On that Thursday evening, Ellie and I did the final clearing, cleaning, toy locating and bed-making for four of our grandkids and their parents who would be arriving on Sunday. And for their aunt getting in the next day from Israel.

A wonderful week later, the family returned home. As I thought about the week, I realized that the TV in our house had not been turned on since that previous Thursday — and maybe even the day before. By then, we’d been eleven days without TV. And we were fine, thanks very much!

With their parents, the grands got to watch on a laptop two filmed episodes of a book series they are all reading (aloud by the parents) or hearing (the kids). They do not have a TV at home; ours is in a cabinet, so it was not an obvious option for when there was a lull in activity.

Activity?! The four kids (ages 9.5 to 4) aggressively tickled the ivories, strummed my guitar, read, blew shofar, played board games, baked challah, got wet and sandy at the beach, sweated through the Cape May Zoo, ate ice cream out, ate ice cream in, raced around and in the house; busy enough without TV!

There is some value in losing oneself in the unreality of a TV show or in having your political opinions bolstered by talking heads (and occasionally dropping in on a rival source of views to see the “other side”). Yet I have found at least as much satisfaction from leaving the TV cabinet unopened.

There is plenty of interesting and/or inspiring literature out there, in print and online, and, in this Elul period of preparation for Rosh Hashana, each of us has more personal things to consider: our relationships with family and friends, how we feel about ourselves, what kind of meaningful change we might effect in our lives, where we can find spiritual uplift, that we can give to others in many ways…and how we can maintain and enrich community when the primary mode of contact is a flat screen.

For me, concentrating on High Holy Day services again in COVID mode, sermons topics, and simply transitioning from summer time to “real” time will make it easy to avoid TV.

As we transition from summer to rest-of-the-year time, visit our emailed Elul Blasts, look through the High Holy Day machzor, read books that speak to issues of our days and lives, look for poetry and other arts that can offer fresh perspectives. Take a walk, choosing a route less familiar, perhaps seeing if, on a boardwalk stroll, you can concentrate on the ocean instead of the houses. Or…

In this now prolonged period of distancing and reliance on our computer screens for personal contact, a break from flat views could be good for the soul. It could leave us plenty of space in which to clear, clean, locate, and make or remake our beds for the new year.