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VIDEO: Rabbonim Say Don’t Sit Next To A Passenger With A Smartphone On A Bus


At the Strengthen & be Strengthened (חזקו ונתחזקה) asifa for talmidei yeshivos in bnei Brak, the attendees were presented with the new regulations in the battle against technology.

The tzibur in attendance is instructed not to be seated next to one with a “tamei” smartphone.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)



19 Responses

  1. How about regulations against sitting next to someone…

    …that steals from the government?

    …that steals from people by causing damage to their belongings or property?

    …that physically attacks someone for not wearing the right clothes?

    …that causes damage to public property over some perceived injustice?

    … that speaks lashon hara?

  2. Um, on second thought, let me keep my mouth shut. I think I’ll walk the 8 blocks to the ice-cream market for a milkshake instead. I figure the exercise will kill the calories. Or vice-versa.

  3. Tell me when, oh when, will there be an asifa to promote ahavas chinam? What’s this to benefit? The innocents who don’t want to become tamei? Or to teach those sinners a lesson? Because as I see it, this will free up a whole lot of seating space on those overcrowded buses. “Ahh! One for m, one for my shopping bags. Nice. I think I’ll get one of those tamei phones, a dead one, and just whip it out on the bus to guarantee me a seat.” That’s what I think a whole bunch of perfectly nice yidden are thinking right now…

  4. Love it! Everytime I get on a bus in future, I will take out my i-phone & start checking my emails – guaranteed that I can have a seat to myself! 2 thumbs up for this one!

  5. So I assume they cannot call or text someone with a “tamei” smartohone either? Does that mean all the fundraising will stop? Will all the spam text messages (the phone #’s having quite obviously been distributed by a tzedoka I once gave to at some point) also stop?

  6. so how is one to know if a person has a smart phone?

    If you ask, then you might be over on choshad b’kasherim.

    If you don’t ask the person might just have one.

    And if you do ask and the person says he does not have a smartphone, maybe he is lying?

    I think all thinking people will realize that taking a bus is a dangerous and risky business and therefore anyone who is yerat shomyim should walk instead….

  7. Was it really a “battle against technology”? Would the Rabbonim not want to use the latest medical equipment or safety devices, or was it an asifa against internet access?

  8. Ziongate,

    Why do you feel the need to always mock the chachma of the Rabbis who aren’t wave-flagging zionists?

    You always keep your mouth shut when Ofir Winter was denied a promotion for uttering an inspirational pasuk to his battalion, or when the IDF forces soldiers to shave beards.

    You need to explain. A little more consistency please.

    The chachamim were always able to foresee the downfall of morality in Jewish history. Why mock them?

    As someone who lives and works in North America, I have seen how smart phones have turned people robotic, anti-social, and why we have spent money on campaigns asking people to turn off their phones in shul.

    I suggest you read some biographies including that of Moshe Feinstein, and rabbi Eliashav before submitting your inappropriate comments.

  9. My question is how are you going to find a bus, much less a seat, where the person sitting next to you doesn’t have a smartphone?

  10. This has nothing to do with Zionism, but rather with additional chumras. Some of these rabbis may well be Zionists, but that’s irrelevant here. As for your other examples; I’m not a 100% Kool Aid drinker of anybody,and there are things with which I disagree,.
    I knew Rav Moshe Feinstein personally, but what’s this got to do with anything?
    That said, if it’s an ArtScroll bio, I won’t read it. Rabbi Scherman himself said publicly that his policy is to omit bio information that in his opinion is not fitting for the gadol to be published. In other words, part fiction.
    Since you took the time to respond on this issue, tell us how you feel: Would you sit next to a smartphone user? If yes, why would you disobey these rabbonim? Now it’s you’re turn to be consistent.

  11. Additionally, Define:
    You wrote ” smart phones have turned people robotic, anti-social, and why we have spent money on campaigns asking people to turn off their phones in shul.”
    Agreed.
    Therefore??? You make takanas to which the tzibbur will not be able to abide and/or out & out mock? ( see comments here)
    I don’t even own a smartphone because I don’t need it, and this is besides the point.
    Don’t these rabbonim know that one doesn’t make chumras & takonos on a tzibbur if the majority won’t be able to withstand it??
    This has nothing to do with Zionism, but go ahead and be honest: Will you or won’t you sit next to a smartphone-er??

  12. It’s sweet how they try and ‘fight’ the internet.. News flash; it’s inevitable, we live in the information age. People need to be kept occupied 24/6. The internet is just too time saving, too useful. It’s a lost cause.
    Yes, We do have a problem with some parts of the internet.. so don’t just rant illogical things, sit down & try make a plan. Not sitting next to someone with a phone on a bus isn’t exactly a plan.

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