Seniors: Don’t Get Taken Advantage of Online

Did you know there is an actual law in Judaism prohibiting the theft of one’s knowledge? Known as geneivat da’at, the principle states that fooling someone and causing them to have a mistaken assumption, belief or impression leads the deceiving individual to be held responsible for the deceived person’s actions. 

In Judaism, geneivat da’at is considered to be a worse offense than lying or cheating. The repercussions often negatively affect many more people than only the original individual who was duped. 

In the internet age, I have seen many instances of geneivat da’at occur when innocent people are misled by fraudulent email messages, websites, text messages or social media posts. Many times, the result of these individuals being victims of geneivat da’at is that their identity is stolen, which is a nightmare scenario. Not surprisingly, it is usually older people who fall victim to this.

Facebook is certainly one of the most common places in which users over a certain age (we’ll call them “Boomers”) become deceived. Most of the duplicate friend requests I receive on Facebook are from fake accounts posing as older users. These illegitimate Facebook requests are part of a scam. The Facebook user often will post a legitimate message on their Facebook account letting their friends know that they shouldn’t accept any new Facebook friend requests from them because their profile has been duplicated, but they may not realize the seriousness of this act.

Genetic Genealogy for the Digital Age

Several years ago, I was contacted by a representative at ancestry.com who offered me the opportunity to submit my DNA using a saliva collection kit. I figured I would be able to get the results and then complete my family tree going back many generations. I set up an ancestry.com account and started to add relatives to my family tree. When I received the DNA test results back, they did not yield any surprises (99% Ashkenazi Jewish), and, unfortunately, there were not any matches of my close relatives or ancestors. This is because there were not enough people paying for and submitting the saliva DNA to the website. 

Fast forward to this past summer when I received an email alert from ancestry.com. I had actually forgotten I ever set this account up. The alert told me that my first cousin was a DNA match and was likely my first or second cousin. This was not earth-shattering news to me since I already knew my first cousin was related to me, and I also knew how she was related. However, this piqued my interest yet again in my genealogy. 

I returned to the website, and sure enough, more DNA matches showed up for potential cousins. I began looking through other family trees that distant cousins had set up as well as 100-year-old documents that gave me hints about my long-lost relatives.

I immediately got lost in the genealogy black hole, spending hours researching my family tree and sharing my findings with my family members. I was amazed to see photographs of my great-great-grandparents. I located photographs of my ancestors’ grave monuments, which provided details including their Hebrew names, when they were born and when they died. 

I discovered an ancestry.com account belonging to my mother’s first cousin, who had already spent a lot of time adding relatives’ vital information and photographs to his family tree. In his collection, I was amazed to see photos of my grandparents (his aunt and uncle) I had never seen before. I started connecting the genealogy dots that led me to extend my family tree back several generations, and I was able to do this for my wife’s family tree as well.

The Social Media Conundrum

I recently binge-watched CNN’s three documentaries on Netflix, which focus on the three final decades of the 20th century. Watching “The 70s,” “The 80s” and “The 90s,” I was left thinking about how CNN would characterize the current decade. No doubt, our love-hate relationship with social media would be a principal highlight this decade.

As an early adopter of social media and an active user, I find the love-hate relationship that people have with social networks intriguing. The people who condemn social media as an evil that has plagued our way of life are the same people who scroll through their Facebook feed before they fall asleep at night and while eating breakfast in the morning. There are aspects of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, et. al. that we despise, and there are aspects that we have embraced and don’t know how we managed without. This social media conundrum is fascinating to me and I have been curious as to how we can view it through a Jewish lens.

Jewish people are less than 0.2% of the world population and yet most of those who have led us into the social media universe are members of the Jewish faith. Sergei Brin and Larry Page founded Google, which opened the door to Mark Zuckerberg creating Facebook and Noah Glass joining his friends to launch Twitter. Certainly, their intention wasn’t to do harm in creating new forms of communication, search and sharing.

Zuckerberg was an avowed atheist who has begun to embrace his Judaism more since becoming a father to two daughters. His public posts about celebrating Shabbat and Jewish holidays with his family have led some to question whether core Jewish ethics are at odds with the way Facebook is run as a company and how this social network has created harmful outcomes in our culture. In its almost fifteen years in existence, Facebook has been blamed for an increase in teenage depression and suicide rates, altering a presidential election, giving racists and anti-Semites a platform to spew their hate, disseminating false news reports and suppressing actual news, ruining millions of friendships, and Russian intervention of our political process.

