Whoever has a treif telephone - he should know he is responsible for the current situation, for the murders. There are secular Jews who are mistaken and don't know, but this sin has creeped in to the Haredi community as well, and that distances the shchina..

Aryeh Deri has Shas, via MK Arbel, proposing a law called "The Law for the Protection of the Liberty of Telephones". Without knowing the details of the proposal, I am guessing this would give the Haredi community the ability to bring back the "koma ksheira" that controlled the kosher phone industry.

In light of the Kosher Mobile Phone Reforms passed by Minister of Communications Yoaz Hendel yesterday, MK Moshe Arbel (Shas) has proposed a law that would set the situation backt o what it was with some improvements.

The job of a government minister us to make decisions, even if there are those who oppose them, for the good of the State and not for the good of specific power groups or sectors. Today we are correcting an injustice to the consumers that has caused damage to about half a million customers in the Haredi sector and has transferred the power to the consumer form the askanim. I have decided to organize the kosher cellular market for the Haredi community, to allow it free choice and to create further competition that will bring about cheaper prices and improved service. Until now the kosher cellular market was controlled by a monopoly that prevented the porting of mobile numbers and caused increasing prices. Where there is chaos, frustration and harm to the consumer, that is where we step in to repair. The Haredi consumer deserves to be as equals with all the other consumers in the State and benefit from an open and competitive cellular market. From today, the choice will be in the hands of the consumer - each person can choose which cellular company to use, the type of cellular package, and the type of phone to use. Whoever wishes to can stay with the company they use now as a kosher line including blocking services and applications and without internet access and can also port the number to a kosher line in another company. And whoever wants can port the number from a kosher line to any other type of plan he wishes to select from any company... It is important to stress, there is no coercion, just freedom to choose. Whoever wants the service he is familiar with will get it, and as an aside, only the owner of the account can port a number, not anyone under the age of 18.

After the success of the repeated protests in Jerusalem against two cellular shops accused of selling not kosher phones because the stores were uncertified by the relevant committee, the people involved have gotten emboldened. 

According to Hamechadesh, the owner of the cell phone store in Geula-Mea Shearim that has been the site of many protests, some violent, might be giving in.

Sam Waterson is quoted as having said "If you are not moving forward, you are falling back". Mikhail Gorbachev is quoted as having said something very similar, "If you are not moving forward you are moving backward".

The point of both is that people always need to be look to progress, how to improve, how to move forward. If you take it easy and rest on your laurels, you are falling behind. You are falling behind all the other people who are moving forward and you are falling behind yourself and your own advancement.

The rav kav system for public transportation finally seems to be running pretty smoothly, but that only means it is time for the next great advancement in transportation technology. Within a few months the next greatest thing since sliced bread will be released to the public, and it will basically put the rav kav system to rest.

The new apps soon to be released will allow passengers on public transportation in Israel to pay using the phone directly, with no rav kav or anything else. According to JPost,

public transportation users will need to open up the app after getting on a bus or intercity train, choose which form of public transport they’re on and then scan a QR code that will be placed on every bus and train that will let the app know which line they’re on, according to Calcalist. The user will then need to indicate how long they’re planning on traveling on the line in order to be charged the correct fee. The app will then provide a payment confirmation, which users can show to inspectors if they’re asked to prove that they paid.

Another benefit of the new system will be that at the end of the month it will analyze the trips the passenger normally takes and recommend the cheapest travel package it thinks is appropriate, whether it be some combination of daily or monthly packages, or accrued money, or bundles of rides...

Interestingly, because many Haredim (and some others) do not use smartphones, a solution for them is also being developed so they can use, and benefit from, the new system. According to the Bizness website, an official within the Ministry of Transportation has said, unofficially for now, that a special bracelet is in development that will work with the new devices on the bus for paying for rides. Other possible "smart" solutions are also being looked into that would not be smartphone-dependent.

I find it cute that they think that Haredi men are going to wear this special bracelet so they can pay on the bus. Obviously it can be kept in a pocket or in a backpack (or gal paz bag), but then why make it into a bracelet rather than just a small coin shape or a disc (similar to a dog tag disc) or something else that can go into the wallet or pocket?

