What's the catch?

It looked like something out of science fiction. Groups of people, eyes glued to  their phone, would move together and then all stop at the same location, intently staring at their phones. 

pic credit cottonbro studio on Pexels

There were several such groups scattered about Eisenhower Park yesterday. As they all seemed focused on the area in which they were, I thought perhaps the park had an app that gave information about different points of interest like the historical monuments featured. 

But that wasn't it, as I confirmed when I finally asked someone in a smaller cluster what it was about. He said they are all there to catch Pokemon figures. They were told some rare ones would be there.  

Ah, so all these people staring at their phones are bringing up Plato's cave to a degree I'm sure even he could never envision. The virtual dictates where one goes in the physical in pursuit of creature that don't even exist. 

This is such an apt metaphor for how we sometimes get caught up in groups that make it seem normal to chase after cartoons characters you see on a screen. We can dedicate a great deal of time and energy to trying to catch what's not really there. It's something to think about during Elul. 

Related: Cheshbon

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