Ultra-Orthodox Jews rent Mets stadium for huge meeting on Internet dangers - The Washin... - 0 views
-
By Associated Press, Published: May 18 AP NEW YORK — Ultra-Orthodox Jews who believe that the Internet threatens their way of life have rented the New York Mets’ stadium for an unprecedented gathering on how to use modern technology in a religiously appropriate way.
-
“It’s going to be inspiration and education about using technology responsibly in accordance with Jewish values,” said Eytan Kobre, a lawyer who is the spokesman for the event’s organizers.
-
The rally is being organized by a rabbinical group called Ichud Hakehillos Letohar Hamachane, which means Union of Communities for the Purity of the Camp. Published reports have put the cost at $1.5 million.
- ...6 more annotations...
-
Women will not be permitted at either stadium but the rally will be broadcast live to audiences of women in schools and event halls in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Kobre said live hookups are also being arranged elsewhere in the U.S. and internationally.
-
Heilman said many ultra-Orthodox Jews use the Internet for online trading or to run businesses from their homes.
-
But the “seemingly innocuous device of a telephone or a computer” provides an opening to the outside world that the ultra-Orthodox have long shunned, Heilman said.
-
“The problem of course is that they can’t keep it out because the Internet has become ubiquitous and also important for them,” he said.