Kurt R.A. Giambastiani

I will not be employing a shabbos goy this week.

When I lived in Jerusalem, I learned about the shabbos goy. The shabbos goy is a non-Jew who will do tasks of work which are forbidden to Jews on the Sabbath. To keep everything on the up-and-up, the shabbos goy should be someone who would be on the premises anyway, such as a maintenance worker or babysitter. Thus, on the Sabbath, a shabbos goy can turn on the house’s lights or rekindle the fire (both of which are forbidden to Jews), and everyone benefits from the work that the shabbos goy did. No commandments were broken. Nothing to see here. Move along.

So, as I said, I will not be using a shabbos goy this week.

In a prevoius post, I mentioned that I was considering an “internet diet.”

Well, today it begins. Today I’ll be going dark.

I’ll be taking it One Day at a Time, but my goal is to go a full week without major technological contact.

What does that mean, specifically? Good idea. Let’s define terms…

The point of this “internet diet” is to see how much social media has crept into my life, and how much control I’ve given it. It’s also to force a break from the “always connected” lifestyle. Will I like it? Will I hate it? To be honest, I don’t know, but here are my working guidelines:

Disallowed

• Asking my wife to be my shabbos goy and do things I am trying to not do
• Connecting with social media
• Instant messaging, texting, chats
• Communicating via email
• Gaming consoles for solo gaming (i.e., without friends)
• Non-critical use of tablets, smart-phones, computers, laptops (i.e., if there’s a workaround, use it)

Allowed

• Checking the email queue for important messages (to be read only, response must be as per the below)
• Checking the message queue for important texts (not everyone reads this blog)
• Telephone (voice) communication
• Television for movies/taped shows (not mindless surfing)
• Gaming consoles for gaming with friends (i.e., like an evening of board games, it’s personal interaction)
• Online queries for scheduling/traffic/weather information
• Taking (handwritten) notes on this verkakte idea

I’ve got a few books lined up, and lots of gardening that needs doing.

See you on the far side.

k