There’s no doubt that Zuckerberg, along with Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, has been in the hot seat for the past few years. Both have demonstrated they are strong proponents of free speech and they also believe in core Jewish ethics. Have those two mantras come into conflict at Facebook? How can the Jewish community see the light amidst the darkness in social media? While Facebook, under the leadership of Zuckerberg and Sandberg, has pledged to correct the harmful aspects of the network, they have largely failed. But should they be held responsible?

If there’s one thing that Judaism has taught us over the millennia, it is that there are shades of grey in everything. The social network that Zuckerberg created has a lot of positive aspects to offer us as a civilization. It has helped us communicate with people around the world and find ways to bring us closer together. Facebook allows us to keep in touch with long lost friends, wish each other birthday and anniversary greetings as well as condolences on the death of a loved one, view photos and videos of our family at life’s celebrations, and engage in respectful dialogue over the issues that matter most to us.

Sadly, Facebook and other social networks have also aided those who perpetrate evil. Social media has a dark side as we know all too well. It has amplified the voices of those who hate and threaten our democracy. It has given a much louder voice to bullies, who damage our wellbeing and sanity. However, social media hasn’t created anything new. It has just brought more of that darkness into the mainstream.

We must recognize that social media, whether in the form of Facebook and Twitter or something else down the road that will replace those networks, is now part of our world. It is up to us to use these tools for good and to shut out the evil that tries to enter through our internet connections. Ultimately, we must remind ourselves that social media engagement will never replace real-life human interaction.

In a recent New York Times piece, Bari Weiss wrote that it seems “the organizations and the people who get the most attention are destructive. On social media, this isn’t just speculation. Outrage and negativity are the most ‘engaging,’ and so that’s what we’re fed. The disciplined among us — and I’m hoping to get there — might get off these platforms entirely. One thing we all can do is make the effort to engage in real life.”

I don’t believe quitting social media activity cold turkey is the solution to what plagues our society. I think we must seek out the positive outcomes that exist in our experiences on social networks like Facebook while working to collectively shut out the darkness that has been so pervasive. While Zuckerberg might have created this game-changing network, he shouldn’t be fully blamed for where it has taken our society. We must show responsibility and direct social media toward the light – overwhelming the evil with good. That is the Jewish ethic.

Originally published in the Detroit Jewish News

Understanding Jews for Jesus After the Mike Pence Rally

When a member of the Jews for Jesus messianic movement who refers to himself as a "rabbi" was asked to give a prayer in memory of the eleven Jews who were murdered at Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, there were a lot of questions about this group and why this was offensive to the Jewish community. The event was a rally for Republican candidates in Michigan and featured Vice President Mike Pence. A Jewish woman running for Congress, Lena Epstein, claimed responsibility for inviting the Messianic "Rabbi" to the event in the name of unity and claimed that if people are critical of her invitation, then they are religiously intolerant.

Loren Jacobs, a Messianic Christian, delivers a prayer at a rally in Michigan with VP Mike Pence

After I heard the Messianic "Rabbi" speaking at the event on C-Span, I tweeted that it was pathetic that a mainstream rabbi wasn't asked to offer a blessing (NY Times, USA Today, AP). The issue wasn't that a non-Jew offered a prayer for the Jewish men and women who were murdered, but that a Christian was being referred to as a rabbi. It would have been more acceptable had there been several faith leaders including a rabbi.

The Detroit Jewish News asked me to explain to its readers why there was such an uproar over a Messianic “Rabbi” delivering a prayer at a political rally. What follows is what I wrote in the Detroit Jewish News:


Trying to Make Sense of Messianic “Judaism”

With the recent controversy of Loren Jacobs, a leader of a Bloomfield Hills church who calls himself a “rabbi,” delivering a politically-charged invocation at a Republican party rally featuring Vice President Mike Pence, there has been a lot of questions regarding the messianic “Judaism” movement.

The first time I had ever heard of messianic Jews or the group called “Jews for Jesus” was as a high school student. Preparing us for the college campus, teachers at my synagogue’s Hebrew High School informed us that there are proselytizing Christians who claim to be Jewish and seek to convert Jewish students to Christianity. Some of these “Jews for Jesus” adherents, we were taught, were in fact apostate Jews who had left our faith and believe Jesus is the messiah.

