Let's look at what's going on with the media in all its forms & view it from a Torah outlook.
Since the onset of covid-19 around a year ago, Rav Itamar Schwartz of Bilvavi repeatedly emphasizes the need to separate from anything that is not authentically Jewish (i.e. anything not based on Torah).
This does not mean just a physical separation, but an emotional, spiritual, and psychological separation.
This "spiritual distancing" also remained an ongoing theme with Rav Avigdor Miller throughout his life; he consistently noted sources to support this as a primary Torah ideal.
At the same time, both rabbis acknowledge how complex & challenging it is to do this.
So they give us the goal and the path to that goal, but at the same time, they also expresses sympathy with the difficulty, encouraging us with baby steps and also paying attention to our unique soul needs.
Since the onset of covid-19 around a year ago, Rav Itamar Schwartz of Bilvavi repeatedly emphasizes the need to separate from anything that is not authentically Jewish (i.e. anything not based on Torah).
This does not mean just a physical separation, but an emotional, spiritual, and psychological separation.
This "spiritual distancing" also remained an ongoing theme with Rav Avigdor Miller throughout his life; he consistently noted sources to support this as a primary Torah ideal.
At the same time, both rabbis acknowledge how complex & challenging it is to do this.
So they give us the goal and the path to that goal, but at the same time, they also expresses sympathy with the difficulty, encouraging us with baby steps and also paying attention to our unique soul needs.
The Melting Media
Frankly, I feel far from this ideal. However, I've also made progress in this area, baruch Hashem.
It helps that nearly all media has turned into a one-track-minded golem of one type or another, an entity that cannot think beyond black-and-white and has shed any shred of integrity it once possibly had.
Even frum publications are becoming a drag to read, with their reliance on mainstream media for information.
(Meaning, one needs to suffer reading how the current freezing disaster of Texas results from "global warming" or global warming's alter-ego: "climate change," plus a lot of biased fear-mongering regarding covid-19, sympathetic reporting of the BLM movement & the violent criminal drug-addicted negligent father who died under a cop's knee, plus concerns about "compliance" in the frum community—without rational explanations of why this desired "compliance" is scientifically valid, and so on.)
So I haven't been reading the news so much lately, even the frum news.
With regard to Trump, the Left refused to engage in any objective reporting. They also displayed tremendous hypocrisy when they slammed Trump for engaging in behavior they themselves engage in.
But with literally a couple of exceptions (one being Ben Shapiro), the right also refused to view Trump with any objectivity.
So here we had:
One side viewed & portrayed him as evil incarnate while the other side viewed & portrayed him as the great savior possessed of only the loftiest intentions.
For a more balanced view of Trump's Presidency, please see the following:
https://hamodia.com/prime/navigating-national-meltdown-torah-guidance/
https://hamodia.com/prime/trump-media-truly-unbelievable-unbelievably-true/ (I mean specifically Samuel J. Abrams, who reflects a lot—though not all—of what I think too.)
And this increasing repellence in the media clearly results from Hashem, to help us disconnect from the media.
I'd say the same about the problems & ongoing revelations regarding social media—all these drawbacks help us disconnect. Whether that means to cancel one's account completely or to minimize usage, the annoyances & lack of ethics in social media helps us disconnect on some level.
I personally don't use any social media. If I did, I'm not sure if I would be able to stop. (Sort of like with Internet & email; once you've stepped into the web, it's nearly impossible to extricate yourself.)
So I'm not judging others for being on "Fakebook" or Twitter because I don't know if I myself would be able to extricate myself once already in...with gratitude to Rabbi Wallerstein who, via his shiurim on the topic, caught me right at the time of decision & convinced me not to even try out social media. But would I be able to stop once started? I honestly don't know.
(Just to clarify: There are good articles & beneficial material in the frum media. Many of the writers are good, sincere people. But there are problems too.)
It helps that nearly all media has turned into a one-track-minded golem of one type or another, an entity that cannot think beyond black-and-white and has shed any shred of integrity it once possibly had.
Even frum publications are becoming a drag to read, with their reliance on mainstream media for information.
