Actually, that’s probably not true. If the NSA was reading this it would be a bad thing, in my opinion, and most definitely a waste of the government’s time. You, on the other hand, are reading this. That, in my opinion, is a good thing and I hope that you will not find it a waste of time. In fact, I want to thank you for reading this and any of the other “rabbi’s messages” that I have sent which you have read. I appreciate your time and really enjoy the comments I receive in response, even (especially?) when you disagree with me. As far as the NSA’s program itself is concerned, it doesn’t bother me. From what we’ve learned over the past couple of weeks from Edward Snowden’s leaking of information to The Guardian, the NSA (National Security Agency) is mining data from the internet and phone companies to identify suspicious patterns in phone numbers called and addresses to which emails are written. They are not, as the subject line of this email misleadingly implies, reading emails, except in cases where their computers identify suspicious patterns and their intelligence officers get a judge to issue a warrant for them to examine the content of an email or tap a phone number.
I agree with Tom Friedman who wrote in his column earlier this week, “I worry about potential government abuse of privacy from a program designed to prevent another 9/11 — abuse that, so far, does not appear to have happened. But I worry even more about another 9/11.” In Judaism, the saving of lives is our highest value. That is not to say that we should turn our country into a police state in order save lives. But, it does mean that we need to make certain trade-offs. If government computers have my emails and phone calls logged by recipient number and address in some data base so their algorithms can identify suspicious patterns – even if they end up reading some of them because some of you are suspicious characters (LOL) – that’s fine by me. Hey, maybe they’ll decide to read all of my blog postings; I could use some more readers!
All kidding aside, I do think Tom Friedman is right. Any successful attack on our country would not only be a disaster for the victims and their families, it could lead to far worse consequences. It could lead us into another war, costing thousands of lives and trillions of dollars.
I also believe that should our government be able to capture Mr. Snowden he should be tried for treason. His actions have undermined the effectiveness of a program that probably has saved many lives and could yet, if it is not totally compromised, save countless more.
Should we be concerned about our privacy? No doubt. We allow companies and organizations (not Temple Sinai!) to monitor some of our internet use in order to sell us everything and anything. We have security cameras on street corners, inside and outside of stores and businesses. We need to be aware of modern technology and how it impacts our ability to maintain our privacy.
But, truth be told, this is not entirely new. Modern life is becoming…a lot like life in the old days when we lived in small towns and villages right on top of one another. Back then you knew that someone could easily overhear almost anything that you said if you didn’t make a serious effort to keep it private. And our ancestors knew as well that what was said in one place could be heard pretty quickly in another part of the world. “The gossiper stands in Syria and kills in Rome.” (Palestinian Talmud Peah 1:10) In this new/old world we have to practice what our tradition calls, “shmirat ha’lashon,” “guarding the tongue.” The only difference is that for us our tongues extend to our keyboards, iPhones and Ipads.
In sum, Big Brother is not really watching you; he is just logging your emails and phone calls. It’s a trade-off that we should accept in order to have a safer and more peaceful world.
My you have a safe and peaceful Shabbat.
Jordan
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