Parashat Yitro

Michael Holper, Math Teacher 

The second commandment states: “You shall have no other gods beside Me. You shall not make for yourself any graven image… You shall not bow down to them nor serve them, for I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God….”

At first glance, idol worship might seem almost laughably outdated—who would bow to a golden calf today? Like the Bill of Rights’ prohibition on quartering soldiers, you might dismiss this as a rule from another time and place.

But no! This commandment is deeply relevant today. What is the thing we not so figuratively bow before in our daily lives? What demands our attention for hours, disrupts our sleep, distracts us from those around us, and prevents us from learning deeply? The answer is smartphones and social media.

For many—especially teenagers—this is the modern-day golden calf. The average social media usage is 4.8 hours per day, more than a full school day. We pour countless hours into scrolling through the most engaging content ever created, feeding an addiction to instant gratification. At best, this time is spent messaging friends rather than engaging in real-life conversations; at worst, it’s an endless cycle of mindless short videos.

That is the problem—here are three solutions. Just as Moses smashed the golden calf, we too can break free from this idol with concrete actions:

  1. Track your screen time. Use your iPhone’s app tracker or Android’s digital well-being page to monitor your phone usage. If a particular app consumes too much time, consider deleting it—this is often more effective than setting a time limit.
  2. Use black-and-white mode at night. Color makes social media even more addictive. Switching to grayscale after 9 PM makes scrolling less compelling. An adult friend of mine with ADHD keeps his phone in black and white all the time to reduce its appeal.
  3. Buy an alarm clock and charge your phone in another room overnight. Keeping your phone out of reach at night prevents doom-scrolling before bed and first thing in the morning. For many teenagers, late-night phone use is the primary cause of insufficient sleep.

These three simple actions can help reduce social media dependence. If this message resonates with you, remember: when you feel yourself slipping into a mindless scrolling trance, think of it as a violation of the Second Commandment! Snap out of it—say a prayer, have a real conversation, and reclaim control over your time and attention.