(Meaning, one needs to suffer reading how the current freezing disaster of Texas results from "global warming" or global warming's alter-ego: "climate change," plus a lot of biased fear-mongering regarding covid-19, sympathetic reporting of the BLM movement & the violent criminal drug-addicted negligent father who died under a cop's knee, plus concerns about "compliance" in the frum community—without rational explanations of why this desired "compliance" is scientifically valid, and so on.)
So I haven't been reading the news so much lately, even the frum news.
With regard to Trump, the Left refused to engage in any objective reporting. They also displayed tremendous hypocrisy when they slammed Trump for engaging in behavior they themselves engage in.
But with literally a couple of exceptions (one being Ben Shapiro), the right also refused to view Trump with any objectivity.
So here we had:
One side viewed & portrayed him as evil incarnate while the other side viewed & portrayed him as the great savior possessed of only the loftiest intentions.
For a more balanced view of Trump's Presidency, please see the following:
https://hamodia.com/prime/navigating-national-meltdown-torah-guidance/
https://hamodia.com/prime/trump-media-truly-unbelievable-unbelievably-true/ (I mean specifically Samuel J. Abrams, who reflects a lot—though not all—of what I think too.)
And this increasing repellence in the media clearly results from Hashem, to help us disconnect from the media.
I'd say the same about the problems & ongoing revelations regarding social media—all these drawbacks help us disconnect. Whether that means to cancel one's account completely or to minimize usage, the annoyances & lack of ethics in social media helps us disconnect on some level.
I personally don't use any social media. If I did, I'm not sure if I would be able to stop. (Sort of like with Internet & email; once you've stepped into the web, it's nearly impossible to extricate yourself.)
So I'm not judging others for being on "Fakebook" or Twitter because I don't know if I myself would be able to extricate myself once already in...with gratitude to Rabbi Wallerstein who, via his shiurim on the topic, caught me right at the time of decision & convinced me not to even try out social media. But would I be able to stop once started? I honestly don't know.
(Just to clarify: There are good articles & beneficial material in the frum media. Many of the writers are good, sincere people. But there are problems too.)
Media Detracts from Your Individuality
Recently, I read how one of the European Torah Sages expressed his trepidation regarding the publishing of a frum newspaper to combat all the really awful brainwashing of secular Jewish media of the pre-WWII era.
He definitely saw the need for a frum newspaper, yet expressed regret how any newspaper harms one's individuality.
Even a frum newspaper impinges on one's individuality because it still affects independent thinking.
I wish so much I could remember where I read this! I'd like to quote it directly.
Nonetheless, the principle is easy to see.
We all see how we're influenced by articles, blogs, op-eds, video clips, and the whole package.
All this affects our emotions & our opinions.
He definitely saw the need for a frum newspaper, yet expressed regret how any newspaper harms one's individuality.
Even a frum newspaper impinges on one's individuality because it still affects independent thinking.
I wish so much I could remember where I read this! I'd like to quote it directly.
Nonetheless, the principle is easy to see.
We all see how we're influenced by articles, blogs, op-eds, video clips, and the whole package.
All this affects our emotions & our opinions.
Here is a PDF Q&A from Rav Itamar Schwartz's lectures on the media. Disclaimer: It is pretty strong & I'm not there yet either, but whatever you can take from it is very, very good. At the very least, people should be aware of this good hashkafah:
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.on.the.Media.pdf
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-voting-to-save-the-country/
(This is from 1980 & the U.S. is less decent than it was at that time, though certainly the media & entertainment industry still desperately tries to convince us that the average American is just as depraved as the industry is.)
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-how-to-become-a-baal-teshuva/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-common-sense/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-conservative-talk-radio/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-fake-news/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-the-danger-of-newspapers/
http://www.bilvavi.net/files/Bilvavi.on.the.Media.pdf
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-voting-to-save-the-country/
(This is from 1980 & the U.S. is less decent than it was at that time, though certainly the media & entertainment industry still desperately tries to convince us that the average American is just as depraved as the industry is.)
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-how-to-become-a-baal-teshuva/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-common-sense/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-conservative-talk-radio/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-fake-news/
torasavigdor.org/rav-avigdor-miller-on-the-danger-of-newspapers/
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