THE ART OF USING AI
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THE ART OF USING AI
Summer break, marrying off our first child of ten in Israel, and Parashat Reeh, is a great recipe for writer’s block. When creative juices are not flowing, I sometimes ask Chat Gpt for help. But being that I plan on working on adding some humor and smiles to the upcoming year, to serve Hashem better, and looking to be more relevant to what people are going through and current events, I wondered if the robot can save the day, and this article.
Why is Parashat Reeh so hard for me? Parashat Reeh starts off talking about blessings and curse, and that the choice is up to you. And then it moves to some other interesting topics like getting rid of idols and idol worship from the Land of Israel, serving G-d with sacrifices only in the Temple, eating meat from a proper shchitah, but not eating blood. Staying away from false prophets, waging war against idol worshipping cities. Which animals can be eaten, the laws of Maaser, Shmitta money laws, and laws of Jewish slaves. The parasha ends with the three Pilgrim holidays, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot.
So how do we make false prophets self helpy, and connected to current events, with some humor, Chat gpt?
In Parashat Re’eh, we’re warned about the false prophet who might try to lead people astray, promising all sorts of wonders, but ultimately steering them in the wrong direction. Nowadays, you might say we’ve traded in the false prophets for social media influencers and conspiracy theorists who claim to have the “truth” about everything from miracle diets to secret government plots. Imagine if the ancient Israelites had to deal with a false prophet who had a TikTok channel. He’d be there, making viral videos about the newest “miracle” diet straight from Mount Sinai—only to have people realize later they’ve been eating nothing but sand for a week! Or maybe he’d be claiming to have the ultimate inside scoop on the best way to cross the Red Sea—no need for Moses, just use these 5 easy steps! You’d end up with a bunch of Israelites splashing around, waiting for the “likes” to roll in while they slowly realize they’re not getting anywhere. The message of the Parashah still holds true: don’t get swept away by the hype and the latest trend, especially when it comes from someone promising things that sound too good to be true. Whether it’s a false prophet or the latest “expert” on the internet.
Um, I am not sure that this is my style, ChatGPT. You have anything on eating blood and making that self helpy, and humorous?
The prohibition of eating blood in Parashat Re’eh is pretty straightforward—blood is off the menu! Now, if we were to spin that into some self-help humor, especially as we’re approaching Elul, it might look something like this:
Imagine if the Torah’s prohibition on eating blood was a self-help metaphor for cutting out all the “toxic” stuff from your life. Just like blood isn’t exactly the best choice for dinner, you might say that holding on to grudges, negativity, and drama is the emotional equivalent of chomping down on a big, bloody steak—totally off-limits if you’re trying to purify yourself in Elul!
So, picture this: you’re trying to make some positive changes this Elul. You’ve got your self-improvement plan all set, but every time you sit down to meditate or journal, you can’t stop thinking about that time your co-worker took your parking spot two years ago. It’s like you’re trying to “eat clean” emotionally, but you keep sneaking in a little “blood” of resentment on the side. Or, let’s say you’re working on being more positive, but every time you turn on the news or scroll through social media, you get sucked into a vortex of negativity. It’s like trying to stick to a healthy diet, but then drinking a smoothie made entirely of raw steak juice—yuck! Just like you wouldn’t want that in your physical diet, it’s not doing your soul any favors either. The lesson? Just as the Torah tells us to steer clear of eating blood, maybe it’s time to cut out the emotional “blood” that’s clogging up your spiritual arteries. This Elul, skip the negativity, grudges, and toxic vibes—because, let’s face it, nobody ever found peace of mind by sinking their teeth into a problem they should’ve let go a long time ago. And hey, if you ever feel tempted, just remember: life’s too short to be snacking on anything but the good stuff!
Chat Gpt! I don’t think that that is going to work. You have anything on Elul, free choice, idol worship, and technology? It seems that people love those Vayemaen videos!
Elul is our chance to hit the reset button and make sure we’re heading in the right direction. In Parashat Re’eh, the Torah reminds us to choose wisely. And in Elul, it’s like we’re in the final round of Who Wants to Be a Mentsch?—so, no pressure, but your choices could lead to a million-dollar blessing… or a lifetime supply of curses. Let’s aim for the grand prize, shall we?
