Chevre, this week’s parsha is Chaye Sarah (חיי שרה). The parsha this week completely revolves around family. We start with the death of Sarah and purchasing a burial place for her. Finding a wife for Yitchak. And we end with Avraham remarrying and then dying at an old age. And we wrap up with the family line of Yishmael.

I spend a large amount of my week in front of screens. My phone, my tablet, my computers (yes, my desk now has 3 screens on 2 computers), the TV, etc etc. At the end of the day, however, all the screens get turned off and put away. We go to another room and we’re just people. We interact with each other and discuss topics. Over Shabbat we can’t talk to, write to, or communicate with our AIs. I know AI has taken over huge swaths of my day and has made so many things easier and added automations for me. Or helped me build automations. And I enjoy those, especially the ones that run on Shabbat to light, cool and heat the house.

But at the end of the day, when we look at our lives, we think about the people we’ve touched and interacted with. And the people who have touched us. I may be sending a Whatsapp out into the Ether, but (generally) I’m writing to people. And it’s this personal interaction that makes Shabbat, for me, so wonderful. We see our friends, neighbors and family. We interact with them. And we shut out the rest of the world for 25 hours and just focus on what’s in front of us. We rest up. Eat some good food. And let the heart rate come down some.

I bless you all for a quiet, pleasant Shabbat with friends and family.

Shabbat Shalom.