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Dear Matzav Inbox,

I don’t usually write letters, but at some point some things become to much even for me.

There is a certain breed of fellow or gal in our communities who cannot take one step in life without informing the entire world about it on WhatsApp status. Every move. Every stop. Every simcha. Every coffee. Every restaurant. Every time he (or she) leaves his house, you can be sure we’ll all know about it within minutes.

Bar mitzvah? Status. Vort? Status. Wedding? Ten statuses. First the selfie in the car. Then the walking-into-the-hall shot. Then the “standing under the chandelier pretending to look thoughtful” pose. Then the forced grin with the baal simcha — who, by the way, often has no interest in this embarrassment. Then the table shot. Then the dessert shot. Then the selfie with the singer shot. Then the drive-home shot, like we were all sitting in the backseat waiting.

One word: pathetic.

And it’s always the same ridiculous poses. The chin slightly up, like he’s some kind of choshuve personality. The arm half-extended selfie, angled just enough so you can see the hall name in the background, in case anyone missed where he was. The “caught mid-conversation” look, as if someone just interrupted him while he was saying something profound. Or the classic: staring off to the side, pretending he didn’t notice the camera — even though he’s the one holding it.

Let’s be honest: you look stupid.

Nobody is impressed. Nobody thinks you’re living some incredible life because you managed to attend another bar mitzvah in a mirrored hall with gold chairs. We’ve all been there. It’s not Versailles. It’s a simcha. Mazel tov. Move on.

And what exactly are you trying to show? That you know people? That you were invited? That you eat out? That you leave your house? This isn’t high society. This is not chashivus. This is not confidence. This is insecurity with a front-facing camera.

There was a time when people went to a simcha, shook hands, wished mazel tov, sat down like a normal human being, and went home. No performance. No documentation. No need to prove to the world that he exists. No need to post a status with the singer and band.

Today, some people can’t even say mazel tov properly because they’re too busy angling the phone so the chandelier and some celebrity gvir is centered behind their head.

And don’t get me started on the restaurant statuses. The plate shot. The drink shot. The “casually holding the fork” shot. As if anyone is sitting there thinking, Wow, he ordered chicken and rice — what a life. Or the inevitable captionless selfie, because apparently the image of his face next to a steak is supposed to speak for itself.

Is this really how you want people to remember you? As the guy who documented every dopey thing he did? As the one who thought that being constantly seen meant being important? As the fellow whose entire identity is a series of statuses that disappear after 24 hours — which is fitting, because that’s about how much substance there is to it.

You are not building a reputation. You are not creating memories.

You are advertising emptiness.

Not even hashkafically, there is something very empty about this obsession with being seen. About turning life into a running show. About confusing presence with purpose. A little privacy, a little dignity, a little self-respect used to be normal. Now it seems like if it wasn’t posted, it didn’t happen.

Here’s a suggestion: put the phone away. Live the moment. Let a simcha be a simcha, not a photo shoot. Let people wonder where you were. Let your life speak quietly for itself.

And if you absolutely must take a selfie, at least spare us the chandelier.

S. M. R.

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Gafni also said Degel HaTorah is actively fighting economic reforms that could harm vulnerable sectors. “The reforms that are supposed to hurt farmers, industrialists, and others we are meant to protect — we are fighting those as well,” he said.

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Gafni concluded by pointing to the balance of power in the capital. “In Yerushalayim, United Torah Judaism has nine seats, Shas has six,” he said. “So what is this — everything has to belong to them?”

{Matzav.com}

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In an emotional interview aired Tuesday evening on Kol Chai’s radio program, the father of the survivor, Moshe Anshin, spoke with host Nati Kalish and described the terrifying moments and the miracle that spared his 14-year-old son’s life.

At the outset of the interview, Anshin paused to express his condolences to the Eisenthal family. “It’s important for me to stop for a moment and truly express my participation in the immense pain of the Eisenthal family,” he said. “It’s impossible to forget that there is a family here whose lives came to a sudden halt. My heart is with them in this enormous pain that they have gone through and are still going through.”

Anshin then recounted the sequence of events as told to him by his son, a yeshiva bochur who learns at a Breslover yeshiva in Beit Shemesh. According to the father, the boy made his way to Rechov Yirmiyahu after the demonstration and heard shouting. Amid the chaos, he suddenly found himself in a situation he could not comprehend. “He doesn’t remember that part — when he got stuck on the bus, how it happened,” Anshin said. “One thing he told me is that suddenly he realized he couldn’t run — not to the right and not to the left — and he found himself on the bus, and that’s how he was dragged until the point where he fell.”

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{Matzav.com}

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{Matzav.com}

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{Matzav.com}