An article in Ha’aretz tells you the story: Here is an excerpt:
(D)ata from the Bezeq telecommunications company shows a rise in the number of ultra-Orthodox Jews who say they are connected to the Internet. That figure currently stands at 35%, compared to 29% in 2012… For decades, the ultra-Orthodox community isolated itself and grew, becoming more and more extremist and separatist. Now, though, 20 years behind the times, new trends are emerging. The ultra-Orthodox scene on the Internet is ablaze – with websites, ads, forums, video channels on YouTube, and endless activity on social network sites such as Facebook. Large parts of the community, many of whom could be considered as being on the edges of the mainstream of Haredi society, have embraced the Internet wholeheartedly.
Rabbi Bezalel Cohen, a Charedi Rav in Israel, a makes the following observation:
“The rabbis fear that an intellectual group in the ultra-Orthodox community will be exposed to information and opinions that are not acceptable to the leadership… There were always curious people who went to libraries and all sorts of other places to gather knowledge,” notes Cohen. The real change, he adds, has come from the technology’s ability to shorten distances and allow people to interact and build new communities, undermining the rabbinic sources of authority. “The Internet has become a very big tool to organize an underground. Groups were created that developed a dialogue using email and forums. People with an ideological identity connected in a much easier way and found other like-minded people…
Clearly the early approach taken by the Charedi leadership is not working. While it is true that there has been some concession to reality (especially in America) and the focus is now more on filters, that does not solve the problem. It may reduce or even eliminate the porn. But it will hardly eliminate encounters with websites that challenge your faith. Websites that have answered those questions with a heresy that questioners found more satisfying than answers they were given by their religious teachers. Which in many cases were no answers at all. Just admonitions to dare not ask ‘those kinds of questions’.
That is obviously not going to work anymore as more Charedim get smartphones. While the current 65% may stay ‘safe from the Apikurus’ by living in isolation – that percentage seems to be shrinking. But even if it isn’t, are we willing to write off 35% of the Charedi world?
To me the obvious solution is not to ban these highly useful items. The solution is to educate. The entire educational system must adapt to the times. We are confronted with a challenge that will not go away.
Educators need to anticipate the kinds of encounters and challenges one will find on the internet and teach their students how to handle it. Educators must themselves be educated to give meaningful answers to difficult questions – even before they are asked. This is the only thing that will work in the long run. Because without it, things like bans, filters, or trading in the internet for a TV is only putting a band-aid on a huge problem that will eventually overpower it.
