Tradition collides with technology

When television became a household item, the religious community at the time fought its entrance into the Jewish home, writes Rabbi Yehiel Ben Ayon. "Television was seen as a powerful portal to an alien culture, system of morals and values that conflicted with traditional Jewish ones.

A similar debate ensued with the advent of cellphones. With first-generation phones, one could merely converse. Second-generation phones introduced text messaging and were somewhat tolerated.

But third-generation phones have been another thing entirely. These phones can actually send and receive video clips, and one can use them to access the Internet from the convenience of a tiny screen. These third-generation cellphones quickly become unacceptable within the religious community.

Today, the technological battlefront is the Internet-capable computer. While stopping short of an outright ban on such computers, the religious community in Israel finds itself in the midst of an intense debate about them."

[via The Canadian Jewish News]

emily | 2:50 PM | SMS and Religion |
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