I know it's hard to decipher and figure out what is really going on; why would there be protests in front of stores that only sell "kosher phones?" That's why DIN is here to help you understand what's really going on behind the scenes.
You have had to have been living in a cave not to have heard the opposition to smartphones from the "gedoilei" Yisrael and it makes perfect sense. They don't want you to surf the internet where one can access porn and depraved ideas. In addition it can also be a massive waste of time for serious people. It can be dangerous for children and teenagers whose minds are just developing. There is also a lot of bullying on social media which can actually cause teenagers to commit suicide .Just last week a shiksa who had won Miss USA, and was an accomplished lawyer jumped out of a window in a high-rise in Manhattan and they say that it was because she was bullied on social media.
So the Rabbanim set up a "Vaad" of "askanim" to set up what we now know as the "kosher phone" industry.
This kosher phone is just a phone, and one cannot access the internet.
The way the industry works, is that you go to an authorized store that carries the hechsher from this "vaad" and they in turn give you a phone with a specific number which they control. So if you decide that you have had it with the "kosher phone" and want to switch to a smartphone because your business requires it than you must leave that number with the "Vaad", you cannot transfer your number to any other phone or carrier! Which is really a pain, because now you will have to notify all your contacts that you have a new number.
But we Yiddelich know that wherever there is a "Vaad" there is inevitably corruption, and the "Kosher Phone" industry is no exception.
So if the "Vaad" doesn't like your politics, all they have to do is turn off your number, and the next thing you know, you are holding a worthless piece of plastic junk with a charger of course.
In the last couple of months, the "Vaad" cut off the phones of hundreds of thousands of subscribers because the "Vaad" didn't agree with their politics. I want to repeat what I just said so that it sinks in .... the "Vaad" cut off the phones of hundreds of thousands of subscribers because of politics. I don't want to go in to details for obvious reasons, but just so you know one of the askanim who is sitting on this vaad is a chusid of the Gerer Rebbe. Got it?
They also closed the service to hundreds of institutions, many of these institutions were set up to help people, but because the askanim of those institutions weren't politicly in sync with the vaad they suddenly were left without any service. And like in Communist Russia you could call the "Vaad" and tattletale on someone and the next thing you know, that person is suddenly left with no service.
Some of those institutions who had their service cut off reached out to an MK who is in charge of communication and he stepped in to fix it.
He announced that there is no such thing as an exclusive "Vaad" and that any Joe Shmo who wants to have a business of selling "Kosher Phones" will be permitted to do this, but in addition, he will allow you to keep that number, once you have a "number" that number now belongs to you, no matter the phone. So now a guy with a "kosher phone" can now transfer his service to the Joe Shmo and keep his number, he can also transfer that number to a smartphone!
Well.... all hell broke loose and the askanim went nuts because now they lost their business and more important, their control. So they screamed "Foul" and barked that the Zionists don't want the Chareidim to remain "kedoishim" and want to contaminate their very souls.
Now for the shocker; a "kosher phone" cost more than an average smartphone.... yes.. you read that correctly: a "kosher phone" is more expensive than a smartphone!
Does that make any sense? Yes it makes a lot of sense when the "vaad" is in control.
The "Vaad" two weeks ago sent their two gedoilim to speak at a protest that turned violent in front of a store in Geula that sold only Kosher Phones but refused to take their "Hechsher"
The "gedoilim" witnessed and saw their own followers run into the store and break and loot like the Shvartzas in Portland, and said not a word.
Last Thursday the "Vaad" sent their Chareidie gangsters into another store on Kikar HaShabbos to break the windows and cause massive damage. You can see the mob doing their avoidas hakoidish in my previous post.
That store also only sold "Kosher Phones" but refuses to get their hecsher!
These "gedoilim" were no where to be seen at a Seforim store down the block that was selling Walder books!
