Subscribe Now!

By: Jonathan Seidel

Ashe lecha rav: Moses gym influencers and proper guidance (Fromm, being, 13)

Youtube is filled with varied genre filled channels trying to sell you something. While they’re educational aspects it is quite unclear the true agenda. Are they really investing or are they just hoping to make a buck? The decision of the viewer is to choose wisely. The influencer chosen will be one’s guide so it ought to be a thoughtful choice. 

It is not clear who to trust. There are so many scammers and others just trying to make a name. Who is worthy of your trust? Sometimes you need to take a chance. Find someone who speaks to you. Who seems to have your best interest at heart. Quality and quantity are relevant. Look through their videos. Evaluate their content. Choosing an influencer is like choosing an ice cream flavour. The influencer has posted his/her content and it is up to you the viewer to decide if it is credible. Is this content what you are looking for? Thankfully, there are numerous channels to view. Maybe this individual does not have the same soft tone as another or maybe this channel is more workout without explanation. It depends on what they cater to. Each person is different some people need more directional guidance and others just need the playbook.

A gym influencer is presumably a professional in their own right. Having some credentials to show off. In a perfect world this would be true but since it isn’t it is important to look deeper. Who is this person? Who am I trusting? Yet nevertheless, their videos are duplications of their own repertoire. They are highlighting the best way for the viewer to get fit. Sometimes it's a monologue and sometimes it's follow along. Some people like watching the influencer workout beside them others just want the secrets to success. The influencer puts time and effort into the videos and thus the viewers is captured by their expertise. Their slogans and promises are empowering. It is not necessarily accurate and the viewer must be cautious. Choosing an influencer is not an issue of monetary loss but emotional drain.

The two pitfalls of choosing a wrong influencer are time and trust. While it is possible that a viewer enamoured will buy the project they’re selling or inadvertently hurt the viewer, it is more the time lost from watching this individual. Spending hours following his/her advice only for it to blow back in your face. Only for nothing to change. Those minutes can never be regained. On the other hand, it is the broken trust. The highlighted life-changing instantaneous body formations should’ve have been a red flag but curiosity and hope overpowered scepticism. Follow this routine and it will be achieved. Yet it never does. The influencer’s words are revealing but it is only with time that the truth is noticeable. In a fit of rage desiring to comment disparagingly on the video. Hoping to find allies among the wrong. That trust is broken and the heart betrayed. 

One way to avoid being duped is to see what others say. Thankfully, Youtube has a comment section and reddit posts aren’t shy of debate. Not only can viewers discuss their thoughts globally but can even comment on each video. This aids the viewer to find like-minded people. While evidently someone will have had to try out the influencer to then comment negatively, the leap of one is to protect the many. The community of viewership protects its own. The viewers are at a disadvantage. Not knowing if the influencer is genuine. It is therefore the will of the community to expose the truth whether for better or for worse. Finding a video with a lot of views or a lot of subscriptions may be telling but if the comments disagree then something is off. How people rate an influencer is different than how many people have watched the influencer. Such difference must be kept in mind. 

The same principle applies to finding oneself a teacher, even more so a Torah teacher. The Torah is the core of Jewish identity. One must be cautious to find a teacher he/she connects to. This isn’t a relationship of lecturing but of growing. The teacher is relaying over sensitive information. The teacher is bringing the tradition to the student. The student is to ensure the teacher is the correct person to educate him/her. Torah is special and not just anyone ought to do it. The teacher is specified in this critical area of education. To pass along Jewish secrets to the next generation. It not only must be someone knowledgeable but someone acknowledged. Accepted by the student to internalise the Torah with his entire being. 

In contrast to the gym influencer, the rebbe is close to the student. He doesn’t just teach the student the divine word but develops his mind and his soul. This brings the rebbe closer to the student. The student is a changed man because of the rebbe. His words are sacred and his ideas legendary. Such a precious symbolism must be protected and served to the correct student. Some teachers are scammers but in the case of genuine teachers it is important that the student seek a teacher that resembles his integrity. While in his youth the student may be too immature to make such a decision as he matures he ought to do so. This is not a simple task and the mainstream may see this as either too postmodern or childish. Yet it is the exact opposite. The student must find a rebbe of grand connection to himself.

