
The seven hour event cost $1.5 million and featured prominent Jewish leaders who railed against the Internet as corrupting the faithful by exposing them to outside ideas and influences. One participant is quoted as denouncing “unadulterated freedom” as a threat to religion.
One Rabbi warned that the “internet is a fire that burns a person’s body and soul.” Much like their counterparts in Iran, the religious leaders warned that having Internet access without approved filters and limiting software is immoral and violation of faith. Information going to them and their families must remain closely controlled and approved by their religious leaders.
Moreover, any family breaking these rules are to be “shunned” as corrupted.
The effort to keep roughly one million Orthodox Jews in self-imposed isolation is no easy task in a pluralistic and modern society. Yet, “unadulterated freedom” has been known to lead to . . . freedom.
Source: New York Daily News and Gizmodo
