Jerusalem – It is well known that the Gedolim of both Eretz Yisroel and America are rightly concerned about the devastating effects of exposure to pornographic images through rapidly developing technologies. And there is no question that even filtered access to the internet has no guarantees that a person may fall or stumble into the abyss. The internet and Smartphones are clearly a game-changer in terms of nisyonos, spiritual challenges to Klal Yisroel.
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And as in many other venues in Judaism, organizations have arisen in order to assist in combating this new scourge. In Eretz Yisroel, these organizations are known as Amutahs, roughly equivalent the 501 C3 organization in the United States. Some organizations are of questionable legitimacy, but the vast majority of these organizations are genuine and justifiable.
Not everyone, however, will agree with the approach and mindset of those people who are involved in the day to day running of the organization. In order to gain a more universal legitimacy the people who run such organizations attempt to get letters of approbation and approval from leading Rabbis.
There may be another dynamic as well. Some of the people who run these organizations, well meaning though they may be, are so myopically focused on the success of their organization’s mission that they lose sight of the forest – in many cases the broader focus of the impact on Judaism.
It is this author’s opinion that this dynamic is what is behind the recent issue of the alleged ruling of Rav Chaim Kanievsky on the iPhone and Eidus – testimony.
A letter was written by the principal of an organization devoted to purity of thought where he claims that Rav Chaim ruled halachically that anyone that owns an iPhone has halachically and legally lost his ability to testify in matters of Jewish law, whether it be that he witnessed a wedding, a divorce, or the process of ensuring that a Mikvah has been cleaned and still retains its kosher status through the halachic concept of Hashaka.
The ramifications of this alleged ruling are quite devastating. Specifically, 1] thousands (if not more) of weddings are invalid and must be redone, 2] any second marriage where the first divorce document was witnessed by an iPhone owner and the second marriage has produced children – those children are Mamzeirim 3] the second husband must separate from his wife again and never live with her again 4] All children of women conceived after they immersed in the Mikvah are considered pagum and will have difficulty ever finding a shidduch.
Tellingly, the alleged ruling with such devastating repercussions was never actually signed by Rav Kanievsky – it was just stated orally – allegedly in the presence of his grandson.
There are, of course, four possibilities as to what actually transpired here.
The well-meaning Rabbi who runs the organization got carried away and did not understand that Rav Chaim was merely giving him encouragement to continue his work but did not actually mean that the iPhone owners are genuinely pasul l’Eidus.
Rav Chaim himself allowed the quote to be made as a type of warning as to how serious we must view this new challenge to Judaism, but he did not actually rule that the iPhone owners are genuinely pasul l’Eidus.
The well-meaning Rabbi who runs the organization perhaps misrepresented to Rav Chaim what an iPhone device actually is and how the majority of people actually use it.
This author is incorrect and Rav Chaim actually ruled this way with all the associated repercussions and consequences and fully understood the nature and use of the iPhone.
It is unfortunate, but this author is aware of numerous instances where the first and third scenario has been replayed many times with Gedolim. Indeed, many Gedolim have issued the clarification that they only issue their rulings based upon the facts at hand that are presented to them.
It is highly likely that one of the first three scenarios is correct rather than the fourth, for numerous reasons – many of them halachic.
In the past few days this author has left numerous messages with the organization to ask a number of questions with no response. An attempt has been made to verify the ruling with Rav Chaim Kanievsky. Our source has told us that Rav Chaim did not out and out forbid these things, rather he stated that it may be a potential problem. This indicates that the first possibility is the most likely scenario.
Regardless, what is necessary, indeed crucial, is that the organizations should not be permitted to run wild issuing statements and letters where the Posaik did not actually sign such a ruling – particularly when the devastation and repercussions would be so widespread.
Why is it so crucial?
Because most people, unfortunately, are unaware of Rav Chaim’s vast ouevre of halachic writing and are ignorant of the depth of his Torah knowledge and greatness. Seeing such statements time after time have a cumulative effect on people and takes away whatever emunas chachomim they have left. Our Torah leaders are the eyes and ears of the generation, and releasing statements and quotes said out of context or in response to a perhaps erroneous presentation of things only serves to undermine the respect we have toward Gedolei Torah.