Rejection of Modern-Day Idols: Materialism and Consumer Culture: If ancient Israelites had to deal with golden calves, we’re dealing with shiny new smartphones that have us glued to our screens like a squirrel to an acorn. It’s like the modern “idol” you carry in your pocket, constantly demanding sacrifices in the form of your attention span. Back in the day, people looked to the stars for guidance. Now, we look to algorithms. “O Mighty YouTube Algorithm, lead me to the next video that I didn’t even know I needed!” And can you picture Moses coming down the mountain, seeing everyone staring at their phones, people bowing down and chanting, “Just one more scroll!” and Moses being like, “Seriously? I was gone for 40 days and this is what you’re doing? Bowing down to your smartphone? This is what you’re worshiping now? You upgraded to iPhone worship?!? Behold, the iPhone 20 Pro Max! It hath the power to deliver us from boredom and lead us into the promised land of endless scrolling” You think some more Shein purchases will bring you happiness? It’s like the Torah is telling us: “Hey, maybe put down the credit card and step away from the online shopping cart for a minute. Those shoes won’t fill the hole in your soul.
Technology and Social Media: Social media is great—until you find yourself in a 2-hour deep dive into your third cousin’s vacation photos from 2015.Parashat Re’eh is like the Torah’s version of a pop-up ad: “Warning: You’re about to idolize something that really doesn’t matter.” Elul is your chance to click “unsubscribe” from the endless scroll and “subscribe” to real-life connections. Who knows? You might even rediscover the lost art of eye contact! Elul suggests maybe taking a break from posting and liking to, I don’t know, actually live your life. Who knows, you might rediscover the lost art of talking to people face-to-face—without the help of emojis!
Parashat Re’eh is like G-d saying, “Don’t just tweet about justice—live it!” Elul, then, is your chance to do some soul searching: Are you a social justice warrior, or just someone who retweets a lot? It’s time to stop being a keyboard activist and start being a real-life mensch. After all, the world could always use a few more superheroes who don’t need capes—just a good sense of right and wrong (and maybe a decent challah recipe). And during Elul, it’s time to check in on your neighbor, donate a little extra to charity, and maybe even share your secret challah recipe. Because nothing says “I care” like carbs and kindness.
Parashat Re’eh and Elul remind us that we’ve got choices to make, idols to ditch, and justice to pursue. And if you can’t laugh at yourself during Elul, just remember: God probably is, and He’s got a great sense of humor.
Chat Gpt, I never thought that mussar from a robot can be so tough. Try to stick to self help please. How about this, Chat Gpt. If we look at the choices of extraordinary productivity that we have in life, there are mostly five. Act on the important, don’t react to the urgent. Go for the extraordinary, don’t settle for the ordinary. Schedule the big rocks, don’t sort the gravel. Rule your technology, don’t let your technology rule you. Fuel your fire, don’t burn out. Let’s talk about choosing the choice of ruling your technology and not letting it rule you.
Imagine if Moses had to deal with technology on top of everything else. The two questions the Jews could not stop asking on their travels in the desert were: Can we get directions on Google Maps for this? And, Uh, is there Wi-Fi in the desert?” And Moses responds, “If I had Wi-Fi, those commandments would have been sent via iCloud”: “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s Wi-Fi password!” “Remember the Sabbath and keep it free from notifications!” Honor thy father and thy mother… and explain to them how to use Zoom for the tenth time this week.
In the old days, people made offerings of animals or grain. Today, we sacrifice something far more precious: our attention span, our time and sanity. “O Instagram, take this hour of my life in exchange for a fleeting moment of validation!” We’re willing to offer up our sanity to the gods of social media, hoping they’ll bless us with likes, shares, and the elusive blue checkmark. Imagine if the ancient idols demanded selfies instead of sheep. Oh god! Please accept this perfectly filtered selfie, in exchange for lots of likes!
Once upon a time, people prayed for rain. Nowadays, we pray for strong Wi-Fi. Picture this: an entire household gathered around the router, hands raised in desperate plea: “O mighty Wi-Fi, grant us your endless bandwidth and speed. Bless us with low latency and no buffering, so we may stream and game without interruption!” And when the Wi-Fi goes down, it’s like the heavens have closed up shop. Forget golden calves—there’s no greater despair than the “No Internet” dinosaur on your browser.
Back then, people went to oracles for wisdom. Now, we call tech support. “O wise customer service representative, please bestow upon me the knowledge to restore my lost files!” In the ancient world, knowledge was power. Today, that power is held by whoever can remember their password. “I say unto you, blessed are those who remembereth their login credentials, for they shall inherit access to their email!” But woe to those who forget, for they shall wander in the wilderness of password recovery. And heaven help the one who tries to change it, for the system will decree, “Thou shalt not use a password you have used before!” We pray that Moses shows up and smashes all our Tablets, literally.
Chat Gpt, I think that you are a great learning partner. I hope that we can work together one day. But for the mean time, I think I need to work with someone else. (Or at least, if I use you in my dvar torah articles, I won’t tell anyone.)
