This week, my family celebrated the marriage of my niece, the first of her generation to get married. While I would have loved to be there in person, it proved impossible for personal reasons. Being somewhat FOMO-challenged, I followed every moment through our family WhatsApp group. I heard the speeches, saw the chuppah, and though I wasn’t physically there, I still felt part of the simcha. Living vicariously really works.
As I went over this week’s parashah, I realized that this was exactly Yisro’s experience, and, in fact, the experience of each of us at Matan Torah.
We often think of 'living vicariously' as experiencing someone else’s joy or adventure from afar. But in Torah, it is something much deeper. Living vicariously is often seen as a passive escape, watching others’ lives unfold through social media while neglecting one’s own. But in the Torah’s view, living vicariously is not about distraction; it is about connection, using the Torah to transcend our limited existence and ta…
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