Sunday, March 18, 2012

Rabbonim change strategy, refocus the battle against Internet and technology.

    In September 2005 the first major Asifa regarding the dangers of the Internet took place in Lakewood. The Rabbonim and speakers all pointed out the fact how dangerous it is for the well being of families not only children but adults as well. Takkanos were implemented where people were not allowed to have internet access at home and kids will not be accepted, or expelled from school if parents didn't comply with the ban. A local paper quoted "The community's policy -- formed with the principals of the area's 43 yeshivas, or Jewish private schools, and unveiled in late September -- decrees that any student with home access faces suspension or expulsion on the grounds that even one Internet-corrupted student could sway others".

    However, no one at the time was tech savvy enough to understand the importance of the internet in our daily lives it was seen as a luxury and maybe for some, essential for business. They fought it with the same tactics and strategy that was used to fight television. They did not do proper follow up to the ban and failed to realize the good of the internet too. The results were predictable: more people got internet access. The availability of Smart phones and newer tablets  give people access to the web where ever they go. Its not restricted or confined to a house or office. A lack of education in explaining the good and the bad of the web contributed to many not being careful when going online.

Realizing that its a lost battle, the rabbonim now are refocusing the approach on how to fight the dangers of the web. A giant Asifa is planned for this coming may 20th. The theme is not to ban the internet, but, rather: The Internet  "We cant live with it we cant live without it" using technology responsibly al pi torah. They realize it is here to stay and the fight now is to  focus on proper safeguards, filters, and education on the dangers of technology especially with smart phones ipads and other devices. Over the years there have been many different ways and approaches by various rabbanim, roshei yeshiva and admorim on how to deal with the Internet, but a noticeable change is that all agree it is here to stay and we must learn how to deal with it properly. 

3 comments:

  1. Can't wait for the Artscroll shas on my ipad!

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    1. If you're serious about wanting shas on your tablet, there are actually a few free options out there already. Hebrewbooks.org has a complete shas in pdf you can download. You can view it in acrobat, or if you like the options e-readers provide like a table of contents and bookmarks then you can use aldiko (also free).

      There's also an iOS app called ובלכתך בדרך - it has _everything_ (and I mean everything) you could want from a text perspective - tanach, shas, rishonim, achronim, commentaries, etc.

      For an English shas, I think you may have to go with the Soncino Talmud. It's a tad dated, but it's available in electronic format. (I haven't actually tried to load it onto any of my mobile devices so I can't actually guarantee it'll work, but it should).

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  2. the lakewood takanos allowed whoever needed it to have it with proper safegaurgds, filers locks etc

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