Curbing an Appetite for Distraction in Zion. Parashat Hashaua with Sun and Sand , Guns and Bikinis

Every Saturday afternoon with good intentions of a brisk walk from Bat Yam to Rishon Le Zion alomg the wonderful Beeaches of Zion ......serious for the exercise and to contemplate Parashat Hasavuah read in Shul in my absence that seems to more in the Summer that Winter.but either way I am a lonhg, long way from a passing grade on Shul attendence... I tend to get distracted sometimes .... ok often ....on the walk that seldom traverses for than 2 kilometers of Zion..... distraction comes in many forms and shapes. Those on the Soviet Union in exile on Bat Yam's beach are worth getting distracted for.


Who does not like the rich melange that pours forth from social media? Hardly anyone I know of. I have gorged on it until I am round. It seems to be in our makeup to feast like this, but it is also in our interest to find ways to control our intake.


My build up to bringing all started innocently enough in the early 90's. I first accessed the Internet at a Conference  at Rhodes University in the December of 1987. The   internet then was still operated with a handle and a lot of patience a a good book was needed , and there was little to see on there other than some crackly, black and white government statistics. Occasionally out of this austere world someone would email a joke or funny picture. The ensuing email chatter might come and go or putter along for weeks before finally fading into silence.

When I interviewed the founder of a startup  for wanting to provide a proper platform for this kind of interaction in the mid 1990's I was oblivious of the potential of his idea. It did not seem breezy social interaction would matter much. It was just something to do while we waited for the internet to begin. He eloquently described what we now call social media and I thought it was a brilliant idea yet to face the test of the real world. Despite his vision his company wasn’t one of the ones to make it big. Three other of his startups did go to exits and he is now on his 7th ..... this a classic example of entrepreneurship in Zion's Start Up nation. In 2015 exits totaled $11.3 billion with a further $6,4 billion coming from the sale of now unrestricted shares and options.

I was enthusiastic about the idea, but also doubtful that people with real lives to lead and jobs to hold down would contribute enough to make such a platform viable. Might it not disolve into a slightly embarrassing silence? If it got anywhere, I thought, it would initially blossom and then run out of puff, like one of those spontaneous email chats. It would at best, I decided, go the way of  Voice of Peace,Shana Tova Letters , keeping strictly Glatt Kosher,Asimoniam ( the things with a whole in them ) that operated Bezek Phones,Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice and  Side Partings and haircuts that weren't works of art..

But back to Rashi on Parashat Hashavua in Zion ..... clambering over Coppertoned bronzed bodies in Zion.