By now, you have likely heard about the Internet Asifa, the large gathering of Orthodox Jews at Citi Field a few weeks ago to address the dangers of the Internet.\u00a0 The gathering included some harsh and strict proclamations, such as forbidding Internet in the home, stating that it is only permissible to use the web for work purposes.<\/p>\n
The Asifa also attracted a great deal of criticism, much of it I believe warranted.\u00a0 The organizers called themselves Ichud Ha\u2019Kehillos and claimed that part of the goal of the event was to promote great achdus, unity, among the Jewish people.\u00a0 They emphasized that this event would reflect the great diversity of Torah Jews, but in fact, it only represented a specific slice of Orthodoxy as some groups of Chassidim didn\u2019t join and certainly Yeshiva University\u2019s Roshei Yeshiva and Poskim were not invited to participate.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, some were critical of the fact that the entire gathering was designated for men only.\u00a0 If the Internet truly threatens the sanctity of the home, shouldn\u2019t women, the guardians of the home, be in attendance in an event whose purpose is to strengthen our resistance to the Internet\u2019s dangers?<\/p>\n
The Satmar Rebbe and Rav Shmuel Kaminetzky, interestingly, shared another concern.\u00a0 The Torah observant community is indeed diverse and reflects different world outlooks, practices, community customs and norms.\u00a0 How could one event possibly speak to or lay down guidelines for a Chasid from Williamsburg, a Yeshiva Bochur from Lakewood, a Businessman from the Upper West Side and a Doctor from Teaneck?\u00a0\u00a0 Each community needs to adopt its own approach to this issue and in the case of the Internet, one size simply does not fit all.<\/p>\n
There are many other points of criticism, but I am not writing this column to sling arrows or shoot down the Asifa.\u00a0 Quite the contrary, no matter what you thought of it, there are still so many things to admire and learn from the community that organized and attended it and that is what I would like to share with you.<\/p>\n
Firstly, it is simply remarkable how many people attended and that is not disputable.\u00a0 Not only did Citi Field which holds over 40,000 people sell out, the organizers then rented Arthur Ashe Stadium next door which has the capacity for another 22,000 people. I wonder if the leaders of Modern Orthodoxy announced a monumental gathering in NY to rally for Israel, reflect on the dangers of the modern world, or any other purpose, how many people would attend?\u00a0 Would our Modern Orthodox community show up with over 60,000 strong for almost any reason these days?<\/p>\n
You may say, it is simple, Chareidim believe in Da\u2019as Torah and the importance of being obedient to the leading Rabbis of the generation. Their Rabbis said to attend and the people responded. The Modern Orthodox community, however, is trained to think for themselves, practice autonomy and be independently minded.\u00a0\u00a0 While I agree with the explanation, I wonder if perhaps our community would benefit from a little more admiration, respect and deference to the words and advice of our Modern Orthodox community\u2019s greatest leaders and sages.<\/p>\n
Secondly, we clearly disagree and reject the Asifa\u2019s conclusion, that the Internet is categorically evil and has no place in our lives unless absolutely necessary for business.\u00a0 I see the Internet like the telephone or electricity; it has the potential for great harm or for great good.\u00a0\u00a0 How many divrei Torah<\/em> have been downloaded, listened to or watched on the web, for example?<\/p>\n Yet, the Asifa is correct in raising the grave dangers an unfiltered and unrestrained use of the Internet presents.\u00a0 There is no doubt that the access to everything and anything that the Internet provides is a great seductive force in the lives of young people and adults alike. \u00a0We should admire and indeed emulate the Asifa\u2019s goal of encouraging people to struggle with maintaining sanctity in their homes and their lives.<\/p>\n Rejecting the Asifa\u2019s solution should not mean dismissing the undeniable problem the Asifa raises \u2013 how to properly adopt technology into our lives in a meaningful, safe and productive way.<\/p>\n I hope that future Asifas will indeed include all segments of Klal Yisroel and will be designed to speak to serious Torah Jews, no matter what community they belong to.\u00a0 In the meantime, we would do a great service to ourselves if rather than cynically reject the Asifa or it\u2019s organizers, we seek to extract that which we can admire from this event and indeed emulate the idea of gathering en masse<\/em>, to grow and enrich our lives in meaningful ways.<\/p>\n Rabbi Efrem Goldberg<\/strong> is the Senior Rabbi of the Boca Raton Synagogue (BRS) in Boca Raton, Florida. He serves as Co-Chair of the Orthodox Rabbinical Board\u2019s Vaad\u00a0HaKashrus, as Director of the Rabbinical Council of America\u2019s South Florida Regional Beis Din for Conversion, and as Posek of the Boca Raton Mikvah.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" While many felt the Asifa left a lot to be desired, there are certain points that we can – and should – learn from.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":733,"featured_media":54947,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-inspiration"],"yoast_head":"\n
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