HaRav Aaron Butbul, a son-in-law of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L, has released a psak din that is causing a storm. The rav feels that one who carries an iPhone may not be a chazzan as such a person is a בעל עבירה and unsuited to be a shaliach tzibur.
The rav made his statement during an interview on Kol Berama Radio on erev Shabbos 3 Teves 5774. The rav explained that everyone commits aveiros but there is an element of remorse but one who carries an iPhone is not sorry and therefore a בעל עבירה and unsuited to serve as a chazzan.
The rav used harsh words, stating “Anyone carrying an iPhone is not a ben Torah and does not have Yiras Shomayim. One who is a Yiras Shomayim does not carry such a phone.”
The rav concluded by explaining that if he is in shul and the chazzan is known to have an iPhone he will still respond “Amen” and he will daven, but if has a say in selecting the chazzan, he will select another person.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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32 Responses
Android or blackberry is better ?? Does he have stock maybe in Google or blackberry maybe we should buy him some shares in Apple would solve a lot of problems
im sorry rav but there are much bigger baale averos(i personally know of such)who are shliche tzibbur….and how about a filterd one
Couple of issues:
1, if takeh there was a problem and he is unsuited for shaliach tzibbur how can he answer omein?
2, what makes iphone users automatic baal aveiros? to start with apple have on the new ios7 excellent content filtering and also where does it come from that all owners do aveiros with their phones?
this guy just lost a lot of peoples respect.
another reason one should consider droid or a Windows Phone.
Oh come on so sick of this garbage!
That’s all these people are busy with
I’m not sure but sounds like he is making up הלכות at his own whim.
We should put him in cherem for being מגלה תורה שלא כהלכה.
With one stroke he invalidated thousands of frum yidden.
Why isn’t anyone screaming about the מחלוקות in eretz yisroel between every single sector of frum non iphone Jews .they cause a greT chillul hashem every second of the day breaking up yeshivas and families ?!? What about in America the rabbonim going to courts and causing machlokes all day long?!?!? And wherever they go the get כבוד מלכים. A secular tzioni in his whole lifetime doesn’t cause a fraction of the chillul hashem these rabbis cause. far worse than owning an iPhone
Untill these people clean up their own act they should keep their false halochos to themselves!!!!!
There are those that paskened not to listen to the radio. So those who give interviews on the radio…being shaliach tzibbur….?
Not that I have one, but a smart phone is basically a pocket computer. So if a computer with a filter ok, why not a smart phone?
What would the pasak be if Deri the head of the Shass party ,we all know what he has done and doing if he was the chazan?
What a joke. Because of foolish statements like this, we have become a laughing stock, pushing MORE people away from Yiddishkayt.
I’m not taking a position either way, but this needs to be understood in the context of cell phones in Eretz Yisroel. where there are not only kosher cellphones (i.e. cellphone that do nothing but phone calls) but also kosher BlackBerry and now a smartphone with a built-in filter from eNativ.
My Rov, here in Flatbush,(after a meeting of Rabbonim) has issued a similar Psak (for our Bais Medrash), if one has UNFILTERED internet in his home, work, or cell. Its a davar pashut! Seems like some of the above commentors are feeling a little guilty.
@11 accroding to the OP, that means you are not fit for being a baal tfilah, he said Iphone, filtered or not…your in the boat like the rest of us
Not getting involved: Why is it a “dovor poshut”? All a filter does is prevent logging onto certain websites. Well, I don’t log into that anyway- and I do not have a filter. Does that make me a “rosho”? This whole internet fiasco is getting tiresome.
As a owner of a ‘Dumb fone’, these proclamations are nonsensical. Computer internet is here to stay and growing daily, education to understand the dangers plus proper filtering is the answer.
Presently, It is almost impossible to upgrade a dumb fone without getting a date fone. The torah kehillos in Israel are tired, frustrated and annoyed with these frequent statements.
I guess the Rav won’t be davening at our shule.
I strongly hold of this and I think people are so busy with their iPhones these days that there is no time for Torah learning, and of course a computer or other smart phone is just like an iPhone! I strongly advise that If for any reason you do have an iphone you should definitely have a filter on it!
i’m waiting for the story to come out that this rabbi himself owns an iphone, but that it’s okay for him because he got a special heter from some other rabbi.
stop with all this nonsense already. instead of telling people what phone to have and what not to have why don’t you focus on the real issue and start figuring out a way to make yidden delight in avodas hashem.
just stopping people from watching pornography is only treating the symptom, not the root cause.
