Sunday, January 13, 2013

CLD #786



Motzei Shabbat's CLD:
Our life cycle is usually (and hopefully with the help of Hashem) as follows: birth-education-marriage-parents-grandparents-olam haba. Just like the system of education, where in different grades children learn different and more/less advanced concepts and subjects, so too with life. Our generation’s strongest challenge that is aiming at children is pornography and the internet. Did you know that 80% of children ages 8-12 search for pornographic content on the internet (heard this statistic from a Rabbi in a Torah class)?

The internet is not a harmful place if an individual knows how and when to use it in life. The largest issue for educators and parents in general today is how to parent and educate their children. Due to mobile devices that house the internet, the ability to search thousands of articles and websites does exist. This causes a child to enter places that should not be viewed at a certain age. For example, if a child watches a movie that is listed as ‘comedy’ and includes a funny skit about adultery (because the film industry can make adultery funny when in facts it’s a serious issue) they have this notion of comedy and adultery in their mind. The movie is educating them for future decisions.

This is a concept we need to grasp and apply for our lives: there are certain things that are given over to the next generation at different times. However, this concept has been breached. A child today has access to the most violent videos and the most gruesome places where they can literally harm their lives. It is known in the news that children ages 7 and 11 obtain real guns and hold up adults. It is known in the news of children that put their parents into prison because they complain. Maybe the government is giving the next generation too much control?

Where is the justice? Where is the balance? Where are the limits? The Torah HaKedosha and the knowledge that Hashem gave our Hachamim (Sages) who teach us the way of balance and limits is the TRUTH and the only TRUTH. Hashem gave down the Torah to us so we can be civil, so we can find balance in our lives and so we can live a life of happiness and serenity. A minor example is the stringency behind not having a television in religious homes. Why is that? Take five minutes to watch the commercials between your favorite TV show. I can guarantee that a single commercial has something to do with sexual behavior, whether it’s a woman who can’t afford to buy clothing or any other behavior or something to do with violence or immodesty in general.

The Torah promotes limits because Hashem created our human nature with desires that can only be controlled through the power of the Torah as it says in Masechet Kiddushin Barati Yetzer Hara VeBarati Lo Torah Tavlin (I created the Evil Inclination and I created the Torah as its remedy). Everything goes after the beginning, may we have a successful Hodesh Shevat (which has the rashei tevot, the acronym of SheNireh Besorot Tovot, may we see and hear only semahot)!

Shavua Tov!

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