This is not about whether someone should or should not be on social media. At Harford Chabad our goal is to increase the spiritual connection for everyone locally. To do that, we need to try different marketing strategies, etc. to see how to attract people.
One of the tests we did was working with Daniel Gavin and William Zahn from the C.T. Bauer College of Business. Their students ran a few weeks of strategic social media marketing. There were many lessons we learned from the team, but the most common message for Harford Chabad was "don't use stock images" and don't use "stock messages".
The Baal Shem Tov’s cardinal teaching that one should learn something from everything he sees and hears was very noticeable here. As we approach Lag Ba’omer, when we celebrate the life of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, the author of the Zohar and founder of Kabbalah, I realized this is one of the keys to Jewish spirituality.
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Much of Judaism has to do with laws; defined spiritual practices known as Mitzvot. They have an exact science. This is how you connect, this is how you get your connection in place. In social media, it would be called "posting", whether it is on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
To strengthen a spiritual connection, make sure your connection is not some stock post. One shouldn’t pray the same way every day or study using one's "stock template" to connect with G-d.
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To create a real relationship, to really connect and follow G-d, one needs to invest more of their REAL self. We should pray to tell G-d why we are angry at Him or to thank G-d for the good in our life. When studying, use variety in the style of how you learn as well as what topics you explore. Watch, read or listen to a Torah/bible class, Chassidic thought, or Talmud dissertation etc.
Do this and your spirituality will have a great ROI. Do this in your social media and you will have a great ROI as well.
Oh and one more message from the study: do it consistently, daily and even a few times a day - which applies to social media and spirituality as well.
Have a spiritual day and change the world :),
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman
P.S. Thank you to the MS Marketing ‘21 students who worked with us throughout this process: Sri Sridhar, May Tran, Rachel Clarke, Maddie Deane, Yang Hu.
