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Da'as Torah and a Stern Warning

The following is the text of an advertisement that was placed in Yated Neeman and other major chareidi newspapers in Eretz Yisroel as well as put up in posters.

Regarding the Terrible Dangers of Computer CD-Rom Games, Films (Including Censored Ones) and the Internet

Kislev 5760

Recently, the yetzer hora has found a way to invade our camp by means of the computer, the Internet and television, as well as by means of movies on Cd-Roms and computer games. As a result, a special beis din was established, and it has met and deliberated on this issues. This beis din is comprised of the rabbonim, HaRav Nosson Gestetner, HaRav Yitzchok Zilberstein, HaRav Shlomo Zalman Ullman and HaRav Sariel Rosenberg, who have consulted experts in the field, and have publicized their conclusions.

As a result, we hereby express our opinion, daas Torah, that it is absolutely forbidden to connect to the Internet or to television which jeopardize kedushas Yisroel and the continuity of our generations. Those who have computers must disable the possibility to connect to the Internet.

Included in this Prohibition is the viewing of films on the computer.

Even professionals, whose livelihood will be harmed by disabling the Internet, are obligated to look for every possibility to minimize its use and even for what is absolutely necessary, and they must use it only in their places of employment, and not in their homes chas vesholom. They are responsible to ensure that others have no access to the Internet. One may proceed in this manner only after asking an authorized rav.

We have also come to warn parents and teachers not to let the children in their care play computer games, because most of them contain forbidden and uneducational sights. Talmud Torah principals testify that computer games and the like draw the nefesh of the child away from Torah and yiras Shomayim. Therefore whoever wishes to raise his sons and daughters to Torah and yiras Shomayim must remove the computer from his home, so that it will not be a stumbling block and an obstacle.

One should not use the computer for entertainment purposes at all.

We plead with out brethren: Have pity on your souls and the souls of your children with whom Hashem blessed you, and pay serious attention to these warnings. Whoever heeds them will be blessed with all that is good, and will merit to raise his children to Torah and yiras Shomayim.

This was signed by 29 major gedolim arrayed across the bottom. We cannot reproduce the array here.