Torah against the prevailing culture: What else is new? It has always been so of which the Chanukah struggle against Hellenism is but one example. One of the newer battlefronts of today perhaps more complex than any that went before is the Torah community’s struggle against Internet abuse. Mass meetings exhortations appeals. The battle is a difficult one perhaps because this modern enemy is so subtle and so enticing — and primarily because of its fundamental appeal to our inborn psychological needs.
For the enemy is not the Tablet or the iPad or their numerous incarnations. Rather the enemy is the fact that the new technology meets a profound inner need: the envy of G-d.
Envy of G-d? Yes. From time immemorial man has sought to become like a god. Eve is the first example. What finally persuades her to taste the forbidden fruit is the serpent’s promise that if she does so she will become like a god herself. Ten generations later the Dor HaFlagah decides to build theTower ofBavel high into the heavens in order to replace G-d entirely so that they will be the only power in the universe.
This “G-d envy” this desire to be a Supreme Being continues throughout history: Pharaoh considered himself a deity and challenged Moshe with “Who is this G-d that you claim to speak for?” In our day Emperor Hirohito ofJapan as well as Stalin Hitler and Mao Tse-tung convinced themselves and their followers that they were divine creatures.
Create a free account to keep reading.
