Michael J. Salamon, Ph.D. We have recently been bombarded with a spate of articles on what is being called the “Half Shabbos” situation, where people, mostly teens and people in their early 20’s, are said to keep all the laws of Shabbos and kashrus but cannot seem to go without their iPhones or Blackberries or hand held computers for the 25 hours of Shabbos. So on Shabbos they surreptitiously text and Tweet and read and write Facebook posts to their friends while rationalizing that it is not really wrong because it is not the same as actual writing. One journalist says this situation is most likely to occur among those the writer labels as modern orthodox because, according to this individual, they tend not to be as careful with their observance of certain mitzvoth. Another essayist suggests that this new phenomenon happens more often among Yeshivish people because of the forbidden fruit theory. Not only is it wrong to communicate digitally on Shabbos but they are told that it is even wrong to have a Smartphone. For some of these young Yeshivish people two negatives make a positive. Each writer approaches the phenomenon from their own perspective and experience. Each also tends to assign responsibility for the problem to either parents who are not teaching their children about the importance of the laws Shabbos or to Rabbeim who are not effective in communicating the special warmth of a truly meaningful day of rest. From my experience, I can state that this situation is not limited to any particular group, nor can we place the blame squarely on any specific segment of the community. All groups bear equal responsibility for this condition. Half Shabbos is also not as pervasive as some of these reports would lead us to believe. While it is next to impossible to get any hard data on how many young people participate in Half Shabbos, it is not yet widespread. That is not an attempt to excuse or minimize it, but rather to keep it in proper context. Most importantly, half Shabbos is really not a new phenomenon. When small, portable battery driven televisions became available in the late 1970’s, there were people in shuls who could not only update us on sports scores but might also report the latest news on Shabbos afternoons. This is not to mention the practice of some who to leave their televisions on for all of Shabbos and who have done so for years. Back in the days when battery-powered transistor radios were still new, people somehow knew just the right person to ask for the baseball scores on Shabbos. Only later did I learn that some enterprising teenage baseball aficionados concocted secret ways to keep their transistor radios on all of Shabbos, listening surreptitiously through an earpiece, while the radio was hidden from plain sight. When no one was looking at them, they would listen through the earpiece to track their favorite sports team, and they could always be counted upon for timely updates of the box scores. Some of those same individuals are now among the most upstanding members of the community. There are several important points that are too easily discounted when the topic of Half Shabbos is discussed. First, and what I think is most important, is the fact that the teen years are a time of experimentation and rebelliousness. For many teens, laws are made to be broken. The vast majority of teens rebel, but the large majority of them do so in very minor ways. A moderate response to these small rebellions is thus indicated. For many young people who experiment with it, Half Shabbos is not a statement that they are breaking with religion; rather, it is a way to get through this stage of testing. A too strong reaction by a parent or a Rebbe might actually push the teen farther away from religious observance. As I indicated, this form of experimentation has always occurred in one form or another and most of those involved have become completely involved in religious observance over time. Pointing fingers at any particular group also causes more problems than it solves. There is a delusional idea that somehow divisiveness strengthens a group by separating it. On the contrary, we have much more in common with other segments of Orthodoxy than not. By continuing to make such distinctions, we are only adding to the confusion that our children experience and we are inadvertently giving them license to become even more rebellious. Cell phones, Smart phones, tablet computers – they are all here to stay. Pretending that they do not exist, confiscating them or legislating against them will not work. Many of these devices are available very inexpensively, and teens will quickly learn just how to use them from their peers. What is truly lacking, and not just among young people or in the Jewish world, is the proper social etiquette for these technological advances, and simple, clear rules for when and how to use them. As with all technological advances, we will eventually learn how to adapt to these changes. Until we do, trying to force compliance is missing the point. We can only show young people the correct ways of adherence to Jewish life by providing healthy role models and proper discipline, not by trying to enforce rules against reality. Dr. Michael Salamon, a fellow of the American Psychological Association, is the founder and director of ADC Psychological Services in Hewlett, New York and a board member of P’TACH. He is the author of numerous articles and several psychological tests and books including his newest book Abuse in the Jewish Community, The Shidduch Crisis: Causes and Cures" (both fromUrim Publications) and "Every Pot Has a Cover" (University Press of America).