Antisocial Media, Lingering Distance, and the Healing Reunion of Joseph and His Brothers

The sad irony ( including the irony of posting about social media on social media…) of a social media driven society is its concurrent spike in antisocial behaviour.

Perhaps we should rename these platforms—“antisocial media?”

During Covid, we actually BECAME a society that practiced “social distancing” leading one to wonder if we remain trapped in an undetected dystopia— in which we remain residually tethered to an un-mandated, yet lingering, social distance?

Be that it as it may —the “silver lining” during “lockdown” was the re emergence of the healing and soothing power of the family— and its re-elevation to its appropriate pinnacle in society.

Many of those fortunate enough to re/taste that unexpected surge of sweetness in the midst of so much loss and uncertainty— have chosen to remain consciously and proactively tethered to the residual lingering warmth of that “imposed togetherness.”

That only the rapid collective acknowledgement of the healing power of family— matched the rapid spread of Covid, bears repeating.

I want to offer a prayer of comfort and hope to all who are suffering from the pain and brokenness of a shattered family—from this weeks Torah portion of Vayigash; one of the archetypal Biblical healing narratives. In the unlikely reunion of Joseph and his brothers, who had left him for dead, hope emerges for the reconciliation of even that which seemed most irreconcilable.

Shabbat Shalom,

Much Love,

Rabbi Yossi