Ready, set … power down. Turn off your phone. Hold that tweet. And step away from the computer.
If the folks behind the second annual National Day of Unplugging have anything to do with it, sundown on March 4 will be a little bit quieter than usual: no beeps from incoming text messages, nary a Facebook notification in sight. Participants will connect directly with the world around them — take a stroll outside, read a book, interact face-to-face with their neighbors — for the rest of Shabbat, from sundown to sundown.
Too scared to try it? You’re not alone. “It was really hard at first,” says Tiffany Woolf, co-chair of the San Francisco chapter of Reboot, the Jewish nonprofit behind the event, of her first experience with going unplugged. “But it was a wake-up call. It made me think about how much we use tech on a day-to-day basis that really isn’t necessary.”
Woolf and her fellow Rebooters see the day as just one part of a larger attempt at reshaping the way people think about Shabbat, through a set of 10 tenets they’ve dubbed the Sabbath Manifesto. Goals include encouraging people to connect with loved ones, spend time in their communities and honor Shabbat in a quieter, more meaningful way each week.
The Day of Unplugging focuses on the first tenet: Avoid technology. Participants can interpret that in a range of ways, choosing to withhold from watching television, using their phones or checking e-mail or social networking sites. Organizers say last year’s inaugural event reached millions of people from all faiths — mostly through, yes, social media.
“We’re obviously aware of the irony it,” says Woolf with a laugh.
New on the irony front this year: Participants can use a smart phone app to let their friends and family on social networking sites know they’re checking out.
A special deal at San Francisco’s Contemporary Jewish Museum marks another new collaboration — visitors to the museum will be invited to tuck their cell phones into special Sabbath Manifesto “sleeping bags” for the duration of their time there.
Though the NDU and Sabbath Manifesto are national projects (with Reboot headquarters in New York), organizers say broaching the concept of unplugging in California has raised some unique questions.
“The idea of unplugging is especially important for Jews in the Bay Area, because we are so plugged in — to our phones, computers, TV,” says Danielle Foreman, a program officer at the Koret Foundation, which is sponsoring the National Day of Unplugging events in the Bay Area.
Foreman emphasizes that non-Jews can get excited about unplugging, too. “The principles of Reboot’s Sabbath Manifesto should resonate with anyone thinking about how to make their weekend more meaningful or relaxing,” she says. “Putting away the cell phone to reconnect with ourselves or loved ones is really something we should be doing more than just one day a year.”
For Woolf, as the mother of a 2-year-old, becoming more conscious of how she uses technology is tied to setting an example for her son, who already likes to play on her iPhone.
“I would like to try to instill some values around that,” she says. “How much are you really getting from it at the end of the day? … Yes, it’s wonderful that I can Skype with his grandpa in Brighton Beach. But Facebook? Not all of it is meaningful.”
While Woolf admits unplugging was difficult at first, she now looks forward to the weekly respite from technology; most Saturdays she takes off for a hike on the beach or another adventure. Accustomed to snapping photos of her son and quickly e-mailing them to family members, on Shabbat she finds herself simply enjoying his presence without documenting it.
For those still intimidated by the thought of 24 hours without technology, Woolf says to start slow. “Everyone should do it at their own pace,” she says. “Try it for an hour and see what it feels like.”
The National Day of Unplugging will take place from sundown to sundown, March 4 to 5. For more information visit www.sabbathmanifesto.org. For information on the Contemporary Jewish Museum event, visit www.thecjm.org.