While I don’t recall any direct encounters with any proselytizing Christians during my four years at Michigan State University, I did have an unusual experience in a course called “The Foundations of Judaism.” The course was part of the Religious Studies Department and the teacher, Mark Kinzer, did a wonderful job teaching a wealth of material in the course. At that time, I was already planning to apply to rabbinical school and the lectures and reading material helped prepare me. My eight years at Hillel Day School were good for a foundational understanding, but Prof. Kinzer went much deeper into the history of Judaism. I presumed the instructor was Jewish, but I was not certain. On the final day of class, I asked him which denomination of Judaism he affiliated, and he simply stated, “it’s complicated.” I didn’t pry.

Several years later, after I had become a rabbi, I was working at the University of Michigan Hillel Foundation. I encountered Prof. Kinzer at a meeting for campus religious leaders. It was there that he explained he was a Messianic “rabbi.” I felt duped and confused at that moment. (He never alluded to his own theology during the class and never mentioned Christian messianism.) He explained that he was not part of the “Jews for Jesus” group and didn’t seek to convert anyone. While I appreciated Prof. Kinzer’s academic integrity and I learned from him, had he been introduced as a rabbi at an event, I would feel just as insulted as I felt after watching Loren Jacobs’ prayer.

So, how do we understand messianic “Judaism” and Jews for Jesus? And, why has the Jewish community been so upset that a so-called messianic “rabbi” offered a prayer at a recent political rally in Michigan?

Throughout the centuries, Jewish people were subject to intense missionary activity by the Catholic Church and various Protestant groups. Many Jews left Judaism and converted to Christianity, either by force or voluntarily. In early twentieth century America, attempts to convert Jews to Christianity were common, but often unsuccessful. In the 1970's, a new organization sponsored by Protestants was formed called “Jews for Jesus.” Other smaller groups, calling themselves “Messianic Jews,” followed.

Members of “Jews for Jesus” are encouraged to consider themselves to be “Completed Jews.” Some members are born Jews who accepted Jesus as their Lord, while others were not born Jewish, but consider themselves to now be Jewish. Essentially, this group’s mission is to convert Jews to Christianity.

Historically, Jews who converted to Christianity were often interested in staying far away from being identified with Judaism. However, “Messianic Jews” stress their Jewishness and demand to be recognized as Jews by the Jewish community. The members of “Jews for Jesus” or any other messianic “Jewish” group who were legitimately Jewish at first would now be considered apostate Jews, the term used for one who has taken the definitive step of professing and joining another religion.

An apostate is the term the Jewish community would apply to Loren Jacobs, the individual who delivered the prayer at the rally featuring Vice President Mike Pence (it was originally an invocation and then he was called back on stage to offer a memorial prayer for the victims of the synagogue massacre in Pittsburgh). Some have questioned why the Jewish community was so offended by Jacobs being asked to offer a prayer. Some in the Christian community were confused as to why the Jewish community couldn’t treat Jacobs’ words in an ecumenical fashion.

The issue for many in the Jewish community is that Jacobs self-identifies as a Jewish rabbi, which is offensive to Jews because he has chosen to become an apostate, recognizing Jesus as his Lord and savior. The fact that Loren Jacobs was introduced as a rabbi and Jewish leader was an affront to the Jewish community. It was unacceptable and insensitive. Had a non-Jewish faith leader been asked to deliver a memorial prayer for the Jewish victims who were murdered while in prayer, that would be have acceptable. Although, the ideal situation would have been to have a rabbi deliver the prayer or a variety of faith leaders offer prayer as has been the case in many of the memorial vigils around the world.

Protecting Our Kids from Online Dangers Like Fortnite

Yesterday, I took my 14 1/2-year-old son with me to Toledo, Ohio, where I officiated a funeral. It was nice to spend some time together, but I also wanted to get him out of the house so he couldn't play Fortnite all morning. The new season of this live-action video game came out yesterday and that means that millions of boys his age were glued to the screen trying to get more "kills." At the baseball practice I ran yesterday evening, it was a losing battle trying to get these teenage boys to focus on baseball and not discuss their experiences with Fortnite earlier that day. In this week's Detroit Jewish News, I write about why we parents should be concerned with live-action games like Fortnite (highly addictive and violent) and other areas of the web, where danger lurks for our teens.

