Each year at the Passover Seder, we gather around the table with ancient texts in hand, deeply rooted in generations of tradition but propelled by a singular directive: Ask questions.
It’s not only about answers – it’s about awakening curiosity and reliving our shared story. The Four Questions, traditionally posed by the youngest at the table, are not quaint rituals – they are bold disruptions that challenge the assumptions of the night. In doing so, they unlock the possibility of transformation and a renewed connection to our origins. They declare that freedom begins with the courage to ask “Why?”
As AI evolves and our digital footprint expands, I find myself reflecting on how we might bring that same spirit of inquiry to one of the most powerful forces shaping our children and ourselves today: social media.
In many ways, social media has become our modern-day servitude. We are no longer building pyramids for Pharaoh, but we are enslaved to the infinite scroll. The upward swipe has become our new taskmaster, dictating how we think, feel, and perceive the world.
Hours vanish into the virtual ether, yet we emerge no freer, no wiser, no more connected. The promise of boundless connectivity has, paradoxically, produced a generation chained to curated images, half-truths, and algorithmic affirmation.
Like the 10 plagues that shattered the illusion of order in Egypt, today’s digital domains, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and X/Twitter are plagued by disconnection. Algorithmic silos, coded to keep us engaged, in fact keep us confined. These echo chambers reflect our own biases, breeding polarization rather than dialogue, mimicry rather than meaning.
But must true redemption come from rejecting these platforms altogether? Or might we reclaim our real-world selves from the inside out, by rewriting the algorithm?
What if our social media feed wasn’t just a space for scrolling and separation but a new kind of Seder table? A space that brings order and unity. A place where we can rediscover ancient wisdom with renewed urgency.
What if we dared to ask: Could the tools of the Metaverse help us better educate and inspire Jewish youth? Could we transform these platforms into portals not leading away from Jewish identity but deeper into it?
To begin, we must rethink how we consume ideas, how we construct our virtual identities, and how we elevate the digital experience to align with our values and lived purpose.
Jewish education must be dynamic
AT THE YAEL Foundation, we believe that Jewish education must be as dynamic as the world our children inhabit. That means meeting them where they are – not to flatten identity but to elevate it. Not to isolate them in digital echo chambers but to bridge them across difference and distance.
Some might call this naïve optimism, but perhaps it is strategic hope. The same technology that fragments can also fuse. But it requires intention. It requires that a generation of educators, parents, community leaders, and the youth themselves be willing to re-engineer the algorithms of attention with Jewish vision and moral clarity.
The Exodus wasn’t just a release from physical bondage; it was a transformation of consciousness. It was a movement from surviving to serving, from wandering to wondering, from oppression to purpose. It taught us that freedom without direction is chaos and that redemption begins with a question.
So this Passover, as we prepare for the Seder, let us ask a fifth question. One that speaks in memes and moves in pixels, but which, like all the others, expresses the yearning to belong, to believe, and to be heard. Let’s expand our “for you” feeds and change our digital algorithms. Let’s reclaim these digital spaces we inhabit as sanctuaries of soul and sources of strength.
Because the future of Jewish education will not only take place in classrooms and communities, we must go to where young minds have already gone and where old ideas can be reborn with new passion and purpose.
The writer is the deputy director of the Yael Foundation, a philanthropic fund driven by the conviction that all Jewish children, irrespective of their geographic location or community size, should have access to high-quality Jewish and general education, working in 37 countries and impacting over 14,000 Jewish students.