There is a jarring spiritual dissonance in our contemporary media. I often wonder if readers notice the profound incongruence in our frum publications—both online and in print. On one page, we find an inspiring article about Avodas Hashem, Emunah or Bitachon; yet, on the facing page [and sometimes even on the same page], we see advertisements promoting a lifestyle of excess that borders on the prohibited. We are commanded, "קדושים תהיו" —a call to self-sanctification and restraint—yet our media often markets the very materialism we are meant to transcend. [Not to mention other איסורים].
This lack of boundaries extends beyond consumerism into our very culture of communication. Chazal teach us a fundamental lesson regarding the two sets of Luchos. The first Luchos were broken because they were given with great public fanfare; the second Luchos, however, endured because they were given in the quiet sanctity of privacy. As Rashi notes (Shmos 34:3):
"אין לך יפה מן הצניעות" — "There is nothing more beautiful than modesty/privacy."
Today, we are witnessing the erosion of this value. The modern world has lost the concept of tznius, and the frum world is not immune. We see a preponderance of "tell-all" podcasts where no topic is off-limits and every private struggle is laid bare for public consumption. While some argue that these shows offer "inspiration" or "awareness," we must ask at what cost.
Other people’s private business should not be our entertainment. Discussions of intimate or sensitive matters were never meant for the public square. We have traded the enduring power of the "Second Luchos" for the fleeting noise of the first. It is time we rediscover the dignity of the hidden life, for as the Navi Michah (6:8) taught:
"והצנע לכת עם אלקיך" — "Walk humbly (privately) with your G-d."