Here is the article from the July 12, 2018 edition of the Detroit Jewish News:

Protecting Our Kids in the Dark Web

Earlier this year, I was a guest speaker on a panel hosted by the National Council of Jewish Women. The topic was how parents and grandparents can be more vigilant in protecting our children from predators who lurk online seeking to abduct or abuse unsuspecting youth. Sitting next to Autumn Ceci, the Southfield police officer who investigates sex crimes and human trafficking, and a local psychologist, we each spoke about how the Internet has helped those who seek to harm young people and made it easier for them to hide behind secret identities online. Keeping children and teens from being deceived online is a very serious issue that can lead to human trafficking or sex abuse, both crimes that are plaguing our country.

Police detectives like Officer Ceci investigate incidents including sexual assaults, juvenile offenses, child abuse, neglect, missing persons and gang activity. I was prepared to share with the audience ways to protect our children when they’re using social networks and video games, but I was unaware of how widespread the issue of human trafficking has become in the Digital Age.

Online multiplayer action survival games, like the very popular “Fortnite – Battle Royale’, is dangerous as it poses severe risks to children and teens. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) stated that they believed Fortnite was putting children at risk of online grooming. A news story reported that a mother overheard attempts to groom her 10-year old son through his Xbox videogame console as she sat on the sofa next to him. The mother heard an adult male addressing her son by name through her TV speakers, asking her son questions about sex. In another story, a mother discovered an adult male asking her 12-year old son to perform sex acts on him, and for the boy to take and send naked images of himself. These and other reports prompted many schools nationally to issue warnings to parents.

At the panel moderated by NCJW, it was clear that many of the parents and grandparents in the room hadn’t realized just how common it is for young people to be targeted online by predators posing as other people in chat rooms, on social media sites and in video games. I recommended several ways adults should monitor and protect children using technology.

Rusted Root's Michael Glabicki Comes to Detroit

When the Detroit Jewish News asked me if I'd be interested in interviewing Rusted Root's Michael Glabicki for an article to promote his appearance at a music festival hosted at the Jewish Community Center, I immediately agreed. Rusted Root has been one of my favorite musical groups for decades so I wasn't going to turn down this opportunity. What was confusing to me was why Glabicki, who is not Jewish, was invited to perform at this Jewish festival. I knew there was a connection to Judaism with Rusted Root because I had previously written that former band member Liz Berlin's father is a cantor who studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary, while I was studying there in the rabbinical school. However, I couldn't figure out the connection to Judaism for Glabicki.

Turns out that the festival organizers either thought Glabicki was Jewish or they just thought his music had a Jewish feel to it. Whatever the case, it was a lot of fun talking with him about Rusted Root's music, his ongoing tour with Uprooted, his musical influences, spirituality, depression and what to expect when Uprooted comes to the JCC Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Music Festival at the Berman Theater for Performing Arts (located at the Metro Detroit JCC) this Sunday evening.

I first met Glabicki and the other members of Rusted Root following a small show in Las Vegas almost 13 years ago and was impressed with how generous they were with their time to their fans. He was even more generous with his time for this interview and I'm grateful. You'll be able to listen to my interview with Michael Glabicki on the Pop Jewish Podcast soon, but in the meantime, here's my interview that was published in the Detroit Jewish News.


Rusted Root Front Man Comes to The Berman 
By Rabbi Jason Miller

The JCC Ethan & Gretchen Davidson Music Festival returns for its second year at The Berman and this year’s lineup is better than last year’s. This festival is an innovative approach to arts and music festivals showcasing three artists for three nights of extraordinary music. Project Trio will perform on May 24 and Marc Cohn, well-known for his hit “Walking in Memphis” will perform on May 26. Rusted Root’s Michael Glabicki will bring his solo project, Uprooted, to the festival on May 27. 

Glabicki is the founder and lead singer of the multi-platinum band Rusted Root, who formed almost thirty years ago, and has collaborated with the likes of Santana, the Allman Brothers Band and Led Zeppelin. He promises to carry on playing Rusted Root’s entire catalog of music on tour with re-inspired versions, as well as continuing to bring new and exciting music under the new name of Uprooted, his new touring band.



Rabbi Jason Miller: Tell me a little bit about Uprooted and the inspiration behind it.

