Hey Siri!

One of the signs that a person has made it in the business world is having an employee whose sole job is to take care of one’s menial tasks.  But for close to a decade, even regular folks like me have finally been able to have a personal assistant.  This coming month Apple’s Siri turns eight years old, and though she and her friend Alexa do not do much more for us than scheduling appointments and telling us the weather, many use these services to achieve more productivity in life.

Fortunately Siri is not a real person; if Siri was real, she would probably be going to jail this week.  On Wednesday Apple issued the following apology: “Customers have been concerned by recent reports of people listening to audio Siri recordings as part of our Siri quality evaluation process,” Apple said in the post. “As a result of our review, we realize we haven’t been fully living up to our high ideals, and for that we apologize.”

Yes, anytime you called upon Siri said a word that sounds like “Siri” Apple had a real human somewhere listening to a recording to the words that follow for quality evaluation. 

Our Parsha begins by stressing that which we choose to listen:

רְאֵ֗ה אָנֹכִ֛י נֹתֵ֥ן לִפְנֵיכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם בְּרָכָ֖ה וּקְלָלָֽה׃
אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּֽוֹם׃
וְהַקְּלָלָ֗ה אִם־לֹ֤א תִשְׁמְעוּ֙ אֶל־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם וְסַרְתֶּ֣ם מִן־הַדֶּ֔רֶךְ אֲשֶׁ֧ר אָנֹכִ֛י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶ֖ם הַיּ֑וֹם לָלֶ֗כֶת אַחֲרֵ֛י אֱלֹהִ֥ים אֲחֵרִ֖ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־יְדַעְתֶּֽם׃

See, this day I set before you blessing and curse: blessing, if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God that I enjoin upon you this day; and curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn away from the path that I enjoin upon you this day and follow other gods, whom you have not experienced.

While the commentaries grapple with a host of issues in these verses, I would like to highlight a particularly strange word choice:  

אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ

Which most translate as “The blessing if you obey the commandments.”

Why did the Torah use the word “asher tishmiu”, which generally means “that you listen” instead of the more familiar “im tishmiu,” “if you listen”?

The Ohr Hachaim explains that the Torah really intends for a second meaning. אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ – The Blessing is that you listen.

את הברכה אשר וגו’. אמרו את, להעיר כי מלבד הברכה המושגת מדרך ה’ עוד לו עמה יעוד הטוב, והוא אשר תשמעו כי השמיעה בתורה הוא תענוג מופלא ומחיה הנפש

The word את , which frequently means “with” means here that in addition to the blessing which is the result of walking in G’d’s paths there would be a bonus, i.e. they would hearken to G’d’s commandments. Hearkening to G’d’s commandments is perceived as a pleasurable experience by itself. It helps the soul to feel “alive”

The Torah is not only the means to a life of blessing, that we are rewarded with blessing for a life committed to Torah values, but that very commitment to Torah is part of the blessing. 

We feel a sense of satisfaction when we follow the ways of the Torah. 

Though we end the month of Av today, this remind me of the halacha that one may not study Torah on Tisha B’av.  Why- because the words of Torah cause happiness.  Rabbi Yitzi Genack explains that for the vast majority of us, the act of learning may not be #1 on our list of relaxing and enjoyable activities, but when we engage its study causes a sense of satisfaction knowing that we have done the right thing. 

This is the blessing of our parsha: that we will listen to the words of the Torah and achieve this satisfaction. 

But the blessing of “ashe tishmiu” is more than just listening to the Torah.  Listening in general leads to a higher quality of life.  When we listen actively, when we soak in the world around us, we do better in school and we do better in work.  We improve our social lives and we improve our personal lives. 

אֶֽת־הַבְּרָכָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר תִּשְׁמְע֗וּ – the pursuit of blessing and a life of blessing require us to listen. 

We live in a world where listening is a challenge. 

We do not spend much time listening and taking in the world immediately around us, as we fill much of our empty time with technology. 

In our relationships, it has become normal for someone to pull out their phone and put a text message ahead of the person we are presently speaking to. 

We struggle to really buckle down and get work done because we become distracted by every email and notification that we receive. 

Technology is a part of a lives, and we can all point to ways our lives and relationships have improved through technology.  But we can all admit that there are times this same technology adversely affects us, as it prevents us from being present and listening.

Many became upset this week upon realizing that our technology listens to the things we say a bit more than we would like.  As Apple, Google, Facebook, and other companies continue to make strides to protect our privacy, let us give thought to the bracha asher tishmiu, ensuring that our technology is not detaching us from the blessing of listening.