This week the internet went crazy, and I mean crazy! WhatsApp, which is used by over one billion people, went down for two hours, and people were panicking.
We addicts rely on WhatsApp to communicate with absolutely everyone, but it is more than just a messaging app. It tells you when your friend is online, when your boss read your message, and it gives real time reports of when others are responding.
Now, I am in the inspiration business. It is my job to inspire Sarah to light Shabbat candles, to convince Mark to marry a Jew, to persuade Harry to send his son to Hebrew school, to inspire Michael to come to shul, to explain to Rebecca the importance and value of giving charity, and even to excite you about the Torah message you are reading right now.
What better medium to use than WhatsApp? When I send Jennifer a picture of a wounded soldier wearing tefillin, it is instant. It travels across the globe and I can see when she opened my message.
I also love WhatsApp when it comes to our Sunday morning minyan. I send a message out to my congregants “Can you make it to the minyan at 9am?” and WhatsApp will actually tell me who is still sleeping and who has woken up but is ignoring my message. It’s that good!
The reason it is so popular is because there is nothing like it. It’s free. You can communicate in groups, in chats, across the globe, with family, etc. Distance means nothing.
So, understandably, when it went down, the world freaked out.
But it got me thinking. Could there be a parallel here, to our relationship with G-d?
G-d is constantly online; His status is always set to ‘available’. He never goes to sleep. He always reads our messages. Send him a message from any country in the world, in any language, at any time, and He will receive it instantly. His Wi-Fi is constantly on.
Would you freak out if for two hours you thought you didn’t have a connection to G-d?
Can you (and I) become addicted to G-d?
Here’s an idea: This Friday evening, around sunset, join me and make yourself a G-d-imposed 25-hour WhatsApp outage. You might even enjoy it.
P.S. I hope you are reading this message on WhatsApp
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Uriel Vigler