I hope they will make it easy for people to transfer the balance of money people have on their rav kavs onto the new system, be it phone or bracelet or whatnot...

Interestingly, in advance of the siyum hashas of the current Daf Yomi cycle, Agudath Israel of America has decided to withdraw the siyum app they recently released.

The siyyum app was mean to encourage and facilitate learning of the daily daf by bringing shiurim and other tools and aids right to your smartphone.

After some rosh yeshivas complained about the appearances of Agudath Israel of America being behind such an app, it seems to give a hechsher, a gushpanka, to people using smartphones, and that is bad and damaging.

After receiving the complaints, they conferred with the gedolei yisrael and decided that despite their good intentions, the right move is to pull the app.
source: many websites, but here is the announcement on Baltimore Jewish Life with the text of the letter from AIoA and not just the image

It is a shame, though understandable. they really cannot just do whatever they want against their own official policy. This could have been an opportunity for education, to show that smartphones can be used for good, for Torah learning, for education, for positive uses and not just games, Internet surfing and pornography. I get it though.

Interestingly, the process is strange. For an organization that prides itself on daas torah and consulting with the gedolim before doing anything, here they created and released an app, a good app, a positive app encouraging more torah learning, received complaints and instead of saying we have the approval of the gedolim because we asked them first, they said, we hear your argument, let's go ask the gedolim. So, they had such a major decision facing them that would require a significant change of policy and they did not bother asking the gedolim for guidance before making a decision. Hmmmm.

It is common for kollels to make all sorts of rules and conditions to which any potential member must agree to adhere to in order to be accepted to learn there and to receive a stipend. One of the common rules nowadays is that neither he nor his family members may have a non-kosher cellphone. Having such a phone and being discovered would put the avreich at risk of losing his stipend and being asked to leave the kollel.

An avreich sent the question to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, rav of Ramar Elchonon neighborhood in Bnei Braq, asking if a Rosh Kollel halachically is allowed to make the stipend he gives to the avreichim conditional on not having a non-kosher phone, and if he has one and it gets discovered if the stipend can be withheld or lessened as punishment.

Rav Zilbershtein responded that any avreich having such a device is not worthy of being called an avreich and does not qualify for the kollel stipend.

Rav Zilbershtein adds that this is also the case even if the Rosh Kollel did not make this a rule or condition of the kollel. Someone with a treif phone cannot be considered an avreich. An avreich, Rav Zilbershtein explains, is a ben torah whose entire day is focused on torah - someone with such a device does not have the ability to focus even for a moment on Torah and the beis medrash will not help him.

Further, the Rosh Kollel has the ability to ensure that the money he works hard and sweats to raise will go to the hands of talmidei chachomim and not to houses with this plague of non-kosher phones, so even if he does not use one but his wife does, the Rosh Kollel can withhold the stipend. If there is a real reason why she must have one, they can tell the Rosh Kollel and if he thinks it is justified, they will find a solution that will be acceptable to everyone involved.
source: Kikar

According to the Lakewood Scoop, a local resident in Lakewood decided to turn in his smartphone for a simple kosher flip phone. When a fellow from Brooklyn heard about that decision, he called up the rabbi of the shul and sponsored a kiddush in the guy's honor, so as to encourage others to switch.

At the kiddush, the rav announced that several members had recently made the switch. One fellow was worried about being addicted to his phone, another gave his up despite using a filter so the kids would see him identifying with the bnei torah, and another to avoid lifnei iver...this particular fellow who the kiddush was honoring made the switch to set an example for his kids...

He turned in his Google and switched it for a kugel...

Smartphones are dangerous. Everyone knows that. Smartphones are also a very important tool in today's world, so we use them and try to minimize the danger as much as possible, via filters, via education, and via self-control.

But smartphones are also dangerous in other ways.

A Lag B'Omer bonfire in London exploded last night causing multiple injuries. After the Rebbe of the Biala shul had given a speech about smartphones being dangerous, it seems a number of congregants threw their smartphones into the bonfire,  in addition to the one the rebbe himself said he would be putting in.

