Your Voice in Their World
A Familiar Moment You, a young married man: do you know this moment? You open your phone. Five minutes, ten minutes. And you come out of it feeling smaller than when you went in. You saw other people’s “successes.” You saw the happy faces, the trips, the “thank Hashem, business is booming.” And right away that inner voice rises up: “What strength do I have? What strength did my fathers ever have? What am I even able to do?” This is the shrunken, narrow state of mind of our generation. It is not a new evil inclination, the inner voice that pulls us toward wrong. It is the same old one, but in new clothing: sharper and faster. At first glance, it seems clear who is to blame: the device. It is the phone that makes you feel you count for nothing. But wait. There is something precise here, and we must stop and look at it. What Really Happened Think simply about what took place. An ordinary person wrote one sentence. Not a leader, not a rabbi, not a king. He posted one picture. And you changed how you feel about your whole life because of that post. You, a man of Torah study, or a working man, a person who knows himself. That is not proof of your weakness. It is proof of how strong he was. One ordinary person had the power to reach into your inner world and move you. He needed no permission and no preparation. The Bible says: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” In past generations, people explained this as speaking about preachers and traveling speakers. Today we must add: death and life are also in the power of the finger that types. The Turnaround And here is the new idea. Listen. The power you saw in others does not belong to them. It belongs to the medium, to the tool. And that same tool is in your pocket too. In other words, the influence you feel from others is the strongest proof of the power of influence you have over them. You don’t need proof from outside. This is proof from experience: this is how one person’s voice works on another person’s world. You already know it yourself, because you went through it. You learn it from yourself, about yourself. So the question is no longer “Do I have the power to influence?” You have already answered that question yourself. The question that remains is: “For what?” In the Light of Hasidic Teaching Maimonides, the great medieval sage, writes in his laws of returning to Hashem that a person should say to himself: “It is as if half the world is innocent and half is guilty. If I do one good deed, I tip myself and the whole world toward the good.” One post, one honest sentence, can stop a person from giving up on himself. That is truly tipping a world. In past generations, the power of spiritual influence was held in few hands. There were preachers and public sermons. The “broadcasting,” so to speak, was in the hands of a few. But Hashem guides every detail, and He has given our generation a completely different reality: every single person is a broadcasting station. Everyone can be a flowing spring. The holy Baal Shem Tov, founder of the Hasidic movement, taught this on the verse “Let your wellsprings spread outward.” He taught that it was not said only about the righteous. Every Jewish soul has an inner spring that is meant to spread outward. The phone is not only a window into other people’s worlds. It is your voice in their world. As the prophet says about the voice: “Call out with your throat, do not hold back; raise your voice like a ram’s horn.” That means your own voice, not someone else’s. Closing So the next time you open your phone and feel that same feeling, stop for a moment. You know the feeling: a shrunken mind, feeling worth nothing, “What am I next to everyone else?” And remember: what you are feeling right now is exactly what one of your posts can do to someone else, but in reverse. It can make him feel alive. It can remind him that he is not alone. It can tip his whole world.
Putting It into Practice
This week, share one post, one sentence, one melody, one short Torah thought. Do it not because you have a few thousand followers. Do it because it is written, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Do it because “All Jews are responsible for one another.” And do it because this tool was placed in your hand from Heaven. It was not given to you so you would feel small next to it. It was given to you so you would use it. The question is no longer whether you have a voice. The question is: what are you announcing?
Questions and answers
Q: Why do I feel smaller after scrolling through other people’s successes on my phone?
Rabbi Landau answers: You, a young married man: do you know this moment? You open your phone. Five minutes, ten minutes. And you come out of it feeling smaller than when you went in. You saw other people’s “successes.” You saw the happy faces, the trips, the “thank Hashem, business is booming.” And right away that inner voice rises up: “What strength do I have? What strength did my fathers ever have? What am I even able to do?” This is the shrunken, narrow state of mind of our generation. It is not a new evil inclination, the inner voice that pulls us toward wrong. It is the same old one, but in new clothing: sharper and faster. At first glance, it seems clear who is to blame: the device.
Q: Why should one post by an ordinary person change how a man of Torah feels about his life?
Rabbi Landau answers: Think simply about what took place. An ordinary person wrote one sentence. Not a leader, not a rabbi, not a king. He posted one picture. And you changed how you feel about your whole life because of that post. You, a man of Torah study, or a working man, a person who knows himself. That is not proof of your weakness. It is proof of how strong he was. One ordinary person had the power to reach into your inner world and move you. He needed no permission and no preparation. The Bible says: “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” In past generations, people explained this as speaking about preachers and traveling speakers.
Q: What does Maimonides’ teaching that one good deed can tip the whole world teach about what we share?
Rabbi Landau answers: Maimonides, the great medieval sage, writes in his laws of returning to Hashem that a person should say to himself: “It is as if half the world is innocent and half is guilty. If I do one good deed, I tip myself and the whole world toward the good.” One post, one honest sentence, can stop a person from giving up on himself. That is truly tipping a world. In past generations, the power of spiritual influence was held in few hands. There were preachers and public sermons. The “broadcasting,” so to speak, was in the hands of a few. But Hashem guides every detail, and He has given our generation a completely different reality: every single person is a broadcasting station.
Q: What should you remember the next time your phone makes you feel worth nothing?
Rabbi Landau answers: So the next time you open your phone and feel that same feeling, stop for a moment. You know the feeling: a shrunken mind, feeling worth nothing, “What am I next to everyone else?” And remember: what you are feeling right now is exactly what one of your posts can do to someone else, but in reverse. It can make him feel alive. It can remind him that he is not alone. It can tip his whole world.
Q: Why should you share a short Torah thought or melody this week even without many followers?
Rabbi Landau answers: This week, share one post, one sentence, one melody, one short Torah thought. Do it not because you have a few thousand followers. Do it because it is written, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Do it because “All Jews are responsible for one another.” And do it because this tool was placed in your hand from Heaven. It was not given to you so you would feel small next to it. It was given to you so you would use it. The question is no longer whether you have a voice. The question is: what are you announcing?