Michael Glabicki: Uprooted came about because I was doing a lot of writing and getting into different writing techniques. I’ve really come up with a lot of different sounds, grooves and ways of laying out the different lyrics and vocals of the songs. It’s a really explosive and prolific time for me to be putting this all together. I just kind of felt like it was taking a trajectory that was off the Rusted Root path. So, I decided to get this new band, Uprooted, to put the mechanics behind what I need for the music.

Rusted Root's Michael Glabicki with Rabbi Jason Miller in 2005

RJM: What can we expect when you bring Uprooted to the Davidson Musical Festival?

MG: Some of the artists were in the Rusted Root touring band so I’ve worked with them in different ways. We’re a very intuitive band. There’s a lot of chemistry when I’m in the room with them so it just very easily flows. What I’m trying to do is create a safe environment where whatever happens happens, meaning that we can come in one day and play something completely different than what we did the previous day. It really comes down to just living in the moment where whatever we feel like that day is what is going to inspire the arrangement of the songs. So, when we get on stage we’re just going to really be who we are and it’s going to be a big surprise to us.



RJM: I know that Liz Berlin (member of Rusted Root) is Jewish and her father, Cantor Rick Berlin, was at the Jewish Theological Seminary’s cantorial school while I was studying there in the rabbinical school. Do you personally have any connection to Judaism?

MG: My sister converted to Judaism about five years ago. She married a Jewish guy, so I’ve been to some of the ceremonies. I love it and I think it’s a great community kind of feel. I was at their daughter’s bat mitzvah and it was beautiful.

Michael Glabicki and Dirk Miller of Uprooted

RJM: Your music incorporates so many diverse styles. Who are your influences?

MG: Probably the earliest one would be Cat Stevens. When I was six years old, I’d listen to the 8-track of The Greatest Hits of Cat Stevens that my parents had. I’d just sit down under the dining room table and just experience his songwriting. I think the acoustic aspect of what he was doing probably touched me at an early age. That’s what drove me to play Rusted Root music on an acoustic guitar at first. In my first year of college I dropped out because I had depression, but songwriting helped me to feel a whole lot better. That’s when I decided to become a songwriter.



RJM: Talk to me about your love of instruments. I know you play the penny whistle and some other unusual instruments.

MG: When I was figuring out the vision for the band when I dropped out of college, I spent a good two years figuring out what I wanted the landscape of the music to be. I was on electric guitar at the time and that was my world. During that time period, I was thinking, “what am I missing here… what would fill out the music?” How could I bring the colors in that were needed? When I heard John Buynak, who had a lot of really cute instruments that were really spontaneous and full of laughter, I think that’s when it clicked. When I heard him play the penny whistles and the flutes, I was like, “okay, that’s it.”


RJM: Through Rusted Root, you’ve collaborated with some amazing musicians over the years. Who do you dream of collaborating with in the future?

MG: It’s not really something I think about. Playing with Santana was something magical, but I just pray that somebody’s going to come soon because I feel like I want to but I don’t ever want to force it.

When You’re Unfriended in Real Life

The schools of the great sages of the Jewish people, Hillel and Shammai, were known to debate each other on just about every topic. The students of these two schools rarely agreed on anything; each strongly and passionately arguing the opposite position of the other, albeit always with respect for the other’s opinion.

In Judaism, we believe that each human is created in the divine image and, thus, we have the responsibility to treat one another with respect. However, many of us humans don’t act with godliness when participating in Facebook discussions involving political viewpoints.

The 2012 election was bad when it came to a lack of civility on Facebook, but the 2016 election a year ago was many times worse. I’m scared to think of what 2020 will bring us. Many close friends unfriended each other on the social network, relatives blocked relatives and, even worse, long-term relationships in real life were severed because of hurt feelings during political arguments. While the election might have been over on November 8, 2016, the heated arguments on Facebook have continued. In the past year, with a President known to send out many divisive tweets before most people have had their first cup of coffee, the Facebook battlefield has only intensified.

If you have a Facebook account, you likely witnessed at least one unfortunate interaction in the past couple of years. It has been impossible to post anything about either presidential candidate without a couple of trolls coming in to paste the latest talking points from the most extremist online blogs they could find to bolster their position or refute everyone else’s opinion.

