[Interview with Ha-Rav – by Tzvi Fishman
Published in the Jewish Press –
The
problems of the Internet and smartphones are ongoing issues in the Modern
Orthodox world. Street posters in Haredi communities in Israel warn that the Internet
drives the Shechina from the home. Haredi Rabbis only permit the use of
“kosher” cellphones which don’t allow a user to connect with the unfettered
expanses of cyberspace. But as the saying goes: where there is the will, there
is a way. A casual stroll through the city revceals that Haredi youth frequent
Internet cafes as much a secular Jews. In the Dati-Leumi community, which
encourages active participation in all areas of Israel’s rebuilding, the use of
home computers and smartphones is as prevelant as tefillin and M-16s. The
Jewish Press asked Rabbi Shlomo Aviner to share his views on the controversial topic.
Overall,
is the Internet something good or bad?
The
Internet is a modern-day reincarnation of the primodial Snake – the Yetzer Hara.
The Snake looks like a decent fellow, promising all kinds of good things, but
it is the epitomy of Evil in disguise. Similarly the Internet looks dazzling,
but it is filled with horrible pitfalls. Recent research studies reveal that
90% of teenagers view pornographic material. While I haven’t seen similar
studies for the religious community, the plague has reached our ranks as well. Not
only are many Torah prohibitions involved in Internet usage, the exposure to
pornography makes men view women as objects, destroys the beauty of marriage,
pollutes the soul, and fills young people with inner guilt and depression,
alienating them from tefilla and Torah study, until they feel cut off
completely from Hashem. In summary, for the benefit of the individual and the
family, the Internet should be disconnected from the home and thrown out with
the trash.
But
there are many positive sides to the Internet as well as the negative.
The
negative outweighs the good. True, one can find endless Torah lectures, but one
doesn’t do a mitzvah at the price of a transgression. Besides immorality, the
Internet abounds with lashon hara, violence, falsehood, ridiculing others on
Talkbacks, not to mention wasting time. Theoretically, the Internet could be a
blessing, but we are not speaking about theory, but rather about a dismal
reality. The best remedy for this plague is to keep a safe distance from this
modern-day Snake. People who are compelled to use the Internet for work, or for
school, or, for example, to teach others Torah, they have the obligation to use
the best safety filter available - one without the option of turning it off and
on at will.
Does
the Rav have a smartphone?
No.
But
you have recently began to answer questions on Twitter.
Someone
else handles the mechanics of my Tweets. If Avraham Avinu lived today, he would
take a hatchet and smash all of the smartphones, they way he did with his
father’s idols. Of course many people would be angry with him, insisting that
there are many worthwhile things one can experience via smartphones, such as
the ability to see the wonders of the world without buying an airplane ticket, and
seeing family members far away while you speak with them. Plus you have an
encyclopedia of knowledge at your fingertips, and you can learn Torah wherever
you are. People might even throw Avraham Avinu into a cauldon of fire to be rid
of him for smashing their digital idols. However, we cannot allow the
tempations of the smartphone to deceive ourselves. The Sages asked if the angel
who wrested with Yaacov looked like a Torah scholar or a highway robber. They
answer, like a highway robber disguised as a Torah scholar.
Many
Rabbis have prohibited the use of smartphones, but their opinion doesn’t seem
to have decreased Internet use and the smartphone craze.
The
matters have to be explained. It isn’t enough to simply say no. The Snake is
too crafty and too strong an opponent. Our Sages teach that a man without a
wife lacks goodness, happiness, and blessing in his life. Today the smartphone
has replaced a man’s wife. Without a smartphone he feels unhappy, empty and
lost. If his smartphone stops working, his life falls apart. He panics and
curses the world in anger. Every person has to face his situation honestly and
activate his own intelligence in order to recognize that the wonderous device
in his hand is his enemy and not a friend of mankind.
Can
you cite some other influences of Internet and smartphone usage of which people
may not be aware?
People
who suffer from a digital obsession stop thinking for themselves. They become lazy
and dependant on Professor Google, Dr. Google, Rabbi Google and the like. Due
to Internet overdose, the level of academic achievement has decreased in every
modern country in the world. Because answers are an easy click away, one’s
intelligence isn’t developed and man’s most exalted attribute, the “sechel,”
becomes neglected, like a vestigial organ. A person enamored with the Internet
becomes a less feeling individual. He believes that his smartphone connects him
with the world, but its superficial connections bring about alienation in the
end, due to his or her constant distraction from reality.
What
can a parent or educator explain to a teenager hooked on social networks like
Facebook and Instagram?
Facebook in
Hebrew is “Sefer HaPartzufim.” In the Kabbalah, the concept of “partzufim” has
deep meaning, but in its slang usage it has a negative connotation, as in, “He
look at the teacher with a mocking partzuf.” So too with Facebook – it might
have been a blessing, strengthening connections between family members and
friends via social networking, but unfortunately the golem rose up against its
creator. A person is not just a face, but a soul which manifests itself in good
character traits and good deeds, not in superficial poses and theatricalities
to win the approval of others. “Charm is false and beauty is vanity; a woman
who reveres Hashem shall be praised.”
What’s the
difference between a Facebook post and a letter or phone call to a friend?
