What Is the Goal of Posting Anything on Social Media, Anyway?

In the upcoming issue of the N’shei Chabad Newsletter, you will read about Ruth Ellsworth‘s conversion at age 80, Esther Etiquette on social media, Sara Lehmann‘s hashgacha pratis at the Ohel, Zachary Kirstein‘s life saving miracle, and more.

In the upcoming Gimmel Tammuz issue of the N’shei Chabad Newsletter, Esther Etiquette (in her regular column written by Chana Kornfeld) answers this question from a reader:

Dear Esther,  I am an active shlucha with an active social media account. It is an important tool in my shlichus and brings people to events. Recently, a friend of mine complained about my content and said, “Why do you make everything look so perfect? Everyone knows it’s fake. No one’s kitchen is always immaculate and flowered, and no mother of eight feels serene and blessed every single moment of every single day. Enough with the perfect poses, plastered smiles, and luckiest mother, wife, sister, daughter, shlucha captions. Just be real.”

But is “being real” the goal? What IS the goal of posting anything on social media, anyway? Esther Etiquette sheds light on this controversial topic. Here’s an excerpt:

“Luckiest wife, mother, sister, friend, shlucha” is a completely un-Jewish caption. Why does the reader need to think you are the luckiest? Who are you in competition with for the lucky award? Who will benefit from knowing how lucky and blessed you are? 

Can you imagine converting to Yiddishkeit at the age of 80? Making such a massive sea change in your life at that age? It turns out that Ruth Ellsworth wanted to convert for many decades but couldn’t. Get the whole story in the upcoming N’shei Chabad Newsletter (click here to subscribe or pick it up in Crown Heights stores closer to Gimmel Tammuz).

Sara Lehmann came to the Ohel with her husband and her mother. Little did they know that they would end up “accidentally” giving guidance to another visitor to the Ohel who had come because he was unsure whether to propose to the girl he was dating. Thirty long years after Gimmel Tammuz, there’s no question that the Rebbe is still taking care of his children. Sara’s story appears in the Gimmel Tammuz N’shei Chabad Newsletter.

Zachary Kirstein shares his journey with readers. Here’s an excerpt:

My father, in his 70s, had just been diagnosed with lung cancer and was fighting for his life. I asked him to come along with me to the Rebbe’s gravesite. We arrived in New York and Rabbi Shalom Moshe Paltiel met us to bring us to the Ohel. My father said, “I’ve never done this before. What should I write? Should I pray that the surgery goes well?” Rabbi Paltiel replied, “Pray you won’t need surgery at all!” My father was a bit offended. As if all the top doctors don’t know what they’re talking about? A few weeks later, he went to the Dana Farber Cancer Hospital for his surgery. At the pre-screening, the doctors told him, “This may be a miracle. The tumor is small enough that no surgery is needed after all.” My father has wrapped tefillin every day since then.

We can’t wait for you to read these and more in the next N’shei Chabad Newsletter. Subscribe now at https://nsheichabadnewsletter.com/subscribe/ or pick it up in Crown Heights stores closer to Gimmel Tammuz. See you then!