This has been true on both sides, from the extreme left and the extreme right. On social networks, especially Facebook, people have learned to hide behind their screens when they say these hateful things, but it affects all their relationships and not only their virtual relationships. In the run-up to the 2016 election, most political opinions on either candidate would be met with attacks in the comment section of that post. Many of the comments were not fact checked and some were outright myths that had already been debunked by Snopes.com, the fact-checking web site. In the past year, tempers have flared even more with friends attacking friends on Facebook over everything from the NFL's national anthem controversy and the Second Amendment to the Russian interference in the election and Trump's policies. No topic is off limits when it comes to firing shots in the comment section of Facebook and real friendships become the collateral damage.

I was recently tutoring a young woman for her bat mitzvah and we were studying the Tower of Babel story within her Torah portion. I explained that God was so angered that humans would try to build a tower to the sky that God punished them by confounding their languages so they couldn’t communicate with one another. Immediately, this wise 13-year-old girl said, “In my bat mitzvah speech, I want to talk about how we communicate with each other.” And she immediately hit the nail on the head by explaining the negative effects that occur from the way teens talk to each other in the 21st century. Rather than speaking face-to-face, today’s teens send coded text messages, Snapchat messages that disappear after several seconds, and comments under the photos they post on Instagram. The language they use is different from what any prior generation would recognize as English. One misinterpreted emoji or abbreviation can mean the end of a friendship.

On Facebook, it’s not only the teens who resort to insults and abusive language when someone offends them with their strongly held opinion. Earlier generations wouldn’t understand how your crazy liberal uncle can get into a heated debate with some girl you went to summer camp with a few decades ago.

When adults begin threatening to “unfollow” or “unfriend,” we quickly find ourselves feeling trapped and annoyed in a fourth-grade-esque insult circus. Cutting off contact with someone with opposing ideology will never further discussion, debate and democracy. Sadly, a lot of people on Facebook are close-minded, unwilling to listen to opposing opinions.

Do You Know this Wealthy Jew?

A quick Web search of the Detroit Jewish News Archives from the past two decades will yield a handful of covers featuring head shots of some of our Jewish community’s most successful businessmen who are remembered for their generous charitable contributions. These individuals were mega-wealthy, but they were glorified for their mega-philanthropy. What many may not realize is that the founder of our faith was a wealthy businessman too and the Torah’s first Hebrew might serve as a paragon of virtue for today’s mega-wealthy.

In this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Lech Lecha, Abraham is commanded by God to "lech lecha," that he should leave his ancestral land and travel to a new place that God will show him. Right after this divine order, we are informed about Abraham’s financial status. V’Avram Kaved Meod (Abram was very rich.” Our patriarch was rich in cattle, silver and gold. There is much to be learned from this word kaved, or rich. The word most often used for rich or wealthy in the Torah is ashir. So we must be curious about the choice to use kaved here.

In modern Hebrew, we use the word kaved to mean heavy, as in a physical weight, but it can also mean a burden. Rashi mentions this meaning in his commentary on the verse, and adds another meaning of kaved that we are familiar with from the fifth commandment of the Ten Commandments -- kabed et avicha v’et imecha (you must honor your parents). Similarly, from the same root is the word for an honor that is given out in synagogue, a kibood. Finally, the word kaved also means liver, which is the heaviest part of our body. So, in the Torah portion, we learn that Abraham is very wealthy and that the term used to demonstrate his wealth is an unusual choice.

"Kaved" is used to tell us that Abraham was weighted down with many possessions because of his wealth showing that it can be a challenge to have a financial fortune. In the very next verse, we learn that Abraham traveled from the Negev desert to Beit El “in stages,” which Rashi explains as meaning that Abraham took the same route on his return staying in the same places he had lodged on his way down to Egypt before he had wealth. This means that while Abraham is wealthier now, he has retained his humility and doesn’t choose to stay in nicer places. Abraham, our patriarch, was not altered by his accumulation of wealth. Recognizing the tendency to be burdened by money and possessions, Abraham maintain his kavod (honor) when he became kaved (wealthy). This is not always the case.

We tend to only see the positive side of enormous financial wealth. But, having power and wealth can be burdensome, it can be a challenge. In our society, such a vast possession of wealth requires much responsibility and integrity. It catapults people into the public eye, living life in a fishbowl, having every business decision scrutinized, every investment maneuver questioned. There are many advantages to a life of wealth, but it must be done while maintaining kavod.

