The purpose of this paper is Jewish philosophical musing, and I will discuss some ideas about technology, communication and the Internet. This paper will be a reflection on the impact of technology on our lives and Jewish perspectives on these lives. We live in a world of computers, cell phones, I Pads , I Pods , voice mail, faxes and email. Recently, my wife announced that the mouse was dead. I wasn’t aware that we had a mouse problem but of course she meant the computer mouse. We live in a new era with basic and fundamental changes in the methods of communication. This will have an impact on our total culture but we need to understand how far-reaching this impact might be.
Of course, prediction is fragile. When I became a rabbi, pundits said our big problem would be what to do with all our leisuretime. If one wanted a guaranteed and successful career, one should go into any leisure time field. It has not worked out that way; we are all busier and more stressed than ever. We remember the prediction that micro-waves would replace ovens; cook books were published with instructions for micro-wave cooking of chickens and roasts.. It has turned out that the micro-wave is used for re-heating. We are now told that printed books will disappear and be replaced by e-readers. Maybe! So raising issues about the future is fraught with speculation. Finally, this paper is more about meta-halakhah than halakhah, by which I mean the values grounding halakhah.