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Last update - 00:00 20/05/2007
Ultra-Orthodox Jewish group declares war on computers
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz Correspondent

Where else but on the Internet could the articles raise such a fuss? "There are no kosher movies," "No more computers," read some of the headlines on Heder Shaket, the online forum where Gerrer Hasidim conduct discussions, some of them daring, under a blanket of abbreviations and internal code. As usual in the virtual world, for a long time truth and rumor about what was permitted blended together, but an official declaration of war has finally been issued - a war against the increasing computerization of the ultra-Orthodox world.

Every Gerrer Hasid with a computer can expect a house call in the near future, meant to persuade him to get rid of the treyf device. Those with an Internet connection - the height of spiritual contamination, which only a few members of the community have rabbinical permission to use, and that for work purposes only - will receive special attention.

The purpose of the campaign is not to threaten computer users with sanctions, but rather to explain the "spiritual dangers" to which they and members of their household are exposed. If the Gerrer rebbe so wished, members of the community say, he would have ordered the computers removed from his followers' homes. But the rebbe is not doing so, perhaps because he, Rabbi Yaakov Aryeh Alter, knows how difficult it is to round up the horses once the stable door has been left open. And so, the campaign's purpose is informative: Every shtibl [small synagogue] is to appoint two people to go from house to house with the message that it is preferable not to have a computer at home.
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While the battle over televisions was a successful one, computers are common in ultra-Orthodox homes. They are used mainly for word processing or to watch "kosher" films (Haredi-produced family fare, often educational). But many of them are connected to the Internet. Efforts to create a kosher Internet with restricted access have not borne fruit. Haredim from all sectors of the community participate in the dozens of Haredi forums that exist. Some of the "heavy users" are from Ger, Israel's largest Haredi sect, with thousands of families.

The moral issue is not the only one. For over a year, the Gerrer community has been following the fascinating battle in the courts of Gerrer Yisrael Ackerman, who is petitioning for the revelation of the identity of "Ploni Almoni" (the Hebrew equivalent of "John Doe"), who is also apparently a Gerrer. In 2004, Ploni Almoni posted an anonymous announcement on a Hasidic forum claiming that Ackerman beat up another Hasid, a nam named Levine, whom he suspected of disloyalty to the current rebbe.

The conventional wisdom in the community is that "Ploni Almoni" is one of a small group within the sect that questions the current leadership of the community, and that behind the lawsuit of Ackerman, the scion of a respected Hasidic family, are associates of Rabbi Alter. Many believe the legal battle is intended to deter community members from using the Internet, which can provoke the use of slander. On Heder Shaket and similar forums, one can easily find content that is critical of the Gerrer leadership.

In Hasidic communities such as Ger, where allegiance to the rebbe is a fundamental value and where every individual is dependent on community institutions from cradle to grave, the increased supervision of the Internet is causing panic. One of the regulars of Heder Shaket has already told the forum that he intends to get rid of his computer. "Up to now I felt it was between me and God, but today I feel that it's against Ger and that I cannot make my own law; I must accept the new regulations," he wrote. He called on fellow forum participants to join "the measure to clean our homes."