More spiritually inclined will find a mystical rebbe intriguing while a rational mind will look to a straight arrow type. It is meeting students’ needs. Not because this is some modern childish nonsense but because it is imbibing the core of Yiddishkeit to the next generation. Why take chances with disconnected teachers. What kind of Torah is that. This is not square blame on unemotional Torah scholars or even culture. Yet there is a profound shift to Torah when there is emotion involved. The Torah itself is filled with emotion whether anthropomorphically from God, prophets or the masses. Our biblical heroes are feeling people. They are real individuals with real problems. They laugh, cry and yell. They are not angels but humans. It doesn’t take a read of Job or Kohelet to learn this about the Torah. 

Torah isn’t dry and tedious but joyous and vibrant. It is the central piece of Jewish heritage. A rebbe who teaches laws as a mechanical feat fails to grasp the spiritually inclined students. It may work for some but not everyone. There are seventy faces of Torah and different students approach the Torah differently. Even our Sages proffered various accounts to the Rishonim and Achronim who differed on method and ideology. The student must take his own agenda into account. Where does he stand? What does he want? Who is best to fit that role? In his youth he learns what kind of learner he is. How he learns Torah the best. In his maturity he seeks a rebbe who can fill that void. Once he has grown he knows who is fit to teach him, to guide in him in God’s ways.

A major problem that emerges is not the presence of these teachers because they are there but the student’s search. Once he has left Yeshiva into university and work life he no longer is learning as he used to. He no longer has morning seder for a few hours in the morning. He is forced to divvy up his time for learning. He is not always capable of making an early shuir nor may he desire to. With his new busy life he is further disconnected from his Yeshiva life. Yet this is where it is critical to find a rebbe. While it may be seem foolish and again childish it is important to continue to grow. It is specifically at this point of his early adulthood that he must make a choice. He must find a rebbe to keep him in line. To ensure he keeps with his studies. He is a Jew after all but preoccupied with other responsibilities he slips. He needs a reminder and mentor.

As an adult he makes his own choices and this one is ever necessary. Fortunately there are ways to keep learning. There are apps and virtual shuirim to keep in the loop. Listening to daf yomi in the car or reading artscroll on a laptop. Technology has produced easy learning but these virtual options lack connectivity. There is a rebbe preaching to an audience. It is a monologue with the listener enjoying the cinema. He is not engaged in the shuir. He does not see the rebbe nor able to call out to him. A mature Jew needs a rebbe. He must seek him out. Ase lecha rav was not remarked to a minor. A child who has no authority over that decision but an adult. Amidst the turmoil of raising a family and caring for their needs, take care of yourself as well. Find spiritual harmony with a rebbe. A guide for halakhic pesak and hashkafic solutions. It isn’t solely the information but the connection.

Young adults will inevitably leave Yeshiva to enter the workforce. It is on them to fulfil. An old rebbe may reach out but they are busy with their new students. While they may not forget you, they have students to deal with. If you wish for that rebbe to be your rav make it happen. Make the effort. Show that you need them still. A rebbe’s job is to guide his students and by showing him that you wish to reinstate as a student of his, he will (hopefully) oblige. It is imperative that religious growth never ceases. The chain continues and a lifeboat is close by. Without a rebbe, the young adult is heading into the fire without a partner. He may have his gear on but without a helping hand if he falls there will be no one to catch him. Even with all the Torah knowledge, he still needs assistance to ensure his own linkage with God. It is not about youthfulness but honesty. The road of Torah never ends and needs a guide each step of the way.

May we all take the leap and find a rebbe for ourselves. While we may have left Yeshiva it has yet to leave us. This new chapter requires us to take action. Just as in our youth we were appointed teachers, now we must appoint them. In the desert Hashem put the mountain over the people forcing them to receive the Torah as we were forced to heed our teachers but in Shushan the people accepted it wilfully as we do with our new guides in our religious journey.