While it is unclear what caused the explosion, the two possibilities being considered are either the smartphones in the bonfire or fuel someone might have put in.
source: YWN

I was unaware that cellphones explode like that, but maybe a whole bunch together and all that battery power, maybe.. anyways, it seems very possible that smartphones might be dangerous now in more ways than one..

I would note, I am a little envious of the discipline of these adherents to the rebbe that they would take their smartphones that costs hundreds of dollars each and throw them in a fire just because he suggested they do so. I do wonder why they had them in the first place, as this anti-smartphone crusade is nothing new, but still, when the rebbe said so, they threw them i the fire...

I am not quite sure what to do with this...

A group went to Rav Kaniesvky after deciding to smash their smartphones and they did so in front of him. Rav Kanievsky then gave them a bracha.

The article does not say Rav Kanievsky requested it or demanded it. They decided to do it and went to do it in front of him. The bracha he gave them, as written in the article, did not even have anything to do with the smashing of the phones but was a general bracha. I think Rav Kanievsky secretly wishes that people would just leave him alone to learn and not bother him with all their narishkeit.

And that isn't even getting into the idea of going for a smartphone smashing ceremony, as if you are being mesirus nefesh, but then recording the entire event on a smartphone.

Rav Yehuda Aryeh Dinner, a community rav and a dayan in Bnei Braq, has issued an interesting psak. Rav Dinner was asked if one sees his friend with a "passul" cellphone, such as an iPhone, can he take it away and dispose of it or break it?

Rav Dinner responded that it is even a mitzva to do so, for by doing so you are saving your friend from gehinnom.

Rav Dinner quoted a gemara that allows one to tear the immodest dress off a woman. Basically the reason to allow this behavior is "kol yisrael areivim zeh lazeh" - all Jews are responsible for each other.
source: Kikar

In the past Rav Dinner has been quoted as saying that a chazzan associated with the Peleg Yerushalmi should be removed from his post and not allowed to lead the services.

A couple of years ago there was a flurry of increasingly extreme halachic announcements like this - iPhone owners being invalid as witnesses, shofar blowers, chazzan, etc. Then it went quiet. I guess there are not enough other issue son the table now so it is making a comeback...

Actualic has a report of the new "takanon", directives, put out by the City of Bnei Braq for the students in its kindergarten system and their families.

While usually such sets of directives are employed by private schools and not normally by official iryah or State schools, in Bnei Braq things are different.

A few points are mentioned, but the one thing I find surprising is the requirement that grandparents must have a kosher cellphone (rather than a regular smartphone).

The response of the Iryah is that the takanon is nothing new and it is based on requests of the majority of the parents in the city.

a. I wonder how they took this poll of the parents of the city to determine that a majority of them had all these various requests and demands. Did parents get a referendum to vote upon? Did a few people complain and they suddenly became the majority? How does this work?

b. the attempt to control everybody and their surroundings is taking an additional step, with it being expanded to grandparents of the student. Soon they'll expand it to cousins and aunts and uncles, and then maybe to neighbors and parents acquaintances.

the people behind these campaigns have gone from extremist idiots to insane and probably dangerous..


this is part of the anti-smartphone campaign. Here they spoof Auschwitz, with its famus gate that said "Arbit Macht Frei" - work will set you free. Here they are saying the smartphone will set you free, meaning it will cause you to leave religion - "frei" also meaning not religious..

A divorce case in beis din between a haredi husband and wife revolved around the usage of a smartphone.

It seems the husband does not like that his wife allows their son to use a smartphone, and for that he is divorcing her.

Husband says boy (11 years old) is addicted to the smartphone, and it is his wife's fault.
Wife, a clinical psychologist, says boy is not addicted to the phone, but he simply uses it like any normal child. She says it enriches his life. He uses it for his homework, and he uses it all the time as any child does. He eats with it and he sleeps with it.

her claim that this is normative does not sound reasonable to me - she says he uses it like any normal kid, while he eats with it and sleeps with it. That isn't a sign of being addicted? especially for a young boy that does not sound healthy. If he isn't addicted to it yet, it is surely heading down that path.

Husband stands strong and says the smartphone is poison to intellect and to faith and it must be cut off.

