Dozens of roshei yeshiva, community rabbonim, Torah
disseminators and poskim from all over the country
reverently gathered in the home of HaRav Chaim Kanievsky for
an emergency meeting in the battle of survival for the souls
of Jewry, to eradicate the scourge of Internet which has
entrapped so many, thus declaring an all-out war like in
times of shmad, pursuant to the determination of all our
Torah leadership as Internet being the greatest threat to
our people since the time of Creation.
The meeting was opened by the moving words of HaRav Yaakov
Meir Sonnenfeld, rav of Rechasim, who cried out from the
depths of his heart regarding the heavy battle confronting
our rabbonim, guided therein by our top Torah leadership.
"One must realize that the devastation called Internet is
comparable to a disastrous fire raging throughout the world,
gaining momentum to unbelievable proportions within our own
camp, threatening to uproot everything.
"Such a threat has apparently not faced us since Creation,
neither in scope or size, attacking whoever has been
exposed, even incidentally, to this Destroyer. HaRav
Eliashiv already came out vehemently against it, declaring
that since Creation, no destructive weapon as awful as this
was invented.
"I will mention just one example out of many. I know of an
older talmid chochom, who was already marrying off his
children, an author of seforim, who used a computer to
prepare his seforim. One night his wife entered the room
where he learned and she was shocked to see what he was
engaged with. Now they are about to get divorced, because he
cannot arise out of the deep pit into which he had fallen,
Rachmono litzlan.
"In order to understand the significance of this terrible
trial, let us preface with what R' Eliyahu Lopian revealed
some fifty years ago. He said that towards the end of days,
a dreadful war will take place between the powers of evil
and the powers of kedushoh. He likened the struggle to two
powers which have been at loggerheads for many years, always
keeping some of their weaponry in reserve for future
battles. But when the last, most decisive confrontation is
at hand, each side will deploy all of its armaments, since
the victory will be final.
"This is the present situation: the final clash between the
powers of evil vs. those of holiness. When the final,
decisive confrontation is at hand, each side will use every
possible weapon in its arsenal in order to win this war."
At the end of the kenes it was decided:
1] The rabbonim will work with determination in their
communities to get rid of the danger of the unblocked
Internet, iPhones and the like.
2] As Maranan Verabonon shlita have said, during the Yomim
Noraim and especially on Shabbos Shuvoh, the rabbonim will
speak about the seriousness of the matter and the importance
of keeping to the safeguards.
3] After the chagim, there will be a Yom Iyun for the
community rabbonim in the Holy Land, for extended discussion
about how to proceed.
*
The activists involved with this issue are organizing visits
to the various gedolei Torah for their blessings in this
intensive battle, declared a fight for survival, visits
designed to increase general awareness to persevere and to
accelerate activity on all fronts.
As reported last week in Yated Ne'eman, during this very
period, principals of chadorim are circulating letters to
the parents on means of caution and heightened awareness
among their children against the dangers of modern
technology.
In a letter sent by the directive of gedolei Yisroel, the
principals state with pain, "As is known, many who have
allowed leniency for themselves are now suffering the
consequences, as numerous illustrious families have been
totally destroyed, rendering their children virtual orphans
to living parents, and as has already been written in the
past by the farsighted HaRav Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, and
ylct"a HaRav Aharon Leib Shteinman, `It is obvious that one
must not allow into our schools the children of families who
do not adhere to the rabbonim with regard to Internet.'"
