The power of Word(le) – jewishpresstampa

You may have seen friends posting on social media with what seems like a secret code. A series of numbers followed by gray, yellow, and green boxes. They are part of a game called Wordle which has become an internet sensation over the past few weeks. The internet based game gives players six chances to guess a five letter word, giving clues after each attempt letting the player know if a letter and its placement in the word are correct. Every player gets the same word and resets every 24 hours meaning that you can only play it once a day and spoilers (and sometimes even hints) are strongly discouraged. There are conversations across platforms about strategies and which word to use first to get the maximum amount of most commonly used letters. If you think Wordle is fun, but not challenging or entertaining enough, you can try the many variations that have popped up including ones that use Harry Potter themed words, a dual board where you guess two words at once, and even one only using four-letter (yes those kinds of four-letter) words.

Theres a Yiddish version, of course, and theres also Jewdle, which gives you a word associated somehow with Judaism and once youve either gotten it right or run out of guesses it teaches you about the term! My favorite of the variations is the Hebrew Wordle (although I do get frustrated when it gives me a Hebrew word thats actually based on an English one, for example one day it was sauna, samech-alef-vav-nun-hey). I enjoy testing my Hebrew vocabulary and taking shorashim (root letters) turning them into nouns and building them into various binyanim structures that change the meaning of a verb. This strategy doesnt usually work, but it keeps my conjugation skills fresh and I often get to learn a new word.

This whole experience of the Wordle craze, I think, teaches us some important lessons in Jewish value. First, its good for your brain! The rabbis of the Talmud are constantly trying to stretch their brains with wordplay, to keep their minds agile and fresh with Torah verses.

Though you can play Wordle all by yourself and never share your results or talk about the word of the day, really its best experienced with community, just like Judaism. Everyone across the world gets the same Wordle word of the day and also each week we all read the same parsha (except every once in a while when Israel and the diaspora are one week off). When it comes to our weekly parsha, we learn the same stories and share lessons based on Gods words that have been taught for centuries. We are creating a knesset Yisrael, a worldwide connected community of Israel by studying the parsha in tandem. The same goes for almost any Jewish ritual lighting Shabbat candles, putting on tefillin, celebrating Passover, or singing the Shema. They can all be done alone technically, but are so much more powerful and meaningful when you know there are others doing it with you.

Lastly, words are important. Choosing the wrong word could make your Wordle streak end and also end relationships, friendships, and break trust. Or on the other hand, God created the world with words, meaning we can do the same. We can build up someones confidence, create new bonds, and have new experiences. With words, we make blessings, bring holiness into the world marking a transition from a mundane moment to a holy one.

Do we sometimes miss the mark, being so close just one green square away? Absolutely, we sometimes say the wrong thing, we realize after the fact what we could have said instead. We learn the correct words, to be more articulate, sensitive, welcoming, logical. And then we get the opportunity to try again tomorrow to find the words, to connect with community, to keep ourselves on top of our game.

Rabbinically Speaking is published as a public service by the Jewish Press in cooperation with the Tampa Rabbinical Association which assigns the column on a rotating basis. The views expressed in the column are those of the rabbi and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Jewish Press or the TRA.

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The power of Word(le) - jewishpresstampa