Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburgh, president of the Od Yosef Chai Yeshiva in Yitzhar, was asked during a conversation with Rabbi Nir Menussi how people can overcome addiction to screens and the internet. His response was surprising.
Rabbi Menussi opened with a question: "One of the greatest problems of our generation is screen addiction. People spend entire nights endlessly scrolling through negative and depressing content, a phenomenon known as 'doomscrolling.' This is also one of the greatest challenges in education. Can the Rabbi offer us advice on how to overcome this addiction?"
Smiling, Rabbi Ginsburgh responded, "I have the same problem."
His assistant, Rabbi Itiel Giladi, explained to Arutz Sheva - Israel National News: "The Rabbi doesn't have a cell phone, neither a smartphone nor a dumb phone. The screen he's glued to is probably the screen of the simple calculator he uses to verify his remarkable gematria calculations."
Gematria is an ancient system in which each letter of the Hebrew alphabet carries a numerical value. Words are oftened connected to each other or to spiritual concepts based on the gematria they carry.
Rabbi Ginsburgh went on to explain that being deeply attached to something is not necessarily negative.
"When a person is addicted to something, especially something visual, he becomes, in a sense, attached to the screen. But the very act of being attached to something is not necessarily a negative phenomenon," he explained.
"A person can be deeply attached to the Torah or immersed in contemplating the oneness of the Holy One, blessed be He. This is a positive and desirable form of attachment. There is even a verse that speaks about this."
According to Rabbi Ginsburgh, overcoming addiction is not simply a matter of distancing oneself from screens, but rather of redirecting one's attachment.
"We all face this difficulty of becoming attached to screens and the internet. But we can overcome it by changing the direction of our thinking: Just as I am attached to the screen right now, I should aspire to be attached to the Holy One, blessed be He."
Concluding his explanation, Rabbi Ginsburgh offered advice: "We must awaken within ourselves the desire to cleave to G-d, pray to Him, and ask Him to help us transform our attachment to screens into attachment to Him."