Jewish Life Digital Edition October 2015 | Seite 5

FROM THE TEAM FROM THE EDITOR PHOTOGRAPH: SUPPLIED O WWW.JEWISHLIFE.CO.ZA WELCOME CREDITS PUBLISHER & MANAGING DIRECTOR ur teens are growing up in a world unlike anything previously witnessed. Martyn Samuels Authorities struggle to find a name for this generation, suggesting things like [email protected] ‘the selfie generation’ and ‘the social media generation’, but more accurate EDITOR monikers might be ‘the passive generation’ or ‘the consumer generation’. For years, Robert Sussman parents have been cautioned about turning their television sets into ‘babysitters’ [email protected] and the harm that would be done to children’s brains as a result of hour after hour OPERATIONS DIRECTOR Linda Superfain of mindless passivity. Nowadays, with every form of entertainment imaginable [email protected] instantly available at the touch of a finger, people are increasingly cutting the ART DIRECTOR cords to their televisions. Who needs such a limited, single-function device when Rizelle Hartmeier the ‘babysitter’ is now wireless, completely portable and pocket-sized, and able to [email protected] go anywhere and do everything? The problem is that these ‘babysitters’ work a little too well, as FEATURES WRITER even parents have a hard time being without the constant stimulus they provide, leaving them Chandrea Serebro within arm’s reach at the dinner table and even showing them preference in the presence of real, COPY EDITOR/PROOFREADER Heidi Hurwitz live human beings. This has actually garnered a name: ‘phubbing’ – short for ‘phone snubbing’ PHOTOGRAPHER (which is being considered for inclusion in the next Oxford English Dictionary)! Ilan Ossendryver The changes that have come to society with this silent, passive, spiritually-destructive revolution are [email protected] palpable. Sit back, tune in, and turn off. Do as little work as possible and retire from that work as early DIGITAL MANAGER as possible; minimise effort, maximise gain. Seek fame (or, to be more precise, infamy, since people are David Blumenau now famous for having done nothing other than having succeeded in gaining the world’s attention, [email protected] after which they desperately try to hang on to that attention at any cost in the hope of achieving the CONTRIBUTORS ultimate sign of success: one’s very own reality show), fortune, physical pleasure and physical beauty. Alan Bender, Leonard Carr, Rachel Falkson, Bev Goldman, Rabbi Yossy Goldman, Wendy Kahn, Flaunt whatever you’ve got so you can achieve the coveted status of being deemed desirable and Serenne Kaplan, Rabbi Ze’ev Kraines, Tiferet Maayanot, envied, of having your words, pictures and videos go ‘viral’, consumed and shared around the world by Dr Jonathan Moch, Shirra Moch, Ilan Preskovsky, Liz complete strangers. Everyone must now brand and market himself. Look how talented I am! Look how Samuels, Rabbi Ari Shishler, Michelle Vinokur beautiful I am! Look how smart I am! Look at how successful I am! Look at how much fun I’m having! Printers Paarlmedia kzn Look at what I ate for breakfast! #dontyouwishyouwereme #arentiawesome Distribution The irony is that, in an age of instantaneous and constant communication, there’s so little that’s Neil Jacobson, Mel Levitt actually worth talking about. JEWISH LIFE is published by Total Publishing It’s a world that stands entirely at odds with the timeless values of the Torah. Is it any wonder that (Pty) Ltd ©2008. activities like shul attendance and participation are in an alarming