Master Your Inputs and Outputs

Every time you pick up your smartphone, you stand at a gateway of infinite choice. But the device you hold in the palm of your hand is not neutral; it possesses the potential to harm or to heal. It amplifies your ability to shape the world just as it deepens your capacity to be influenced by it.

This dual dynamic (to project influence outward and to absorb it inward) is not unique to the digital age. In fact, it mirrors a specific legal framework found in this week’s Parsha regarding how we interact with public spaces. The Torah explores the consequences of creating hazards in the public domain, identifying two specific obstructions that could injure a passerby: the sunken pit and the protruding obstacle. These are more than just legal categories. They are metaphors for the two engines of our souls. The pit represents our capacity to receive, while the protrusion represents our ability to give.

Just as an open, unguarded pit creates a danger in the physical world, an unguarded mind creates a hazard in the digital one. Because you are constantly receiving input, you must be strictly intentional about what you consume. You can use your phone to saturate your consciousness with the noise of the world, or you can fill it with timeless Torah wisdom. You can consume fear-inducing headlines or absorb edifying material that inspires calm and certainty. Ultimately, you decide whether you will receive something empowering or diminishing. You can dig a dangerous pit, or carve out a receptacle ready to be filled with blessings.

But your responsibility does not end with what you absorb; it extends to what you project. This brings us to the protrusion (the metaphor for your ability to impact the wider world). Like the pit, a jutting object could be either a hazard or a benefit. The content you put out into the world can cut others down, or it can build them up. You therefore have an obligation to take ownership of your creative energy and use your influence as a force for good.

Our mission is to transform the world into a home for G-d. You achieve this by mastering your inputs and your outputs. You curate a life of beauty by absorbing only what inspires you. You build a legacy of kindness by radiating only that which heals the world. So, the next time you pick up your phone, pause and think of the pit and the protrusion. Then, decide to transform the public domain into a dwelling place for the Divine.