[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

An Interview with Mr. Chezky Reiss – The Person In Charge Of Internet Filtering Technology at the Belz Community in Canada

Please tell me a little about your community

Belz is one of the famous Hassidic dynasties with large communities in several cities in Israel, and in renowned global cities throughout the globe including London, Montreal, Zurich, Melbourne, Manchester, Antwerp, Monsey, Borough Park, Williamsburg and Lakewood. Most of these communities are large and have several Belzer shuls. As an example there are currently eight Belzer shuls in Boro Park and seven in Ashdod.

All of these communities are united under the leadership of the Belzer Rebbe Shlit”a who lives in Yerushalayim. Today there are “bli ayin hora” an estimated six thousand Belz families worldwide and this is rapidly growing.

What is your role in the community and what is your profession?

I have the privilege to be involved in different outreach (“kiruv“) projects and many other community needs (“tzorchei tzibur“). I’ve been a TAG volunteer technician since its inception and more recently I’ve been involved as a technician for Moshea U’Mogein, an organization run by Belz in Montreal to help people use their technology according to the Torah.

I’m a web developer by profession and I have my own web development company which specializes in e-commerce and cloud based applications.

When did you start dealing with the issue of filtering the Internet and smartphones and why?

Working with the internet for over 10 years, and realizing its dangers, I was always experimenting with different kinds of filters and at the same time helping and encouraging friends and colleagues to install filters. We are talking about times when the internet was still in its infancy, when dial-up filter services were still being used. Then in 2010 I was asked by a local Montreal benevolent (“chesed“) organization to help organize a meeting with Rabbi Nechemia Gotlieb and local Rabbis to raise the awareness of the dangers of internet. Rabbi Gottlieb then went on to organize the big Citi-Field event and eventually founding TAG. So naturally when TAG was founded here in Montreal in 2011, I volunteered as a technician.

Then came the smartphones and it became obvious that we needed to find a filtering solution, but there was none. The only real solution was to lock or remove all apps that could browse the internet. But even that, was a near impossibility especially with the Android system changing so rapidly and dramatically.

How did you discover Netspark?

About a year ago, around “Moshea Umogein” was seeking a solution for smartphones. I chanced upon an inspiring article about Moshe Weiss, a Stoliner chasid, an American born businessman living in Yerushalayim, a Jew with devotion (“mesiras nefesh“) for kiruvv rechokim and the community (“klal yisroel“). He decided to join the team that established Netspark. After reading that article I knew right away this is a man who can be trusted to deliver a true solution with pure intentions “l’shem shomayim“.

Why did you decide to choose Netspark mobile as your recommended solution to the community?

As mentioned above, we knew that the founder of the company is a serious approachable (“heimishe“) businessman who had a record of doing great things for the community (“klal yisroel“). We saw that Netspark is a highly professional company, with many levels of hierarchy and accountability.

And of course the main reason is because Netspark is simply great. It is still the only solution that provides a strong filtering protection that has an unbreakable uninstall protection without requiring to root the phone. It is also affordable and does not slow down the device or consume any unwanted data.

Another very important aspect, as opposed to other solutions, Netspark was the only solution enabling local volunteer technicians to install, troubleshoot and adapt the filter to each individual’s needs and device.

How are you working to promote the recommendations and installation of the application in the community?

Well, Netspark provides the only solutions that we are currently recommending for Android devices. We are waiting urgently for Netspark to release their IOS version for IPhones and hopefully maybe even a filter for desktop computers.

Would you like to add anything else that you think is important?

Most definitely, it’s a pleasure to work with Netspark, their technicians are always available to fix any problems brought to their attention. Their all-Israeli staff of technicians is always on the ball with the latest technological advancements and they are always ahead of the game with every new Android version release.