After a number of admorim announced the prohibition of using WhatsApp, a number of prominent dayanim join their call. Dayanim HaGaon Rav Yehuda Sliman (סלימן) and HaGaon Rav Shriel Rosenberg of HaGaon HaRav Nissim Karelitz’s Shlita beis din released a letter on Tuesday, 29 Svan in Yated Neeman and HaMevaser warning against using the program for other than earning a livelihood.
The notice stresses that the tzibur is to use only kosher approved phones. Only persons that absolutely must use the other phones for parnasa may do so.
This applies particularly to using WhatsApp, Telegram and others like it, which are accompanied by destructive dangers to the point one may lose oneself, expose one to prohibited sights, and expose these forbidden sights to one another rapidly via the application. Even among many using the application for parnasa, they too often use it for recreational use too and this leads to the destruction of their neshomos.
Hence the safe thing is to use a protected phone and to avoid or cut off from WhatsApp.
Signed by the two rabbonim.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
20 Responses
I hope that everyone will heed the call of our gidolaii yisroel and disconnect from this AV HTUMAH. In this zechus may we merit to be mekabel pnai mashiach bimeherah biyamainu.
1updater #1: +1. People shouldn’t think they know better than our Chachmei Yisroel.
I am interested to know how the gedolim today would have paskened on the use of a telephone if it had been recently invented.Even though it has some good use, it enables the aveirah of loshon hara to be easily accessed by anyone with a land line. Afterall, before the invention of the phone, one would actually have to go to their neighbors house to spread loshon harah, now a simple phone call would do. So why not assur the telephone also?
1updater: First, you should get rid of your computer too, which is far worse than the evil smartphone.
WhatApp doesn’t have ads, but you do need a smartphone to use it. My Daf Yomi group uses it to communicate as does my family.
I bet those Rabbonim know nothing about it.
These rabbonim are well intentioned but otherwise clueless as to the reality of internet use today beyond just work-related matters. In a short period of time, virtually all personal banking, travel bookings, health-care appointments, basic research for school assignments, grocery shopping etc. will be done exclusively over a “smartphone”. Maybe its time to focus on why they are so worried that the yetzer horah of a few troubled individuals should deter the other 99 percent from using one of the greatest treasures the Ebeshter (and not Al Gore) has provided to the world
I follow the yeshivishe minhag here in EY. I only have WhatsApp on my non-kosher phone, but I took it off my kosher phone. That’s what I learned from the chushive buchrim.
Why can’t they focus on something important?
katzenbloogen, have you ever heard of something called to Torah? Or maybe of something called krias shema? ולא תתורו אחרי לבבכם ואחרי עיניכם is a deoreise, isn’t that important?
Baruch Hashem we have bloggers and commenters. We should do away with gedolim and follow the minhagim and ideas of the bloggeratti.
#1 and #2 are correct. The rest of the posters here need intense hadrachah in emunas chachamim. We listen to our gedolim! Period. They are far greater than us and can see what we can’t. It doesn’t matter if we think otherwise or have our own chesbonos. This is regarding every single matter in our lives. I was so disturbed to see some of the responses. Where is the Yiras Shamaim? Claiming that Whats App is beneficial is pointless and beyond silly-which is exactly what many people sound like when they use it! I could go on and on about the terrible ramifications of it, but I don’t need to because our gedolim have asked us NOT to use it and that alone is enough for me. (I shudder to think what a person’s life can look like when this twisted perspective of only listening when it’s convenient carries over to other aspects of one’s life…)
To No. 10.
Everyone should and indeed must consider the views of gadoylei yisroel to the extent those views expressed as reasoned decisions with clear explanations. However, for the majority of frum yidden, on matters such as this we ultimately consult with our own rov or posek as to what derech to follow and in this case, the vast majority of frum yidden reject the mandates of a few geriatric rabbonim with limited understanding of modern technology and its role in our daily lives. No disrespect meant but the presence of so many frum yidden on this and other websites using computers with email and other communication capability (hopefully with filters) speaks to the reality that they are fighting a losing battle.
Enough of this paronia let’s talk about real problems
The gedolim have paskened. Period. And for all those who saythat they don’t know what their talking about, they know more than the average person does, because they hear about the problems that you don’t hear about. And by all means, ask your Rav. Just don’t decide yourself because your were nobody. Get that through tort head. Lo sasuru yemin usmol is also a deoiraisah.
To No. 12
Rather than speaking out on “real problems” such as a generation of young men and women leaving school with little if any secular education and no real job skills through which they might earn a parnassah, these rabbonim are screaming gevalt about a very powerful tool which might actually allow yidden to get a job. Maybe thats their real agenda…keep them in the dark so they are not employable and that will assure they are chained to their shtenders in perpetuity
What actually is the problem with what’s app ?
#11 Have you actually consulted with your own Rov on this issue before blantantly posting your honorable view against rabbonim (who may perhaps be more learned than you)?
who appointed rabbis rosenberg & stilman as my rabonim?
they can preach to their own kehilla (if they have one),
but i dont think they have a right to impose their opinions on the whole tzibbur. they are not gedoley yisroel!
May want to remove that WhatsApp share link on top of this and every other post
The only problem with this whole thing is that regardless of what gets put out it wont make a difference. people nowadays just dont care what rabinim say. whether it’s talking in shul , whats app, internet use,or more benign things, people dont respect rabanim, and the only things rabinim are here for apparently is to ok things for them that they have already decided to do. anybody who dares say that something is wrong or not a good path to go on, even if they have a good reason such as *gasp* them actually HEARING THE STORIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN , AND WHO ACTUALLY HAVE MORE OF A KNOWLEDGE OF THE ISSUES AND PROBLEMS IN THE COMMUNITY THEN SOME DJLUB SITTING ON HIS COMPUTER AT HOME PONTIFICATING ABOUT THE PROBLEMS OF THE DOR THAT HE HEARD AT THE BACK TABLE OF SHUL DURING DAVENING (how dare the rav tell him to be quiet! shushing is worse then talking *hint; no it’s not*) MAYBE THE RABBONIM HAVE A CLEARER KNOWLEDGE OF A SITUATION THEN YOU DO . but no, there is no more room for ruchnius in peoples life anymore. life is all about having fun. taryag mtzvos have become taryag bayot (problems ), obstacles in the way of me having fun. GOD FORBID a rav tells me that someting is wrong with what I want to do. they dont know the metzius, they are stuck in the past, a world where people were not as enlightened as WE ARE
number i can believe that you would say that a computer is one of the greatest gifts that hkb has given us. Hashem h’rachamim on you.