Menachem Bluming Muses: Your iPhone

The utopian Garden of Eden came crashing down because Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit. What was it about this fruit that they could not withstand? 

This is how the Torah describes it in chapter 4 of Genesis: “The tree was good for food and it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise.” Very interesting description for a fruit!

So here is my 2021 perspective, after all the Torah is eternal and its message is as pertinent in our time as it was back then.

Our very risky fruit is the iPhone... I certainly don’t mean to offend the iPhone whom I love and depend on... I mean all smart phones. They are a delight for our eyes. Our eyes light up when we get a new text, a new email, a new like on a Facebook post etc. They are desirable to us they are exciting and they make us wise, it can be so enjoyable.

Yet it can also be dangerous.... G-d turns to Adam and says where are you and he says I was hiding... Yup, his smart phone has started to take over his life and he is hiding from his life to escape into the virtual world. He is no longer at the dinner table and no longer interacts with family because he is too busy on his phone... where are you Adam?!

iPhones are a great blessing if they do not consume us. Yes there is great wisdom and great delight on our smartphones but once they become a forbidden fruit they can destroy the Garden of Eden of our lives.

Mendel Bluming, Maryland 

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