The dire circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic are pushing prominent Haredi Orthodox figures to acknowledge the hazards of keeping the internet out of their homes, though so far any changes have been limited and temporary.
In Israel, after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, Health Minister Yaakov Litzman was forced to defy the strict rules of his Gerrer hasidic sect and install a computer in his home that is linked to the internet so he can communicate with other government officials.
In North America, the influential Lakewood yeshiva leaders issued guidelines that allow internet use during home isolation, though its rabbis stressed that this is a temporary step made necessary by the urgent situation (“sha’as ha-dehak”). They also emphasized that this easing of policy does not extend to children, for whom there should be “no relaxation of technology standards… even [for] Torah purposes.” Video conferencing apps such as Zoom are still off limits for kids, the Lakewood directive says.
It’s no secret that many Haredi Jews use smartphones covertly. Academic studies have pointed to widespread internet use, evidenced by the abundance of Haredi-oriented blogs and websites. Still, the disproportionately high spread of the COVID-19 virus within Haredi communities shows that information is not getting through and that limiting digital access endangers lives. Without the internet, people were less informed about the potency of the virus, less exposed to fast-rising fatality numbers, less familiar with the rules of social distancing and hygiene, and slower to transition to safer conduct.
After Corona, rabbinical leaders may revert to prior policies that either reject the internet completely or limit it to the workplace. But now that web access has proven it can save lives, it will be difficult to put that genie back in the bottle. On the other hand, if the rabbis face the new reality directly rather than trying to avoid it, a strategy can be developed for maintaining and even enhancing the Haredi lifestyle in an internet-saturated world.
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