The author may be reached at [email protected]
If someone wants to access seedy and pornographic sites he can easily do it on any computer he wants to he doesnt need an iphone for that,what i am trying to say is were there is a will there is a way why worry only about the iphone.
One should never, ever believe these alleged kol koreis or piskei hallacha. One should seek hallachic rulings only from their personal rav or posek.
If a gadol truly issues an explicit psak to the klal, then your rav or posek will know about it and communicate it to you.
If you don’t have a rav or a posek you have an obligation to get one (asei lecha rav)! The interweb is the wrong place to get a psak on hallachah l’ma’aseh.
Wow! Best article I read on this unfortunate saga; calling out the ridiculousness of the proclamation without demeaning the gadol hador.
My favorite part of how this all works is that this truth-seeking process does not and CANNOT include someone’s actually contacting Rav Chaim, apprising him of the situation, and then having him clarify his position.
That’s not an option.
Instead, let it be debated, discussed, and specualted about around the world, in every mikveh, shul, and blog.
Working in Manhattan, I guess would put you in the same catagory. Easy access to whatever shmutz you want…Walking in the street during the summer is almost equal to that….
If someone wants to sin, he has many ways to access it…before or after the iphone or internet.
Will the first man with a cell phone at the wedding please step forward so that we can throw stones at him? HERESY on the part of the ruling. NEVER AGAIN.
Thank you Rabbi Hoffman for your clarification. However, for me this has become a repugnant matter. I see the brouhaha that the Charadi world has created over the use of the iPhone, BlackBerry and Android and have to ask, are there not more pressing matters that need to be addressed?
The horse has been replaced by the car, the trained physician has replaced bloodletting and the internet is here to stay. For some, they will get their erotic fun. But, for the vast majority, it is where we do our shopping, banking, pay our bills and read our news. For the crazies that are fighting the Net, they can continue. But, like Guttenberg’s printing press, it’s here to stay.
So Achaynu Bnei Yisrael, learn to deal with this 44 year old new invention. And, put your energies on something more constructive.
And Rabbi Hoffman, I’m not sure it is not option #4 .
This issue is owning an iphone, or any internet connected device? If the latter, it has even bigger ramifications and quite unfathomable the extent – if it all turns out to be true. But like #5 said – working in any big city – even without internet access has its own problems & easily view-able / accessible problems, which sort of make this whole issue unavoidable and 99.9% of people would be posul for anything.
Rabbi Hoffman makes some good points, especially in the final paragraph where he points out the unintended consequences of treating Gedolim like weekend at Bernies. There is a fourth option, recognizing that no one, including Gedolim, has the right or ability to change established Halacha. A Sanhedrin possibly could, but we don’t have a Sandedrin and the Gadol of the week certainly is not.
Seems to me like a conflict of interest for the man running this new organization. And, one has to be very careful to quote the Gadol Hador.
You know, in the Alteh Heim, the Gedolim tried to make life easier for their communities. What happened?
Most people simply rely on the “Misadder Kedushin” (the Rabbi that officiates marriages under the Chuppah). And, of course, the “Misadder Gittin”.
They are typically Torah Sages.
So here’s my funny questions:
The next time Rav Kanievsky Shlit’a officiates at a wedding, will he demand to know if the witnesses have an I-phone?
And if it’s a 2nd marriage, will he insist on investigating if the witnesses at the Get proceedings were i-Phone free?
Note: There are usually 3 sets of witnesses at a wedding.
1) For the Ksubah.
2) For the Kedushin. (When the ring is placed on the Bride’s finger)
3) For the Yichud.
I dont know who this “rabbi” is that published this ridiculous document (and I truly believe he misquoted R’ Kanievsky for his own personal agenda), but he should be removed from whatever yeshiva he is in. He has a video where he is seen smashing a laptop computer – forgive me, but he looks like a meshigener. Just another name to add to the list of crazies.
