My friend, sociologist Pro' A.A., you have often wondered what the difference is between the kosher phone of 'Rami Levy' and the kosher phone of the Rabbinical Committee, and in general what is the background to the controversy surrounding the issue in recent months on the Haredi street. Well, I will tell you, as a general introduction, that Haredi society is dealing with the development of technology and the information revolution in its own way, or in more precise words: true, but too little and too late.
The third-generation cell phone, which had become a mass consumer product at the beginning of the millennium, also reached the Haredi community, which had difficulty dealing with it. The abundance of functions and the offer of correspondence with countless attractive channels at a tiny price rightly frightened the Haredi media professionals, who chose to create a phone that would be disconnected from any possibility of browsing as well as sending messages and emails.
But as computer scientist Alan Kay once said, "Technology is anything that wasn't here when you were born," the world doesn't stand still, and dealing with it and facing it requires adaptation. The struggle against progress, modernization, and the information revolution is doomed to failure. There is no normative society that has managed to leave its members outside civilization - that is, if we ignore the Amish sleepwalking plague, of course.
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In this respect, the war on the cell phone was no different. Young Haredi people quickly realized that it was impossible to function in the modern world without the messaging and email function, and at the same time as the kosher phone, they purchased another device that allowed them to interact with the modern world. Initially, the behavior of these young people was characterized by shyness or even defensiveness. Later, the "non-kosher" phone became a normative standard in significant parts of the sector.
The media industry understood that the war on advanced phones was lost. The series of photos of the rabbis' assistants, the servants of the 'greatest generation', who are unashamedly holding advanced iPhone 5S 16GB devices priced at only 3,799 shekels, did not contribute to this. The rumors about 'deals' and transactions taking place with certain courts and entities in the media sector did not contribute to this either. The industry understood that the right time to make kosher phones with SMS and email notifications had arrived.
But it was too little, too late. A significant portion, if not most, of those in need of the latest devices exchanged their communication packages for deals that did not include 'kosher devices,' and the smartphones, although also kosher, arrived to them after the patient had breathed his last.
There is a world outside the headline of 'Yated Ne'eman''
But even if the telephone affair was missed, the issue of the Internet and movies is still ahead of us. In an excellent article published by a well-known Israeli sociologist, he describes life with the Internet and almost no other tools in just twenty years. During this period, television will disappear, books will be electronic, and even 10-year-old boys will be using the Internet, not to mention later ages. Will those children have a tool that is kosher, clean, controlled, and still relevant?
'"In all your ways know Him," says King Solomon, and Rabbi Hirsch was impressed by the fact that man must find his way to God with all the modern tools at his disposal. He should not turn his back on science, art, and culture outside his four nations; rather, he should view them through the eyes of a believing Jew. Does the world of cinema, art, and literature fall outside this concept?
Are the young Haredi Jews exposed today, just a click away from the scooter and television channels, not worthy of fine Jewish works of art, which are not necessarily the latest musical created by the local seminary girls? Are the books of Jules Verne, Victor Hugo, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexandre Dumas, Ryder Haggard, and Mark Twain not kosher enough for our children? Why should we be exposed to the mountains of trash literature of such low-grade Haredi comics with their grotesque images of the 'Haredi' with the big wigs and the 'evil' with the demonic face?
Literature, art, the scooter, theater, media, and the Internet are already here. Their scents surround us and we are intoxicated by their presence. The only question is whether we will open a door for them, occupy the right channel for them, or wait patiently until they overwhelm us.
How [not] to console. Reuven is sitting in a mourning ceremony for the death of his wife, the wife of his youth, and his heart is heavy for him. Among the comforters is an acquaintance, not very close, who also lost his wife a long time ago and he seeks with all his heart to comfort Reuven, to share his experience with him, and to create a connection between the pains of both. His heart is pure, and his intentions are good. However, too much good has caused heartbreak for the wounded mourner who only wanted to receive a little comfort. And I have already witnessed such a "sabbath" when that acquaintance shook the mourner:
'"I also lost the wife of my youth, Rebecca, you remember. I say, a first wife, that's a different thing. You can't recover from that. It stays with you.".
The mourner, a well-known kollel head and a scholar, sighed and said: 'Well, let's hope that God will give me strength, what's left to do,' but then the fool interrupted him and said, 'No, a first wife is something else, it doesn't let up.' He added that 12 years had already passed since the death of the wife of his youth and he still hasn't 'managed to get over it,' as he put it. The mourner rabbi burst into tears and the widower felt his heart go out to him. He consoled him.
He consoled himself.
