While thousands celebrate Shabbat UK this weekend, many frum teenagers will be texting their friends on Saturday. "Half-Shabbos", as it's called, is widespread and reflects the reality of how many young observant Jews today balance keeping Shabbat with their constant need to stay in touch via social media.
In response to this problem, a group of religious IT entrepreneurs have just come up with Shabbos App, which enables you to use your smartphone on Shabbat without contravening halachah (Jewish law). If the crowdfunding on Kickstarter goes to plan, then it will be available from January.
They have found solutions to the halachic challenges of typing-writing, screen illumination, sound generation and battery drainage and charging. Although the evolution of the banning of electricity on Shabbat is surprisingly unstraightforward (look up the debate between the Chazon Ish and Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach), I have no doubt that all major halachic authorities will come out against this, except for use in emergency situations. However, the real issue will be how many people, despite their rabbis, will download this new app, open it weekly and feel a bit less guilty about their Shabbat phone habits.
Meanwhile, there is a new movement among tech-savvy North American Jews, who are not particularly religious, to switch off their phones and tablets on Shabbat. In a bid to "slow down lives in an increasing hectic world", they have come up with a Sabbath Manifesto, whose first of ten principles is to "avoid technology". They promote an annual National Day of Unplugging (next one is 6-7 March 2015) to stimulate the weekly habit of a tech-free Shabbat.
We are, to be sure, a diverse people. I think, though, that these contrary responses to the rapid advances in IT expose a deeper underlying issue. What, at its very core, is the nature of Shabbat? Simply put, do we honour Shabbat by adhering to its rules and regulations or by feeling a sense of specialness and holiness?
But that's a false dichotomy. The observance of a mass of intricate laws which our sages derived from just a few Torah verses, freely admitting that they were "mountains hanging by a hair" (Mishnah Chagigah 1:8), is actually the route to an alternative lifestyle. A plethora of prohibitions is what enables a deeper focus on relationships (eating and spending time together), an appreciation of our existence and origin (praying and singing together) and a chance to pursue meaning and life purpose (learning and studying together). As we recite in the Shabbat Musaph prayer, shomrei Shabbat v'korei oneg, "those who observe Shabbat and thereby declare it a true delight".
One midrash that guides my Shabbat experience teaches that the day should be a shevut mimachshevet avodah, "a cessation of any thought of work" (Mechilta on Exodus 20:9). Our weekly concerns, obligations and deadlines must fade away as we enter Shabbat. I achieve this by switching off my phone. The physical act of disconnecting is the catalyst for dispelling work from my mind. The Shabbos App might circumvent the letter of the law but it plays havoc with its spirit.
Then again, most people now hold both their professional and social diaries on their phones, so maybe keeping your phone on can enrich social interaction and networking which is surely a key element of Shabbat. Still, I have three major concerns about this in practice.
One, it would be quite a challenge to only look at Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, and avoid even a peak at work emails, Linked-in and business promotions. Self-regulation is much easier when it involves switching off rather than scrolling down. Two, what makes Shabbat work for me is that it is uninterruptable. Shabbat prayers, meals and conversations can be savoured because they are not interjected by beeps, pings and vibrations from my pocket. Restaurants today are increasingly banning the use of mobile phones to enable customer conversations to flourish. Of course this also leads to the purchase of more food and drink, but that's part and parcel of intense socialising.
Three, FOMO is a real problem. "Fear Of Missing Out" is the deep anxiety of not keeping up with everything on your social media apps. Commenting and liking can become a regular habit, page refreshing can become an obsession and the whole engagement with your phone can become a worrying addiction. Switching off forces communication with those in your immediate space, not in cyberspace.
"Remember you were slaves in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God brought you out of there with a strong hand… and commanded you to observe the Shabbat day" (Deuteronomy 5:14). Shabbat stops us from becoming slaves to our smartphones. We submit to God's hand by letting go of our hand-held devices.