To #12:
I don’t own an Iphone. I have a cheap prepaid phone from Page plus. $29.95 a month including tax, for 1200 min & 3000 text. Only a fool would spend more.
@16
There are many Torah Apps for phones. Artscroll included.
Why are we constantly picking on the iphone. Well over 100 years ago when the telephone came into prominence we never heard a call from the Rabbonim of the day that one shouldn’t use it. After all, before the telephone was invented one actually had to physically go to his neighbor to be oiver on Lashon Hara. With the telephone all one has to do is call a friend. The point here is that as the society around us becomes more technologically advanced we should know the proper use of the technology, rather than just banning everything. The internet or iphone can be used for good – divrei torah or benign uses – information that once one had to spend a considerable amount of time on gathering that is now at our fingertips, or for evil. Come to think of it, no different than a knife – could be used for a mitzvah – Milah, benign use – eating dinner, or evil – Retzichah.
Funny how the gedolah hador don’t ever speak like that
They have an extreme sensitivity about branding Jews just on a הרגש rather than real halocho.
We should all be careful and mindful if all internet dangers but this is plain ridiculous
To those who try not to understand: facts are that in most frum areas in Israel an Iphone is not seen. If someone has an Iphone he keeps it hidden. Someone who is seen with an Iphone is a smart-alec. Its not about pornography, its about being a poretz geder. Ask someone who lives in Israel. The Rav is pretty on target.
lebidik yankel: why would it be poretz geder? what was the original reason for the banning of Iphones? Can’t anyone now think and act for themselves? Are we that supine that we must listen to every utterance of anyone?
As a talmood in yishiva I can see that the students with smart phones are playing games or texting as opose to the ones with out the capibility why should we tempt ourselves have a commputer that when u need u can go to it but dose not distract from learning
Liebedik Yankel ::: After period of not speaking Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef and Rabbi Tzion Boaron are once again sitting at one-another’s side at meetings of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Council.”
Wow !! How nice !IS THIS NORMAL ? This is the way rabbonim act? Please!!!!!! we have iPhones yet all this garbage does not go on here stop with the iPhones we are crumbling as a society addictions are symptoms of boredom
If I was a big masmid I wouldn’t even be on this site!
We have to get close to the rabbonim and gedolim that we all have here who are amazingly stellar in the old axiom of “practice what you preach”
Bh לא אלמן ישראל we have an amazing array of rabbonim here in America of all types all we need to do is get close to them and iyh we will have hatzlocho.
To the person that said that he doesn’t look at these websites it’s impossible that he is human even the chazan ish did not trust himself with money so it’s impossible that you don’t need a filter every single person needs a filter even a filter is not good
Smart Rav. Until now I had never heard of him. Nothing like a provocative frummer than thou statement to put him on the map!
@19 i pay 50 but i have tanach tehillim mefurshim machshava chasidus talmud and much more, its worth the 50.
I think any smartphone may lead a member of Klal Yisroel astray. And so the owner of a smartphone has the status of a Rodeph. Consequently, there is a good argument to make that one is required to kill smartphone owners in order to save Klal Yisroel
the phone does not make the person. someone with only a hosue phone that speaks loshon hora or steals does not need to have an i phone. these rules are ridiculous. there can be many talmedei chochomim with i phones and there can be many so called bad folks without. time to re weigh all the mishugasim…its destroying yiddishkeit rather than making it better.
there are many so called rabbis that should stay out of things that dont have a real halachic precedent or law.
First of all, it seems to me that the rav had to know that his ‘psak’ was going to get around via the internet… and if his issue is the internet, that would make him ovar in lifne iver lo siten michshol for his own dvar halacha.
Secondly, this sounds to me like another case of a rav trying to prove to the rabbinic community how much more ‘frum’ he is than all the other rabonim. He has created another ‘chumra of the month’ that has no actual basis in halacha. A real ‘psak halacha’ given over in the correct way will cite sources, explain reasoning and give a reason for its conclusion with a basis in prior halachic thought and cite prior rabinical opinions. This so-called ‘psak’ does NONE of that. That is why it should not be taken seriously.