Disconnect to Reconnect: Mastering the Art of Presence in a Smartphone-Obsessed World

Show Notes
Transcript

Have you ever wondered how much your smartphone costs you beyond the monthly bill? Discover the unseen price we pay in attention and presence as we explore compelling research from the Association for Consumer Research. Even when our smartphones are tucked away in our pockets or face down on a table, their mere presence can significantly diminish our cognitive abilities. This episode invites you to join us in reimagining our relationship with these devices, particularly during sacred prayer, study, and quality time with family. By examining the wisdom of religious texts and teachings, we gain insights into the critical distraction-free environments to nurture our spiritual and personal growth.

Picture a world where you are fully immersed in each moment—truly present without the nagging pull of notifications. Through personal stories and societal observations, we discuss how smartphones can impact our ability to connect deeply with the people and practices that matter most. From the rituals of Torah study to dinner with loved ones, we emphasize the transformative power of complete engagement. Practical tips on managing smartphone distractions, like leaving your device in another room, offer simple yet profound ways to enhance your focus and enrich your life. Embrace this thought-provoking conversation that challenges us to prioritize presence, creating meaningful interactions, and fostering intent.

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Transcript

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The Association for Consumer Research published in their journal last year 2024, not even last year that studies show that leaving your smartphone inside of your pocket can quote lead to diminished cognitive capabilities, and the mere presence of a smartphone, even if it's face down on the table in front of you, distracts your brain from whatever you're doing.

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It's a scary thing for one to think about these phones.

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They do a lot of good.

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They help us in many ways Kosher or smart, dumb or intelligent, whatever the phone is.

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But it comes at a large price when you keep your phone on you In prayer, when you're with your children.

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Price when you keep your phone on you In prayer, when you're with your children, when you're studying Torah.

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Because the Gemara says that.

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Why is there this certain juxtaposition between Bilaam's attempted curses that ended up being brachos, between the words that there are, like gardens by a river, like tents pitched.

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Why the juxtaposition, the smicha, between someone going into a river and going into an ohel, into a tent, says the Gemara?

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Because just like tents and just like rivers, they share the same quality that they bring a person up from impurity.

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You can go into a mitvah and you become pure.

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So too, you go into the Ohalim.

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You go into the as Rashi comments the study halls.

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You literally immerse yourself in the waters of Torah.

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You can cleanse yourself and you arise up from guilty into a pardon state, into a holy state, into a glowing lakavsos type of state.

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Rivers are like study halls In Rab, chaim, valojin or Kamensin.

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That requires that when you are doing something you are totally immersed in it, specifically learning, because just like there's a chatzitza, there can be something that's on your skin like clothing and it's not considered a kosher mikvah, a kosher dipping.

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Torah also has to be the same thing, like rivers, like Olam.

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So when you go into the Torah teepee, don't put your phone in your pocket.

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It still is bing email.

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What if I could?

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It's an opening up.

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You're not totally submerged, emerged in your cognitive capabilities and your ability to be held captive and transfixed and submerged into this holy endeavor.

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It lacks being totally submerged and engaged because the phone's in the pocket.

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Just imagine going to pray like Yitzchak Vayetze, yitzchak l'atzuach basadehak, totally free from all of the different distractions and a prayer to God to please help me.

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Just imagine that mincha being totally emerged and there's horrible stories going around about a mother who puts her kids to sleep with Amal HaKoel and she's got her phone and she's not paying attention and we need to tell her Mr Rez convention about it.

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And we all have the WhatsApp.

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When you're having to have dinner, with a spouse having to, you get to and your kids are there and you're not paying attention, even if it's on the table or in your pocket, the Association for Consumer Research says it still holds you back from being totally present and there.

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At whatever holy endeavor you're attempting to accomplish, put the phone away, turn it off.

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Don't put it in the drawer that's right next to you.

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Put it in a different room because even if there's a mere crazy sounding connection to this thing metaphysical maybe it is, but it's distracting and it keeps you from being totally emerged in this holy thing, this holy effort of Torah, or holy effort like going into the mikvah.

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Get rid of the distractions.

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