Wife claims that even in parts of the Haredi community, filtered smartphones, kosher smartphones, are allowed, and she has this phone monitored and controlled as to what he has access to and what he does not have access to.

At some point Husband asked the neighborhood rabbi to intervene and pasken to the wife that she must cooperate and put the child in therapy to break the smartphone addiction. Wife refused the demand, said the rav should educate his own kids and not her's and that she won't throw away money on that.

This fighting over the child's use of the phone led to the filing for divorce. Beis Din so far isn't allowing it, as she wants to go through "shlom bayit" counseling and the husband also says she is a good wife besides for this specific issue. Beis Din therefore says that there must be a way to resolve the issue of the phone and divorce is not an option right now.
source: Maariv

It seems like divorce is the extreme nuclear option here, and in truth it would not even help, as she could still give her son the phone to use when he spends his time with her (whether it is most of the time or even if only half the time)...

It is a shame that a good marriage, that they both seem to say they have, has to be destroyed over such an issue and the two can't find a way to work out some sort of compromise...

The BBC is reporting about a miracle that happened to save a life in the explosion during he terrorist attack in Manchester last week.

Surprisingly enough, perhaps, the miracle happened via a smartphone.

According to the BBC, Lisa Bridgett was using her smartphone when the attack happened. A nut from the bomb would have hit her and killed her if not for the smartphone she was using at the time. The nut went into the phone and its path was diverted or slowed down and only injured her.

While I am skeptical the smartphone was the source of the miracle, as a kosher phone could have done the same, as could have a book or  many other objects, and it was probably more something in her personal life that made her worthy of the miracle and the phone she was using was just the medium through which the miracle manifested itself, one cannot but appreciate and smile at the humor in the BBC headline, at least from an Orthodox Jewish perspective in which smartphones are not exactly considered worthy of meriting a miracle.

Behadrei is reporting on another technology conference by the various hassidic groups. This was directed specifically for the yeshiva bachurim.

A list of takanos was announced, and bachurim not adhering to the takanos will be tossed from their yeshivas. The takanos include not having even a kosher phone. As well they are not allowed to sit on the bus adjacent to someone with a non-kosher phone.


This will leave more room for us. I'll have to make sure to keep my phone out of my pocket while on the bus so affected bachurim will know about it and not sit next to me. I am not sure who they think they are punishing by forcing these kids to stand (if no other seats are available besides for next to people with non-kosher phones).

Maybe they should devise new mehadrin bus arrangements with four sections - a section for men, another for women and then 2 more for men and women with smartphones.

The iPhone front has been relatively quiet recently, but now we have a new psak with another advancement in the fight against smartphones.

A rav in Ramot, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Fuchs of Ramot D, has issued a psak that will not allow anyone carrying an iPhone (or anything similar) from leading the services in shul (not really new), nor to get an aliya in shul - even if he is the sole kohen present in the minyan (this is new).

Even if this fellow is a kohen, and the only kohen, he will not get the aliyah. Rather, they will call someone else up saying "bimkom kohen" - in place of the kohen [who is not present]. They won't even have to send the kohen out - he will just be considered irrelevant.
source: Behadrei

We have seen some extreme limitations - not blowing shofar, not leading services, not being a witness to a wedding, etc. but this si definitely a new level.

This is unusual. Especially for chassidim. But maybe this is a real sign of the decrees regarding internet usage and smartphones being "gzeiros she'ein hatzibbur yecholin laamod bahel" - decrees that the public cannot adhere to.

In the chassidic community of Gur they recently held a technology conference where a series of decrees were announced regulating the use of smartphones, internet, Whatsapp and more.

The new regulations were pretty strict, limiting which mobile provider could be used, who could get a kosher smartphone, who can communicate via whatsapp and with whom (only non-Jews), etc.

And, it turns out, a significant number of chassidim have decided that they will not follow the new rules.

According to Behadrei, a number of Gur shuls, a couple in Bnei Braq and another in Ashdod, have been closed because the people davening in those shuls have refused to follow the rules.

Chassim not listening to the rules imposed by the chassidus, in such a public way?? This is something extremely rare and points to a major showdown. Will the chassidus place extreme pressure on them and force them to comply, or will they rethink the level of their regulations and maybe lighten up a bit?