I don’t get it. Say an I-phone is terrible. I would assume the probelm is porn. Now lets say Chas vshalom a jew is caught with another girl. Is there any halacha stating that one who commits zenus is pasul ledus? I thought only a ganaf is passul? Unless you say the probelm with the i-phone is that guys can gamble. But I think its more the prior problem? So since when does that render someone unfit for testimony?
Is Rabbi Kaniyevsky so insulated that he doesnt know what is being said in his name?
it is pashut to any bar sechel that reb chaim did not mean it literally – other wise rav chaim would have issued a message to the mesadrei kidushin….mikva.. it was the anti frum sites that used it as a mockery & articles like this that debate it
lastly these gedolim need an official spokesman that clears all public statements RAV SHTEINMAN GOT ONE YESTERDAY
This whole incident is a true chillul hashem. This ongoing gevalt about the internet (and how one may access it) is just another example of the mockery being made of halakha, the halakhic process and Judaism as a whole. This is just another example of ” v’assu s’yag laTorah” but the s’yag has become so tall and dense that it has obscured the Torah (and for many people it has become the torah). The obscuring of the Torah and of true Judaism can explain in part why so many children have gone off the derech. Do you blame them for throwing up their hands and saying this is all a joke? They are taught that certain people have “das Torah” but are then made fools of, or worse sometimes make fools of themselves.
We need to put the brakes on all of this craziness. We have to roll back the calendar and go back to how Judaism was practiced, one, two and three centuries ago. Remove all of these humrous. Simplify religious practice. Accept peoples word. Judge people by long term knowledge and observation of who they are and how they conduct their lives. Not by how machmir they are for esoteric practices and how they dress, how long they daven the Amidah. And stop looking at b’nos Yisrael
I once heard rabbi belsky say that (this was during the shaitel controversy) that he read somewhere that he went to india to check out the situation and what he paskened.He said it wasn’t true.He never went to india or anything.
I heard from a reliable source the chazon ish used an iPhone.
Can one of the Gedolim write a psak on the ridiculousness of psaks that no one cares about?
Cute article attempting to explain and make a “gadol” legitimate and once again relevant by using a logical approach to hearsay. These rulings and statements that seem to come out of the mouths of 90+ yr old Rabbis( a bit too often lately) are of no practical use,value, or merit unless you live in either bnei brak or the likes there of, and are a sheep in the massive flock of charaidim that live their lives by the Gadols word. Which, btw, is a shrinking population. It isn’t iphones and smart phones that is the concern or the porn that can be accessed on them. People have always been able to sneak a peak at whatever it is the heart may desire(way before the internet). Rather it is the ease and access to information that is scariest to the Askonim and leaders. The more information one has access to, the greater their ability to ultimately make logical decisions ON THEIR OWN. That is the scariest thing imaginable for chareidi or any leadership/organization that is entirely dependent on dependency. Maintaining relevance for these groups is a far greater struggle then ever before. At this point, the only method left to keep the flock under control are SCARE TACTICS. Smart phone=gehenom!
Well, the good news is that if what R. Kanievsky really said this, we’ve finally solved the agunah crisis 🙂
This whole episode is just another case of chumrahs, psak dins, shitas, kol korehs, etc. being issued in the name of so called “gadolim” by their gaaboim, a talmid of one of the gaaboim or the husband of some woman who is a friend of the gadol’s rebbitzen etc. The most recent case is not like saying it is assur to go to a Lipa concert by those who have never heard Lipa perform. Its a case of instant mamzerus for thousands of bnai torah, the closing of mikvos throughout EY which in turn means denial of husband-wife relationships for potentially hundreds of thousands etc. Why is it so unreasonable to expect that if a Rav has a concern, he will publicly come forward in a transparent way and state that concern so there is no ambiguity and heresay? Its been a week since Rav Kanivevsky allegedly made this ruling but he deliberately chooses to leave everyone in the dark knowing the chaos he has created?
The great irony of all this is that if the gedolim were to have an official website, all of these misunderstandings could easily be avoided! It would be a simple matter for them to just have their website updated with their official position, just like any corporation or politician or institution does when there is an issue which they need to clarify to the public.
