The iPhone, and the Terrorists From Gaza

Growing up in the aftermath of the Holocaust, many of us were tempted to fantasize about how things would have turned out differently if only conditions had been a bit more favorable. Indulging in the “if only” train of thought is how we seek to protect ourselves from the harsh realities of what is.

 Many of us also experienced the natural tendency to explain why things are different now and the Holocaust can never happen to us, not here and not now.

Take the ubiquity of the smartphone.

I’ve often imagined that if someone had an iPhone back in 1942 and snuck over the barbed wire into Auschwitz and took photos and videos and even live-streamed the atrocities, surely everything would come screeching to a halt. All they’d need to do is press THE button and the killing would surely be stopped. The ovens would go cold, and the prisoners would be released. There would be global pressure to stop it. Evil would be busted and innocent Jewish lives would be saved.

In conceiving the smartphone, Steve Jobs envisioned a device that would do two previously unimaginable things:

1. Connect the entire world in real-time
2. Be available to all, not just the elite

And he succeeded!

Technological advances have surely saved us from the horrors of the past and sent us on the trajectory toward Moshiach, we tell ourselves.

 After all, Maimonides (Rambam) tells us that one of the signs of Moshiach’s arrival is that “material things will be as available as dust.” The smartphone is made from sand (think silicon)
and it’s priced for the masses. Thank G-d for the smartphone.
 
Not so fast. 

Sadly, on October 7, 2023, it’s become crystal clear this is not so.

Hamas, the modern iteration of Amalek/Hitler slaughtered over 1,400 Jews within Israel’s borders and actually used smartphones to share it proudly and aggressively with the entire world.

And instead of being outraged by what they saw, all too many people cheered and forwarded with glee. Instead of arresting the spread of evil, technology has become its tool.

Counterintuitive, huh?

What does this mean for humanity? I am not sure, and it’s still playing itself out.

But I do feel disabused of my old notion that if only there was an iPhone at Auschwitz/Birkenau… innocent Jewish lives would’ve been saved.

So the smartphone will not save us.

But what will? What exactly does Divine Assistance look like? How is Help from The One Above triggered?

For one thing, we must pour our hearts out in prayer together. Increase our personal efforts of learning Torah (G-d’s owner’s manual for ourselves and our world), doing more mitzvot (His way of making the world a better place), and be kinder to each other.

 And maybe, just maybe, we will come to know Who and What is in charge, even if it’s not Steven Job’s incredible invention.

May we share good news soon.

Shabbat Shalom and Chodesh Tov,
Rabbi Yoseph Geisinsky