There is much to learn from our patriarch Abraham. He was wealthy, but he was also well respected and humble. A model for us in modern times, Abraham possessed the dignity to keep him from a life of over-indulgence in material wealth. Many of the mega-rich tycoons in the corporate world of the 20th and 21st centuries were not paragons of virtue. Their wealth became burdensome, they became greedy and many ultimately got into legal trouble before their ultimate downfall. Such has not been the case with the Detroit Jewish community’s leaders over the past century. By and large, our community has been blessed with a disproportionate number of mega-philanthropists who have used their fortunes for the common good, bolstering noble causes in our community. Like our patriarch Abraham, the pillars of our dynamic community have maintained their kavod while being kaved.

For further discussion:

1. Have you noticed behavioral differences in friends or relatives who have become wealthy suddenly?

2. What are ways we can teach our children to make philanthropy a priority in their lives?

Originally published in The Detroit Jewish News

Hanukkah 2014 Tech Gift Guide

I've been writing the "Jews in the Digital Age" column in the Detroit Jewish News each month for several years, but this was the first year I was asked to come up with a Hanukkah Gift Guide of techie gadgets and toys. I also wrote a similar tech gift guide for The Huffington Post Technology.

I tried to cover the practical (fitness wearables and phone cases) as well as fun techie toys. With Hanukkah beginning this evening at sundown and lasting eight nights, and Christmas in a little more than a week, last minute shoppers will still have enough time to order just about anything online and have it gift wrapped and shipped in time for the holidays.

The most popular gifts during holiday time in the 21st century have been technology-related. From HD flat-screen TVs and smartphones to gaming systems and e-readers, we're all shopping for the latest, greatest tech gadgets each year. With tech wearables and drones soon delivering our Amazon.com orders, we seem to be getting closer to living like the Jetsons. As a techie with an addiction to the latest, greatest tech gadgets, I have put together a short list of the best tech gifts for holiday shoppers this season. These gifts range in price so there's something for everyone.


PROTECTIVE CASES

Just about everyone on your holiday gift list has a phone and they need a durable, yet fashionable protective case. I looked at dozens of options (there are thousands of phone cases on the market because they are cheap to produce) and narrowed it down to a few that are the most protective and useful. Some cases are ultra-sturdy, but feel bulky and heavy. Most of the companies that make strong cellphone cases also offer a line of protective wear for tablets too.

Otterbox (various prices) is the hands-down winner when it comes to durability and protection. Otterbox feels like the toughest case and it's made of higher quality materials than most other phone cases on the market. It comes in a variety of color combinations and is available for both iPhone and Android models. Otterbox's Symmetry Series is a slim, one-piece protective case. There is also a Defender Series for more rugged protection and Commuter Series for on-the-go protection. To protect the screen, Otterbox makes Alpha Glass, a fortified glass screen protector. www.otterbox.com

iLuv's Selfy (retail: $40) is a durable case with a built-in wireless camera shutter. The shutter makes it easier to take great photos and videos without straining your arms or worrying about a shaky camera. It's also much easier for group shots that don't leave anyone out. The shutter is integrated into the case itself, sliding out when it's time to take a quick selfie, then fitting securely back into the case after the photos have been taken. The selfy case uses a dual-layer, shock-absorbent design that protects the device from everyday drops and bumps, making it perfect for the on-the-go use. When the selfy shutter is out of the case, one of six accessories easily slides in to take its place including a mini tripod, car mount, navigation and hands-free calling, as well as various mounts for action movies. www.iluv.com

Amzer Crusta (retail: $35) - the world's first tempered glass embedded case. Its 4­ layer construction provides a rugged casing to combat any drops or spills and resists dust and dirt to preserve the smartphone. It uses a Kristal Edge2Edge Tempered Glass Screen Protector for high definition clarity and maximum touch sensitivity. www.amzer.com/crusta


HEADPHONES

iLuv's FitActive Run (retail: $27.99) These earphones feature an ergonomic design with an in-ear brace so that they not only feel comfortable, but also stay in the user's ears no matter what the activity. These earphones were creatively designed to suit the needs of active people who enjoy being outdoors. These also have a convenient built-in microphone and remote to make it easy to answer calls and control music while on the move. www.iluv.com

