Rabbi Hillel On Facebook

            Facebook, Instagram and the like, can be narcissism at its finest.  I am as guilty as the rest of them.  I must admit, I have posted family pictures of happy occasions and I do enjoy seeing friends’ special occasions in pictures. 

            But consider a typical newsfeed:  An especially delicious breakfast in pics.  A comment on how I spent a boring afternoon or my dog pictures.  Sure we all love dogs, but how many dog pictures do you have to post?

            It made me consider if social media was around 2100 years ago, what would the great Rabbi Hillel put on his wall?  Surely, he would be short and to the point, but he probably wouldn’t be showing pictures of the hummus he ate at lunch.

            Come to think of it, he would probably have hundreds and hundreds of posts with useful information for life.  If he had to only post three of his posts, here is what they would be:

            1.  “If I am not for myself, who is for me?  And, if I am for myself alone, what am I?  And, if not now, then when?”

            2.  “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow.  That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation; go and learn it.”

            3.  “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world.  And whosoever saves that life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.”

            We will probably never know where Hillel got his favorite falafel sandwich, but what we do know about him, is a little more important than a snapshot of him and his pet cat.