Year: 2021

Listen as Rabbi Uri Zohar tells the story on YouTube here in Hebrew (minute 4:28)…

A Jewish family had eight children. One daughter was, רח”ל, tottering in religious observance, and acting difficult at home, to boot. So, the mother went to Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zatzal to ask if the problematic girl should be banished — so as not to form a harmful religious influence on the rest of the family.

Having thus framed the question, you may be surprised by Rabbi Elyashiv’s ruling.

Wait a second!

Want to try and answer for yourself?

Got it?

Write it down.

OK, now…

Rabbi Elyashiv said: find a temporary place for the other children by family and take care of only her…

There is no chiddush here (once you know the answer: משל לאדם שמבקשים ממנו כלי גדול ויש לו דומה עליו ככלי קטן קטן ואין לו דומה עליו ככלי גדול). Obviously, as parents and לאפרושי מאיסורא, they need to first and foremost deal with the immediate risk, preceding obligation to mere chumrah.

The impressive novelty is in the reading of the situation and seeing past the false choice as presented by the lady.

The rest is also worth listening to (just ignore the awful English subbing).

So what if it’s the Middle East?!

(Note: The original “IST” joke is on India, but Israel isn’t too far behind.)

Christmas Eve: Is it a Time for Torah Study? || Dr. Marc Shapiro (from Torah in Motion)

Didn’t listen, but I hope to soon.

We cooked up our theory already; now we just need to add in the evidence…

Quoting an enlightening Mishpacha interview with internet filtering expert Yossie Strickman:

…

If there’s one component Yossie Strickman considers a top priority, it’s awareness. To be aware is to be educated. Educated on technology, and educated on the nuances of human nature, especially when those humans are teenagers. The common belief is that once a phone is filtered, it’s out of the danger zone. This, Yossie says, is an enormous mistake.

“Firstly, even if a phone loses all Internet capacity, it can still have an SD card reader,” he explains. “An SD card can hold an incredible amount of data, and if it can be inserted in your child’s phone, he or she is well within the zone of danger.”

Then there are the dangers that lurk beneath the seemingly most innocent apps. “WhatsApp is such a huge problem, although so many parents are convinced it’s totally fine,” he says. “After all, what’s the difference between WhatsApp and regular text? The answer is, everything. WhatsApp is significantly more efficient than text when it comes to sending pictures and videos. And the problem snowballs. Because of its efficiency, there are so many terrible WhatsApp groups out there. If your kid has nothing beside WhatsApp, that can still be a huge problem.”

How can parents detect a problem? Over the years, Yossie has learned to spot the telltale signs. “All teens are moody, but when you start seeing drastic changes in moods within a short time period, you have to suspect a problem.” Other indicators are extreme fatigue and a sudden, intense obsession with protection over their privacy.

“We have to get educated,” he insists. “You can’t fight what you don’t know.”

Read the rest of it here…