TECHNOLOGY SERIES
Edited by Aryeh Werth
Is it proper to watch entertainment videos on YouTube or Tik Tok?
Informational videos? Torah videos? Under what circumstances, if any,
should young children use these video platforms?
Without doubt one should take care and use discretion as some entertainment videos might be viewed by some as informational, on the other hand even when the content is passable many of the commercials are not. (I’m assuming Tik Tok is similar to You Tube and what applies to one will apply to the other.)
Torah videos are a wonderful example of taking the profane and using it as a means to spread sanctity.
On this pasuk (Mishlei 22:6): “Chanoch la’na’ar al pi darko, gam ki yazkin lo yasur mi’mena – Train the child in the path suitable for him when he is young, thus when he be old he shall not depart from it …” the Vilna Gaon expounds:
“Each person is born under a specific sign – his mazal – that expresses itself in his inherent tendency to do either good or evil. Obviously the earlier one trains a young child that ‘fire burns’ the sooner he will develop a natural tendency to take care when confronting a fire. Indeed, there is an old idiomatic expression, ‘As the twig is bent so is the tree inclined.’”
In truth the Gaon is explaining one pasuk with another (Bereishis 8:21) “… Vayomer Hashem el libo, lo osif l’kallel od es ha’adama ba’avur ha’adam, ki yetzer lev ha’adam rak ra m’ne’urav … –and Hashem said in His heart, I will not curse the earth again for the sake of man, for the impulse in man’s heart is evil from his youth …”
An adult who had proper chinuch will be best equipped to approach all of these online platforms with common sense.
Remember these two key elements: proper upbringing and common sense. This relates to every other situation in life as well.
– Rabbi Yaakov Klass is Rav of K’hal Bnei Matisyahu in Flatbush; Torah Editor of The Jewish Press; and Presidium Chairman, Rabbinical Alliance of America/Igud HaRabbonim.
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Sadly, I must confess complete ignorance of TikTok, although I have read of its abusive and harmful effects on children or others who are addicted to living their private lives in the public domain.
YouTube, generally speaking, is morally neutral like many modern contrivances. It all depends on how it is used. The access to Torah shiurim, including gedolim who are now in the world of truth, is breathtaking. You can sit in shiur with a Torah giant of two or three generations past! That is stunning. You can learn about the history of the Jewish people and find edifying lectures of all sorts. And certainly, it is possible to gain information, and access news and other worthwhile entities, through videos. The same applies for children if they are properly monitored.
However, we should be aware of the downside to all this. YouTube, or the internet generally, is a bottomless pit of bitul Torah. We can literally waste hours and days watching people (gladly) make fools of themselves, revisiting previously seen entertainment and otherwise frying our brains into numbness. And what will be of the Torah? Life is too short to be wasted on frivolities.
The world is unfortunately filled with problems today, and those problems affect communities and individuals. If Chazal taught us that a suffering person should examine his deeds, and if no obvious defects are found, to attribute his suffering to bitul Torah (Berachot 5a). They knew well of what they spoke. And they spoke to every generation, including ours. That itself should be food for thought.
Within reason, watching videos can be proper, but must always be secondary and tertiary to what is most important in the life of a faithful Jew.
– Rabbi Steven Pruzansky is Israel Region Vice-President for the Coalition for Jewish Values and author of Repentance for Life now available from Kodesh Press.
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The Torah leaders of our generation have made their opinion clear that it is far better to live internet free. Having said that, many people today require internet access for valid reasons. Even so one must maintain the highest-level filter possible for his situation. Even after all that a person may be presented with a situation where he could benefit from viewing certain videos, either for educational or recreational purposes.
There is no question that a person who can, should stay away as far as possible; we all know stories resulting from mishaps with the internet which led to the destruction of people and families. The internet is a slippery slope and can lead one to bad places. Despite all that, some may not be on the level to live without at least some exposure to the internet.
Same goes for exposing children to websites, which can and does lead down the wrong path. If a person feels it’s important to let his children view an appropriate video, they must be supervised the entire time, the child should not be given the control of the devise or even touch it. In my opinion it’s better to let a child watch a computer screen rather than a smart phone. Getting used to smart phones at an early age makes it all the more difficult to resist as they grow older.
– Rabbi Yehoshua Heber is Rav of Khal Tomchai Torah at Yeshiva Torah Vodaath and Dayan at Bdatz Mishptai Yisrael.
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The question is all encompassing for it includes a lot of areas of interest that appears on the Internet.
The bottom line is that the Internet can be a valuable tool for usage both in the study of Torah and the disbursement of information.
The challenge in all these areas is to somehow control that the information that the person is seeking to insure is beneficial for the Torah Jew and the moral growth of the individual.
Like anything else all this information and the general internet is a double-edged sword. When controlled, it has the ability to educate and to inspire indeed to save lives. It can be used as a source for instruction and information that just twenty-five years ago would have required hours of research to secure the information desired. In short, it can be a valuable tool if used properly.
Unfortunately, today there are so many pitfalls and this potentially positive tool can turn as well into a negative influence, especially on children if it is not monitored very carefully daily.
– Rabbi Mordechai Weiss lives in Efrat Israel and previously served as an elementary and high school principal in New Jersey and Connecticut. He was also the founder and rav of Young Israel of Margate, New Jersey. His email is [email protected].