Posts on Facebook
are open to the public. A descendant of Avraham and Sarah is called upon to be
modest and humble in his or her ways. Our Forefathers didn’t reveal their
doings, achievements, and feelings to the world. Moshe Rabanu wore a veil over
his face. Also, a person should overcome the pulls of curiosity and not get
immersed in the lives of other people. Not to mention the prohibition of
looking at immodest images of women, which can easily lure Internet surfers to pornographic
videos which children begin viewing when they are barely eight years old, may
Hashem show mercy.
Life itself is
filled with similar challenges. Must a person stay in his room all day long,
afraid to leave the house?
Life is life, but
Facebook isn’t life. It is all a show. Like a boring soap opera on television,
filled with shallowness and nonsense. Spending hours on Facebook is a big waste
of precious time. In Israel, up to five hours a day is lost in Facebookland.
Studies reveal that Facebook is the 5th biggest addiction in the
world. 75 percent of young people are spaced out on it.
Certainly there
are pluses, considering the endless opportunities to contact with a wide gamut
of individuals and groups of all kinds.
It is indeed an
effective network of communication, but in the negative sense of promoting
emptiness, narcissism, and solitude instead of true meaningful connection. If a
person has a thousand followers, how many of them are really friends?
Furthermore, the Facebook addict becomes isolated from his family,
half-listening to living-room conversations while his eyes are fixed on his
smartphone screen. In our post-modern
world, the “Smartphone Family” sits together in the salon, father, mother, and
children each his own pet Snake, each involved with the latest world news and personal
Whatsaps – a family together but all
alone. In Israel, the country suffered the tragic “Hitnatkut” from Gush Katif.
Today we have the “Hitnatkut” from the family.
The smartphone user becomes a split-personality. If this disconnection
from life is coupled with an immersion in the pollution of pornography, this
can lead to serious depression and spiritual decay. These matters must be
explained in all of their depth and serious consequences.
What about the
young children in a “Smartphone Family”? How does the “Hitnatkut” influence
them?
The child feels
isolated, believing that his parents are more interested in their I-Phones and
computers. They give him the feeling that his demands for attention are
nerve-racking and bothersome to them. The child feels unloved.
What about the
husband-wife relationship?
As the Rabbi of a
large yishuv for the past forty years, I hear about domestic problems. A
husband and wife can sit at a table across from one another, at home or in a
restaurant, and be busy with their I-Phones. It would be one thing if they sent
messages to one another, but generally that isn’t the case. If one or both of
them is hooked on pornography (which is not an uncommon scenary, to our deep
sorrow) if they don’t seek professional counseling in a hurry, that’s the end
of many marriages. Contrary to Darwin’s Theories, human beings didn’t evolve
from jungle primates, but they can regress to being apes if they lower the
Divine and holy institution of marriage to the pursuit of coarse sensual
gratification. Beware my friends, beware!
Is excessive use
of the Internet and smartphones really an addiction, like with drugs and alcohol?
Absolutely. It’s
like an injection into the vein. Each post, each incoming message, each
whatsap, each new forbidden image is a “high.” One high demands another high,
lest the person crash. With each new stimulation, chemicals in the brain are
released until the person craves the next high. Take the smartphone away from a
teenager and he’ll scream bloody murder and jump up and down all over the
house. That’s an addiction. Unfortunately, when the new generation I-Phones
began to appear, parents and educators didn’t understand the depths of the
dangers. Even today, you can still hear false pedagogic approaches, such as:
“Everything Hashem created is for man to use in His service,” – this is
nonsense. Or, “The Internet isn’t forbidden. It comes as a challenge to
strengthen us,” – vanity of vanities!
“We needn’t prohibit it, but rather, we should search out the good and
capitalize on the benefits,” – this is a declaration of despair and defeat.
Remember – “Thou shall not place a stumbling block in front of a blind man!”
How can a person
break an addiction to his or her smartphone, besides checking in to an Internet
Rehab Center, is such a place exists?
Certainly, addiction
withdrawal is a difficult challenge, but Hashem has given people great inner
strength. If an Internet junkie gives up Whatsap and Facebook for five or six days
running, he or she will discover an incredible joy and newfound freedom in life.
I realize it isn’t easy. Young people especially are under great peer pressure
to be like everyone else. If they pull out of the group – what will they miss?
What will everyone say? In their minds, the prospect of giving up their smartphones
is a serious, even life-threatening, trauma.
Many parents
believe it is a losing battle.
There is a
fundamental rule in the world – you can’t attain everything you want in a
moment. Patience is required. And give and take. Parents have the power to lay
down the law, and children have the power to accept and deal with decisions they
may not like. In many areas of education, parents have to draw boundaries for
their children. They needn’t feel helpless. First, as we mentioned, the deeper
implications of Internet use have to be explained to young people, as well as
to adults. Obviously, parents themselves also have to refrain from their own
Internet obsessions in order to set an example - not just by words but through their
actions. And children can be compensated with others things to soften the loss.
The leading Rabbis who banned the use of smartphones were certainly justified
in their decision. Every upright Jew, religious or secular, who hasn’t yet
reached the exalted level of valor, characteristic of those heroes of holiness
who never transgress, should either use an old-fashioned cellphone with no
Internet option; or a server without Internet. Remember: having a cellphone
that isn’t smart is the smartest thing you can do.
