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Orthodox Rabbis Say WhatsApp Is "No. 1 Cause Of Destruction Of Jewish Homes And Business"
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 6, 2014
Modified Feb 6, 2014
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Courtesy City Councilman David Greenfield
By
Ben Yakas
Published Feb 6, 2014
Modified Feb 6, 2014
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You probably already know that many ultra-Orthodox Jews don't care much for the internet. You have trouble organizing your sock drawer, while they organized a massive 40K person anti-internet rally at Citi Field two years ago AND successfully shut out the media. But there is a new scourge upon the Orthodox community: WhatsApp.
According to the Jewish Daily Forward, orthodox Jewish leaders think the social media app, a free alternate to SMS texting akin to Gchat, is tearing apart the community from Boro Park to Rockland County. "The rabbis overseeing divorces say WhatsApp is the No. 1 cause of destruction of Jewish homes and business," blared the headline of a January article in Der Blatt, the Yiddish-language newspaper published by members of the Satmar Hasidic group.
Orthodox leaders already require families to use filters to block social networking and "inappropriate" material on the internet and smartphones, but WhatsApp has emerged as a way around the filters. Some Brooklyn Jews told the Forward that they use it to spread news about the community, like when Menachem Stark disappeared. “It was very popular during the whole Stark story,” said Joseph Oppenheim, a member of the Satmar Hasidic community and the owner of a computer store and Internet cafe in Williamsburg. “You couldn’t get it on the radio and stuff, so this was the main source [where] people got the news.”
"It's not something they can control," said another member of the Hasidic community who lives in Williamsburg. "Anything they can't be in control of makes them nervous."
Tagged
brooklyn
Hasidic
jews
orthodox
orthodox jews
rabbis
satmar
social media
technology
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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