Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El

There's a wonderful Midrash that I think about during each High Holyday season.  The Rabbis look at the term for the Day of Repentance, Yom Kippurim, and with some creative interpretation, and changing the punctuation, they read it as "a day like Purim."   Why is it like Purim?  Because on Purim we wear masks to hide our true selves, while on Yom Kippur we take off our masks, in order to reveal our true identity, our humanity with all its flaws and failures.  We may not wear masks bought in a costume store, but in today's technological age, we don the trappings of technology to either consciously or unconsciously hide our inner souls. 

On our computers, we can e-mail anyone anywhere in the world at any time; but we're still just as lonely.  What happens to the human connection, the relationships?  We avidly watch any number of reality shows on television, being drawn into the "daily lives" of people known to us through the screen, but we ignore the most important reality show of all ... ourselves and our loved ones. 

We are increasingly connecting with the world through computer screens, and that includes our inner world as well.   Instantaneous communication does not necessarily mean better; it's just faster, and often not as deep.  Texting has replaced speaking on the cell phone, even decreasing more the social interaction between two individuals.  Mars Hill Church in Seattle, one of the nation's mega-churches, has a sign in the lobby asking people to turn on their cell phones in order to Twitter during the sermon; is the immediate reaction always better than the more thought-out response?  We may hide, lurking in a chat room of our soul, or watching a reality tv show from afar.  We may meet up with "friends" on Facebook, but we're limited to the number 5,000; can anyone really have that many "friends"?  Online social networking is growing by leaps and bounds; but does it really allow for a greater sense of connectedness, or is the quality of interaction being diminished without the emotional and sometimes heart-rending give-and-take of real face-to-face contact?

This is the season when we should think about our true inner selves, revealed in all their vulnerability to us and to God.  It is when we judge ourselves.   Yes, our Machzor speaks of God looking at our deeds, weighing them in a digitized balance scale that measures our morals, our ethics, our values.  Most of us understand that image metaphorically.  But even so, there is no amnesty for us on Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. 

Please don't get me wrong.  I'm not a Luddite; I'm "writing" this on a PC with a relatively new version of Word.  And even though Eve tempted Adam with an apple, and we are still living with the results of that impulsive sin, I don't believe Steve Jobs' Apple heralded anything negative for humanity.  On the contrary, it has liberated us and benefited us in so many ways.  But it is far from perfect.  It would do us all well if during the coming season of reflection and inner accounting, we let go a bit of the media and the technology that are guiding our lives, so that we can ask the really important questions ... Who are we?  Where are we going?  How shall we approach our future? For when all is said and done, as we confront our soul and our God, stripped of all our accoutrements, we stand in judgment over ourselves, and we do not pass muster unscathed.    

May we all be inscribed for a happy and a healthy year!