Not Jewish: the Internet
A few years ago, during the height of that anyone-can-start-an-app meshugas, some people I know began talking about a shiva app. Jews are busy today, the crux of their pitch to me went, and the experience of sitting in a house for eight whole days was ripe for Silicon Valley’s brand of disruption. What if they could digitize the essential parts of the shiva experience? With the help of videoconferencing, social networking, and crowdsourced-support materials, you could get the benefit of a shiva, delivered right to the palm of your hand, without all that inconvenient … sitting.
“OK,” I said, “but what about the babka?”