Live Life, But Not Through a Computer Screen

D’var Torah

By Avi Eisen
Montclair State University

"Pharaoh said to Jacob, ‘How many are the days of the years of your life?’ Jacob said to Pharaoh, ‘The days of the years of my sojourns have been a hundred thirty years. Few and bad have been the days of the years of my life, and they have not reached the life spans of my forefathers in the days of their sojourns.’" (Bereishit 47:8-47:9)

Huh? How many are the days of the years? Why didn’t Pharaoh just ask Yaakov how old he was? It could be a grammatical mistake. Or, perhaps he is asking something different? The Midrash suggests that Pharaoh is not asking, "How long have you lived?" but "How many days have you actually embraced life to the fullest?" Yaakov answers by saying he is 130 years old, but the days of his life have been few and bad.

Pharaoh and Yaakov are both intelligent enough to distinguish being alive and living a life. Being alive means breathing air and having brain activity. Living is interacting with the world around you, helping people, using your skills and ideas for the betterment of society. It also means bettering yourself, going out, having fun, experiencing all the joys and opportunities life has to offer. Yaakov, while having been alive for many years, did not seize all of the opportunities before him as his forefathers had.

America has become more individualistic and more enclosed. We can use our computers for just about anything; communication, work, play, information. People work from home using email to reach their co-workers and superiors. They communicate with them by telephone, voice-over Internet and through Instant Messaging applications. All the work can be done from home, with no need to enter the outside world. There’s no reason to meet new people or associate with others in person.

My personal favorite: Online Dating. Forty percent of the American public finds dates online. You can go online and view a profile which someone has created: words on a screen, accompanied by a picture of a stranger. You talk with these people via email and chat programs. All of this while confined to a chair in front of a screen, viewing words without seeing the soul that was put into them, with no knowledge of the intent of the person who wrote them. All one does is trust what someone has written about themself and a picture of someone you have never met.

Life is about going out of the confines of all the walled places and experiencing life outside. Instead of buying something from the Internet, go to the store. Instead of playing an online shooting game, play laser tag, paintball or go to a shooting range. Instead of watching TV at home, go see a movie with friends. Instead of talking to people from home, go meet them for coffee. Instead of sitting in a chair in front of a computer reading what someone thinks of themself, go out and see what the person is really like and do something with them.

Yaakov said that the days of his life were few and bad because he spent most of them mourning for the death of his son Yosef without moving on. The days of our lives should be fulfilling and seen through our own eyes, not through the display of a screen. "How many are the days of the years of your life?" The years are defined by how long we’ve been alive. The days are how many of them have been fulfilling, experiencing life to the fullest.

Avi Eisen is a sophomore at Montclair State University, leaning toward a major in education. He has been to Israel four times, one time to learn Hebrew in a Kibbutz environment for five months. Avi has also been on staff at Ramah Berkshires for the past three summers, and works as an assistant to the advisor of two Kadima and USY chapters in Northern Jersey. Avi has written short essays regarding Conservative Judaism for the Shefa Conservative Activist Network. He also enjoys theater, both being involved in the production and being in the audience.

[Posted 11/30/05]