Among the Chareidim there seems to be an obsession with purity — to the point of paranoia. Not only do they wish to remain cloistered (which is fine, IMHO, it’s their choice), but they are hellbent on eradicating any signs of the modern world.
It won’t just be the iPhone or even the Internet. Someone who works in Manhattan, like some of the commentors above, will be suspect. Or someone who read the news. Or shopped in a non-Jewish store, even to buy water.
Reminds me of (le’havdil) the Spanish Inquisition, which developed a sophisticated system of spying & looked for the most nuanced signs of either “heresy” or Jewish lineage/religion. Similar things happened during the French Revolution, Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, China’s Cultural Revolution. When the leader starts feeling his power slip, reaction sets in.
Well with this reb chaim lost all credibility in my book. He let the missinterpitation go because of the severity of iphones… what about the pedophiles? How about making a statement like that and allowing to be missquoted because of the severity of the issue of pedophiles?
Who are these so called “Gedolim” that have the right to make new Halachas as they see fit? And why is an Android phone okay but not an iPhone?
I understand that a person that has been known to view pornographic videos or images because he is a baal ta’ava, isn’t posul l’edus. Why should ssomone who is simply suspected of it be posul?
Why aren’t telephones banned? So easy to call a porn / sex chat phone #? Let’s resist the temptation to call one of these #s by simply banning all telephones,
Rabbi Hoffman, thank you for a thoughtful, well worded and respectful article. There is another issue here, perhaps the real one: Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky shlit”a believes that as the rabbanim have forbidden iPhones, anyone with an iPhone is a poretz geder. People in Israel who need constant internet access will buy a Galaxy or HTC to avoid buying the stigmatized iPhone. Someone who brazenly buys an iPhone is thumbing his nose at the organized religious community, hence pasul l’edus.
It has nothing at all to do with porn or even internet.A friend of mine in Israel needed a personal organizer and was offered an iPhone for free – with no internet or even SIM card! He turned it down – he was not going to walk around with an iPhone.
One can disagree with the interpretation – perhaps the person with the iPhone is not making a political statement at all. But do understand where Rav Chaim is coming from. (I find that people from the states are completely clueless as to what are the real issues when faced with a psak like this).
Thank you again!
Good work R Hoffman, the psak was ridiculous to begin with.
Like all other extreme declarations, the computer was banned, the internet was banned and I even remember when women wearing nylon stockings with out seams was banned
It is imperative that people pay NO attention to random signs and letters unless the posek stands behind them in public!
These organizations will say anything to get money. It’s ALL about money for them.
The real tzadikim, Of which there are many, don’t make tumults about these things.
The only mind her own business and do the right thing. These organizations are wrong usually by young Schnucks, who see it as a way to take advantage of the frum community. Oh and by the way, Reb Chaim’s grandson has an iPhone on the desk. Groise Tzaddik
Yair:
A Poretz Geder is halachicly Pasul L’Eidus.
“Our Torah leaders are the eyes and ears of the generation” – Not anymore, they’re not. If they were, the klal would take them seriously. The klal will not listen to corrupt and dishonest leaders who demand cultlike adulation.
Although unable to verify the veracity of it, I just read on the ‘Daas Torah’ website that Feinhandler is running a startup that hopes to make and sell KOSHER iPhones. If this is true, it’s just a matter of following the buck. This gets more pathetic as time goes by!
ein hatzibur yochol la’amod bo.
This is my halachic view of the situation.
Perhaps there is a very fine line between an actual rulling and what Reb Chaim said.
I don’t give absolute “right” to either side, but anyone who DOES have a iphone is certainly on a very close call.
You left out the most important tidbit: Rabbi Aaron Feinhandler and his Committee for Clean Communications have been trying to develop the Kosher iPhone (limited Internet filtered by them, no SMS and no Social Apps ) for over a year now. So far they haven’t succeeded – but their PR campaign is in full swing – so that they can hit the market running.
A brilliant business man, it seems.