Facebook hit an almost unbelievable benchmark last week; 500 million users since its genesis 6 years ago. It’s hard to even remember the online world without Facebook. Once it came on the scene, social networking went from burgeoning phenomenon to omnipresent entity. And what makes Facebook Facebook is the base of interconnected people on which it runs: Friends. Well, sort of.
After family, friends are the most important relationships in our lives. They provide comfort, companionship, support:
“Two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falls, for he has not another to help him up" Kohelet
But what have your Facebook friends done for you lately?
It’s taken a while, but after 6 years of Facebook it’s become clear that a Facebook friend does not necessarily a real friend make. Writer Hal Niedzviecki learned this the hard way when he invited his 700 Facebook friends to a little real world get-together.
A friend is hard to come by. Building friendships requires time, care and intention. The Hebrew word for friend is ‘chaver’. A ‘chaver’ is more than just some person you know. The very root of the word comes from the Hebrew word for ‘attachment’ or ‘connection’. Never mind hundreds, you are fortunate if you have a handful of true friends in a lifetime.
So, why not do something radical? Take a friend off the screen and engage them in your real life. Help them move, or go out for a coffee. Facebook can be more than just an online platform, it can be the beginning of a beautiful friendship, but it requires that you initiate some real world action. And when you have one, you wouldn’t trade a true friend for anything–not even a very large hamburger.
Make the connection,
Rabbi Shmulik Yeshayahu
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