The fate of the kosher movies, which Gerrer families watch via computer, is still not clear. One married yeshiva student from Jerusalem related that he recently spent hundreds of shekels buying Haredi educational films for his children to view, "but if during the house call they tell me it isn't okay, then I'll throw them in the trash."
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  1.   GER HASSIDIM CAN SPELL, HAARETZ CAN`T! 04:01  |  Yossi Dor 20/05/07
  2.   computers and orthodox 04:37  |  hf 20/05/07
  3.   Funniest Thing I Ever Heard 05:50  |  Uncle Sammy 20/05/07
  4.   This is so, so sad. 05:58  |  Ploni Almoni 20/05/07
  5.   Ulrta-Orthodox Jewish group declares war on computers 06:40  |  Stanley 20/05/07
  6.   Fanatical religion 06:51  |  Ruth Broch 20/05/07
  7.   Ultra orthodox group declares war on computers 07:14  |  Yentel 20/05/07
  8.   well... 08:08  |  Max 20/05/07
  9.   The Rabbis have a legitimate concern, most sex crimes comes from. 08:42  |  Tom 20/05/07
  10.   Well... I Guess if They Don`t Strap Suicide Belts Around 09:16  |  Eli 20/05/07
  11.   what ever next 09:19  |  SJ 20/05/07
  12.   War on Computer response to #9 09:41  |  Yentel 20/05/07
  13.   rabbis are not G-d! 09:48  |  anti-fundamentalist 20/05/07
  14.   toms response 10:22  |  david 20/05/07
  15.   the responses are sadder than the article 10:36  |  shmuel 20/05/07
  16.   To Max in Toronto 10:44  |  RF 20/05/07
  17.   IT MUST BE APRIL 1ST AGAIN ?? RABBI DON QIXOTE TILTS AT WINDMILLS 10:47  |  paul harris 20/05/08
  18.   a wonderful, thoughtful response 10:52  |  samos 20/05/07
  19.   Computers blocks available. 11:04  |  Avraham 20/05/07
  20.   The Rebbe is right 11:07  |  Gerrer chossid 20/05/07
  21.   Ruth Broch = Anti Semite 11:16  |  Steven 20/05/07
  22.   RF I DO NOT WANT TO HAVE TO DIE FROM THE LEFT 11:19  |  Steven 20/05/07
  23.   SJ where have you been? 11:21  |  Steven 20/05/07
  24.   Answer to Gerrer Chossid 12:14  |  Charlie 20/05/07
  25.   I support their decision if they are strong enough to choose it 12:26  |  Dror 20/05/07
  26.   back to the dark ages 12:37  |  Isa 20/05/07
  27.   I don`t own a television 13:33  |  Eric 20/05/07
  28.   Virtual Traiffe 13:58  |  Ronnie Wolman 20/05/07
  29.   Simpler Solution 14:24  |  Shlomo Leib 20/05/07
  30.   War on computers? 14:44  |  Tony Price 20/05/07
  31.   Eric to a racist anti-semite it does (27) 14:47  |  Steven 20/05/07
  32.   Computers declare war on the ultra-orthodox 18:50  |  Ian 20/05/07
  33.   computers 21:28  |  grossman 20/05/07
  34.   Internet or computers? 21:30  |  Ben Azai 20/05/07
  35.   great!! 21:41  |  alex 20/05/07
  36.   to # 20 the Gerrer Chosid 22:01  |  Dave 20/05/07
  37.   Shmuel , Rehovot 22:28  |  charles 20/05/07
  38.   I`m a victim of a gerrer pedophile 23:10  |  shmiel 20/05/07
  39.   Modern World 23:23  |  Avi Yerushalmi 20/05/07
  40.   Oh my god! 23:30  |  Darin 20/05/07
  41.   a thing called freedom 23:37  |  sellier 20/05/07
  42.   No computer... And so what? 00:12  |  sini 21/05/07
  43.   They Have To Live Somewhere 00:59  |  Boris Kuznetz 21/05/07
  44.   NSW Australia yesterday,13 yr old girl,met 40 yr old man on 01:42  |  PETER SM 21/05/07
  45.   war on computers 01:51  |  ljf-canada 21/05/07
  46.   Oh boy 04:45  |  Adrian de Klerk 21/05/07
  47.   Human rights and personal freedoms. 05:28  |  Hal 21/05/07
  48.   reply to steven # 23 06:37  |  SJ 21/05/07
  49.   Don`t it is only a tiny group of the Jews 07:28  |  chad gadia 21/05/07
  50.   miracle ! 07:35  |  Eureka ! 21/05/07
  51.   27: Eric, there`s a difference 07:38  |  David Teich 21/05/07
  52.   The Gerrer pedophile 08:33  |  Ish Emes 21/05/07
  53.   Lazerovitz 08:36  |  New York Post 21/05/07
  54.   Crazies 08:43  |  enough 21/05/07
  55.   to charles 09:12  |  shmuel 21/05/07
  56.   The ultra-Orthodox are terrified 09:35  |  Yonatan 21/05/07
  57.   As if adults are incapable of making the right choices! 14:12  |  Virginia 21/05/07
  58.   schmuel 20:46  |  charles 21/05/07
  59.   People always "explore" no matter what their religion is 10:14  |  Albert Edelson 22/05/07
  60.   kosher internet 17:03  |  mike 08/06/07
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