Congregation Beth Shalom

New Years’ 2012
December 30, 2011

For Jews, Rosh Hashanah (Jewish new year) is a time to reflect on personal growth and accomplishment during the past year.  The secular calendar new year (January 1st) is a time to reflect on the events and happenings in the world we live.  In this spirit, here is what I think-there is too much noise!

Pico Iyer, in an opinion piece appearing in the New York Times, writes: “I noticed that those who part with $2,285 a night to stay in a cliff-top room at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur pay partly for the privilege of not having a TV in their rooms; the future of travel, I’m reliably told, lies in “black-hole  resorts,” which charge high prices precisely because you can’t get online in their rooms.”  She goes on to note, “In barely one generation we’ve moved from exulting in the time-saving devices that have so expanded our lives to trying to get away from them-often in order to make more time.”

Did you know?. . .the average American spends at least 8 1/2 hours a day in front of a screen. . .the average teenager sends or receives 75 text messages a day.  Couple these intrusions in our lives with the noise they produce.  Each morning I go to the gym.  In the “old days,” one could think about the day ahead (or the one just past) while riding a stationary bike, lifting weights, or using an exercise machine.  Today, it is necessary to work out in the presence of at least twenty television screens (each turned to a different channel) with background music from Lady Gaga and Metallica, then returning to the locker room for a shower, shave, and three TV screens of ESPN Sportscenter.  And then my day begins!  Not surprising is the growing number of people taking up Yoga.

Ms. Iyer has learned to deal with the increasing noise of daily life by going to a Benedictine hermitage several times a year.  She writes, “I don’t attend services when I’m there, and I’ve never meditated, there or anywhere; I just take walks and read and lose myself in the stillness.”  I try to do the same.  Each year I visit family and friends in the Pacific Northwest.  The trip from Los Angeles to Seattle is about 2 hours by air and 3 days by car.  I choose to drive.  Usually I drive alone.  Like Pico Iyer, I find the hours on the road calming, still, and reinvigorating.  I can think without the incessant intrusion of noise produced by the technology that promised, in the words of General Electric’s former slogan-“We Bring Good Things To Life.”  In 2003, G.E. decided to retire the slogan.  Interesting?!

I am by no means denying the importance of today’s technological advancements.  In more ways than not they have improved our lives and brought the world closer together.  At the same time, we have allowed them to intrude upon our sacred human identity.  Being human means being able to make choices; being able to set aside time to re-discover and re-invigorate our “self.” A few days alone in a car doesn’t do it.  Did I mention Shabbat (the Sabbath)?  A special day of “introspection, meditation, and Thou” each week.

My resolution for 2012-Less noise and more discovery!  Happy New Year!

Rabbi Howard Siegel