Why WHB Remains Active on Social Media

Why Women of Holy Blossom Remains Active on Social Media

By Gillian Rosenberg, Communications Coordinator, Women of Holy Blossom

November 2023

As many of you know, Women of Holy Blossom has several social media accounts, including Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), Facebook, and YouTube. We are proud to be content producers and content consumers. And for the most part, it has been worthwhile, gratifying, and fun.

But this is a very difficult time to be on social media. I don’t need to tell you why. I’m sure many of you have decided to take a break or been given such advice.

WHB considered doing that, as well. But after some soul searching, we decided to remain active, for two very Jewish reasons.

The first is to bear witness.

In the Torah, the verse of the Shema, Judaism’s central declaration and call to listen, to turn our clear attention to Divine unity, has two letters that are enlarged – the ע in the word שמע/listen and the ד in the word אחד /One. These two letters spell עד /witness.  It is a sacred obligation to listen, to bear witness, not to look away, and from the act of bearing witness, to respond.

–Rabbi Miriam Margles, Danforth Jewish Circle, Toronto, March 1, 2022

Our presence on social media enables us to observe not only what is posted about the Jewish people and about Israel, but also who is doing the posting. We hold accountable those who post misinformation, disinformation, half-truths, lies, hatred, hyperbole, and propaganda, by reporting individual posts and entire accounts to the platform administrators, under categories of hate speech or symbols, false information, and/or violent and hateful entities.

We are also able to acknowledge our allies, Jewish and non-Jewish, who are courageous and outspoken with facts, knowledge, reason, and truth. Two, in particular, are Loay Alshareef (@lalshareef) and Noa Tishby (@noatishby). Loay is a Muslim, living in Abu Dhabi. Long before this war began, he has been promoting peace between Jews and Muslims through the lens of common language and shared history. Since the war, he has been unwavering in his support for Israel and the Jews. Noa is well known to us as an Israeli model, actress, special envoy, and best-selling author. Now in Los Angeles, she has emerged as a global voice for our people—articulate, knowledgeable, and composed. And we are proud to say that she recently “liked” one of WHB’s Instagram posts. There are many others who we also support by following and whose posts we “like” and repost.

The second reason we remain active on social media is to be a light unto the nations.

We understand our Jewish mission to include being a light unto the nations, which obliges us to contribute to humanity’s appreciation for holiness, morality and piety.

–Between Jerusalem & Rome, by Rabbinical Council of America, Conference of European Rabbis, Chief Rabbinate of Israel, 2017

Abandoning social media to those who are hateful, irrational, ignorant, naïve, mean-spirited, and immoral would be to shirk our responsibility in this world. Instead, we strive to be a source of gemilut chasadim, justice, and goodness, posting and reposting content that reflects the type of world we are commanded to work toward. Such posts include those about mitzvah days, allyship, life cycle celebrations, the arts, heroes of humanity, and love stories.

We also strive to be a light unto our own nation, representing the continuity and resilience of Jewish life and Jewish community. We promote events and activities, hype our upcoming holidays, and celebrate our legacy, as we move through the Jewish calendar.

While we are confident and steadfast in our decision to remain active on social media, it comes at some psychological risk. Doom scrolling is addictive. The extent of Jew-hatred, terrifying. The erasing of Israel’s contributions to the world, depressing. And being deserted by individuals and groups to which we were an ally, disheartening.

But Women of Holy Blossom has broad shoulders and gains strength from the thousands of shoulders on which we stand. We will do our part. Email us if you want to help.