“He who steals the slightest amount from his friend is as if he stole his soul.”
– Bava Kama 119a
” For the night is a time of danger…. and had this individual been thinking of words of Torah, these thoughts would have protected him.”
– Rabbi Ovadia Bartenura, as cited from Be’iruim lePirke Avot (1982) as part of the talks of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
A vampire
flapping along the airwaves,
antennae attuned to the sighs
of forlorn lives
seeking solace.
A creature of darkness
sucking our life force
with painless pinpricks
barely perceived.
Enveloping us in a web –
a network of spidery channels –
while sedating us
with waters of
Lethe.
And there,
looking at reflections
of reflected faces
on the shimmering screen
a tease of immortality
broadcasted among the mildew
of empty hours
forever
gone.
Lamplighting 
As a child, watching TV was a necessity.
It served as a source of instant entertainment – providing an escape from the trials and tribulations of day-to-day life.
It was a world of refuge.
Only years later did I become aware of the magnitude of my mistake.
As described in this poem, I had allowed a “vampire” to suckle from HaShem’s most precious gift to us.
This being said, everything that HaShem created in His world, He did not create but for His glory.
Therefore the idea behind this poem does not come to exclude watching that which can improve our understanding of our inner or outer worlds.
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The metaphors are beautifully fantastical, disguising the depressing mundanity that really is screen addiction. It’s like painting a picture of someone trapped between two worlds, both which are still moving, and that really struck home.
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