Po Ve Sham

Balancing Immediacy with Decency

Parashat Yitro 5785 / R Nico Socolovsky  

 

There is something deeply frustrating—infuriating, even—about the stage that social media gives to antisemites. It’s not just that Kanye West says something grotesquely hateful. It’s that his words are amplified, consumed, and recycled in real time, spreading across the internet before anyone can even formulate a response. The digital world, where immediacy is currency, provides a megaphone for the worst voices, rewarding provocation with engagement and making hate speech harder to contain.And in this world of instant reactions, we often find ourselves trapped in the same cycle. Someone says something outrageous, and the response is equally instant—because we live in a time where patience is almost an archaic concept. The taste of a soup that once took hours can now be achieved in minutes with an Instant Pot. InstaCART makes Groceries arrive at our doorstep in the lapse of a blink. Instagram allows us to curate our identities in seconds. And X—formerly Twitter—reduces our thoughts to short statements, and sometimes, our moral thinking to short-comings.If there is something our generation does not lack, it is immediacy. And immediacy is tempting.

When Kanye posts hatred, the immediate response is a viral video—a compelling, powerful statement, but one that, in the rush to react, loses sight of reality. The AI-generated video of Jewish celebrities wearing white shirts, standing together in defiance of antisemitism, is moving at first glance. But it is also misleading, manipulative, and, ultimately, false. Scarlett Johansson, whose image was used without her consent, said it best:“I am a Jewish woman who has no tolerance for antisemitism or hate speech of any kind. But I also firmly believe that the potential for hate speech multiplied by AI is a far greater threat than any one person who takes accountability for it. We must call out the misuse of AI, no matter its messaging, or we risk losing a hold on reality.”That’s the problem with pragmatism. We call it efficiency, we call it practical—it feels like a necessary response to the chaos. But when we prioritize immediacy and effectiveness over truth, we risk undermining morality. Or in this case, reality itself.

It is particularly striking that this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Yitro, gives us a counterweight to this culture of urgency: the Ten Commandments. A set of laws that are not reactive, not situational, not designed for speed or convenience—but for something far greater…Let me remind them to you, not exactly as they appear in the torah but as they re-written for the Israeli TV Show: The Jews Are ComingYehudim Baim

 

Believe in God, but not in some fanatical way, more in a humble sort of way. That will help you remember that you are not the center of the universe and that the sun doesn’t shine out of your “backyard” ass, it shines out of HIS “backyard”( ass).Don’t blindly believe in anything else, either. Not in statues, not in pictures, and certainly not in people. Always give the benefit of the doubt, always ask questions, keep an open mind.Don’t say the name of God just like that. Bottom line – don’t say anything just like that. If you want your words to be powerful, don’t waste them.Don’t work on Shabbat. You’re not slaves of anyone anymore. Not of your career, and not of your boss. Stay at home with the kids and eat frozen grapes, you deserve it.Give your parents respect. Kvetch (Bitch) about them as much as you want with your therapist, but always remember: if you’re alive, it’s a sign that they did at least a little something right. When you have kids of your own, you’ll finally get it.Don’t lie; Don’t steal; Don’t murder. Bottom line: don’t be a “hot mess” (shitty) nation. That’s pretty clear, no?Also, don’t commit adultery. To commit adultery is to lie to the person you love the most – yourself. If it doesn’t work out, try an open relationship. If that doesn’t work either, get rid of the whole package. “Chapter 2” is an awesome thing.Also, don’t be greedy. There’ll always be someone who has a bigger house than yours, or a hotter wife, or a stronger ox. If all the time you’re wanting something that isn’t yours, you’ll remain unfulfilled.And the most, most important? Remember that the land where you’re going is an “absolute” (f**ing) desert. So always, but ALWAYS, spread on sunscreen!——-

 

And this is why the Ten Commandments are so radical in our world. Not because they are ancient, but because they are timeless. Not because they are restrictive, but because they are grounding. They offer a reality check—a counterweight to the culture of immediacy, where truth bends to whatever is expedient, where morality is measured by convenience, and where the lines between reality and fiction are erased in the name of pragmatism.

The Torah doesn’t give us laws that shift with the times; it gives us principles that anchor us when the world spins too fast. And if we truly want to build a society that doesn’t fall into the traps of manipulation, instant gratification, or moral relativism, then we have to be as committed to decency as we are to immediacy.Because without that, the world we live in starts to look like a place where anything goes. Where Hamas is presented as freedom fighters, where antisemitism is legitimized as free speech, and where lies become a justifiable means to whatever end we desire.
The Ten Commandments stand against that. They demand something harder. They demand a world where words are not wasted, where truth is not optional, and where morality is not just another passing trend.And maybe, just maybe, if we can hold on to that—if we can be as deliberate with our ethics as we are with our reactions—we won’t just respond to the world’s chaos. We’ll actually help shape it into something better.