures called Pokémon. The hunt is on!
To me, the game is nothing new. As Jews, we have been playing a version of Pokémon Go for thousands of years.
According to Kabbalah, the world that we live in is "augmented." The world that we see is not the real world. There is a deeper spiritual reality hidden in the world, which will only be revealed with the coming of Moshiach.
For example, we see a delicious steak sitting on a plate, just waiting for us to bite into and enjoy. But in that steak is a spark of G-dliness for us to "capture”. How can we do that? By making a blessing before we eat it, and then using the energy the steak gives us to do something holy.
Likewise, when we see a $100 bill, what we don't see is the powerful spark of G-dliness hidden within that will be "captured" as soon as we give 10% to charity.
The same way virtual Pokémon are all around you, so are these Divine sparks. And just like Pokémon Go requires the player to go outside and visit different locations, our job is to go outside, find and capture these Divine sparks wherever they may be.
Pokémon Go brings people together—it directs people to communal "Pokéstops" and makes strangers team up and talk to each other. So does Torah. Our "Pokéstops" are shuls, Chabad houses, and learning centers where we gather to study and better ourselves.
In Pokémon Go, players can climb the ranks and become trainers by catching more Pokémons. Likewise, we are all trainers. The Lubavitcher Rebbe taught, "If you know an aleph, teach an aleph." It's our job to teach others any Torah we study, or mitzvos we know, even if we don't feel like experts.
Pokémon Go continues to play as long as your battery is running. It's constant. Likewise, from the moment a girl turns 12 and a boy turns 13, we are on the go, searching out Divine sparks to capture and elevate. And like the game's slogan, our goal is to "Catch 'em all!"
The game only ends when the player "dies" and that's when the score card is revealed. When we die, and our souls return to Heaven, we will finally be able to see how many Divine sparks we caught during our lifetime. As long as we're here, in the physical world, our job is to go out and accumulate as many as possible.
A large part of the Pokémon Go thrill is the social media sharing and competitiveness. It's something to post about, tweet about, share and compare with others. Players feed off one another, trying to outdo each other.
While we are not in competition with each other, by posting and sharing when we do a mitzvah, perhaps we can inspire and motivate others to spread Torah, do more mitzvos and help one another. By working together, we can collect more sparks and hasten the coming of Moshiach.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Uriel Vigler