The Text Me project – both the book and the website – seeks to develop three gifts for its readers in relationship to technology: self-awareness, perspective, and balance.
Below are a set of questions related to each.
Gift One: The Gift of Self-Awareness
- What are my current struggles (technical, psychological, spiritual) with digital technologies?
- When is technology a pure gift for me? When is it a conditional gift? When is it a problematic gift?
- What new potentials for Jewish learning does digital life provide for me and my family? How might I now act on them?
- When 98% of this volume or website has either evaporated or gone into deep storage, what 2% do I want to keep alive?
Gift Two: The Gift of Perspective: Siyag/Fence
- What do I now see differently about the digital seas that surround me?
- Can I trace the footprints of various new technologies on my everyday habits as they have evolved over time?
- Where does my relationship to technology differ from generations older and younger than myself?
- If I think of myself as always striving to become a GJGDC (Good Jewish Global Digital Citizen) where would I give myself the highest and lowest grades in regard to each of the letters?
- As a teacher/educator or a parent/educator how do I help my children/grandchildren become good Jewish global digital citizens?
- As a spiritual leader (rabbi, priest, minister, or imam) how do I raise these kinds of questions with my congregation?
- What rhythm have I created for myself in balancing healthy engagement and healthy disengagement from my devices?
Gift Three: The Gift of Balance
The Four Hasidic Notes in My Pocket (elevated human dignity, human humility, expansive use of technology, limiting technology in my life)
- Do I find comfortable and meaningful the way in which technology expands my sense of self?
- Do I feel comfortable and meaningful the way in which technology “humbles” me?
- In what ways have I utilized technology to promote my own Jewish learning journey?
- In what ways can technology still move me forward in that journey?
- What might I say to my own children and grandchildren as part of an ethical will bequeathing my life experience and wisdom about technology to the next generation?
- What resolutions about technology in my life would I like to make part of a more comprehensive cheshbon hanefesh/soul inventory next Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?
- What kind of deeper, more continuous connection with family and friends can be enhanced through technology?