AfterShokz Sportz 2 Headphones (retail: $46.67) – I love these impressive headphones because they're not ear-buds so there's no problem with them ever falling out because they don't go inside your ear. This makes them safer too. They feature military special ops bone conduction technology, meaning they sit comfortably in front of the ear, keeping your ears open, while delivering stereophonic sound through the listener's cheekbones to the inner ear, permitting users to hear ambient noises such as oncoming traffic, car horns, ambulances or other warning noises. These come with a microphone that actually works well and they recharge through USB. www.aftershokz.com

Detroit Jewish News Archives - So Much Nostalgia

Nostalgia is in. One of the most common memes on Facebook these days is the Throwback Thursday, in which individuals and organizations post old photos from yesteryear and allow viewers to tag people they recognize and be amused at how things have changed over the years including hairstyles and fashion. One local company making good use of this is Joe Cornell Entertainment, which has been posting photos from their archives of Joe Cornell’s pre-bar mitzvah dance classes from the past few decades.

Metro Detroiters, as well as former Metro Detroiters, have found themselves getting lost in time on the Web since the Detroit Jewish News Foundation launched its digital archives in mid-November. Residing on the DJN Foundation’s website at www.djnfoundation.org, the archives have allowed local members of the Jewish community to scratch their nostalgia itch by searching for friends and family in the archives’ search function. Every weekly issue of the Detroit Jewish News over the past seven decades is included in the digital archives and even advertisements can be searched.

Arthur Horwitz, publisher of the Detroit Jewish News, recognized the importance of digitizing the thousands of old issues of the paper after a devastating fire occurred in the Detroit Jewish News offices back in 2002 and destroyed nearly all of the paper’s print archives. Horwitz and the new nonprofit foundation turned to Media Genesis, an internet services provider, to create the searchable index on the new website which lets users perform quick and accurate searches on the more than 260,000 dating back to 1942. The archives are available to the public at no cost and they have already proven useful to local historians, educators, students and community leaders.

Like internet search engines such as Google, Yahoo or Bing, the DJN Foundation’s digital archives are fully searchable by date, name, and other keyword searches including advanced Boolean searches, which are a type of search allowing users to combine keywords with operators such as “and,” “not” and “nor” to produce more relevant results.

Plastic Surgeon Michael Gray Reconstructs the Social Network

I jumped at the opportunity as soon as I received the press release from Jackie Headapohl, the editor of The Detroit Jewish News, asking me if I'd like to interview Dr. Michael Gray, the well-known plastic surgeon here in Michigan. The press release described a new social network called Pegged that Dr. Gray had created. It sounded as if this cosmetic surgeon was about to give Facebook a Face Lift. I spent an hour in Dr. Gray's office learning about Pegged and the entire time I kept thinking that people will both love and hate this controversial social networking site. Here's the front page article from this week's Detroit Jewish News:

Plastic Surgeon Reconstructs Social Media
Detroit Jewish News

Dr. Michael Gray, a popular and successful plastic surgeon, spends his days transforming the way people look on the outside. But one thing he can’t do is fix who they are on the inside. That doesn’t mean he isn’t interested in trying though.

Gray, who is from New York, heads the Michigan Cosmetic Surgery Center and Skin Deep Spa in West Bloomfield. He wondered whether he could at least learn more about people’s character on the inside and create a social platform that would force them to try and change themselves internally. “The world is broken. What if we had a resource to assess who we meet? Would we be able to make better decisions about what we do in life? Would people be self-reflective after they get a review? Would they change?”

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein's Detroit Roots

I've been following Rabbi Yonah Bookstein for several years now. He's a little more than 6 years my senior and I suppose I've looked up to him as a social media guru in the virtual Jewish community of the Web. I learned about his Detroit roots from a blog post he published back in September 2008 following a "Young Detroit in Hollywood" event that took place in California for Jewish expats of Michigan. He wrote:

Jewish Ex-Detroiters like myself have a religious attachement [sic] to our hometown. We have a tight-knit Jewish community, allegiance to local sports teams, and favorite bakeries, cafes, or delis. (Notice the absence of any allegiance to a synagogue or temple). When we leave Detroit, we leave close family back home – grandparents, aunts and uncles, parents, siblings and cousins. We get back for family events when we can. We try to keep up with the Tigers or Pistons. We root for U of M at the Rose Bowl. We often are connected to other Detroiters who made the move out here before us.