Rabbonim and educators warn against the continuing spiritual
decline effected by the commercial weeklies, as has found
particular expression in a pre-Yom Tov issue of
Bakehillah which aired the viewpoints of the secular
public. These misguided views expressed their `concern' over
the widespread poverty within the chareidi public. The
publications all include articles about gedolim in their
attempt to appear to be part of the chareidi mainstream.
Including objectionable content along with unobjectionable
content is the manner whereby these weeklies obfuscate the
facts and misrepresent values which are supreme to the Torah
world.
In the past, when any of these publications interviewed
secular figures, HaRav Eliashiv directed Yated Ne'eman to
protest vehemently.
Past and present gedolei Yisroel have already publicly
denounced them in a letter publicized in Yated Ne'eman on
the 27th of Tishrei, 5769, preceding rallies promoting
public awareness designed to oust them from the midst of the
chareidi public: "It is imperative to fortify ourselves and
warn against the corrupt influence of weekly publications
not under rabbinical supervision and the approval of our
Torah leadership, which wreak havoc, and may those who
comply with this be blessed with much nachas."
This letter was signed by the gedolim: HaRav Eliashiv, HaRav
Lefkowitz, HaRav Scheinberg, and HaRav Nosson Tzvi Finkel,
all zt"l, along with ylct"a HaRav Nissim Karelitz, HaRav
Chaim Kanievsky and HaRav Shmuel Auerbach.
As previously stated in Yated Ne'eman, the rabbonim and
educators who, in the past, frequented the home of HaRav
Eliashiv, expressed deep concern over the detrimental
influence of these publications, even presenting examples of
the harm they cause. They sought to hear his direction and
counsel on how to prevent their negative outlook from
harming the chareidi public. HaRav Eliashiv then stated his
opinion that such publications have no right to call
themselves `chareidi,' for their very essence totally
negates the objective and character of chareidi newspapers
which were founded by this past generation's Torah leaders,
and whose very mandate for existence is to instill daas
Torah and its pure outlook, while those publications not
only fail to represent it but rather spread distortion and
present undesirable positions, foment dissension, slander
and gossip-mongering under their guise of appearing to be
chareidi newspapers.
HaRav Eliashiv's words fortified the Torah disseminators of
the yeshiva world, including the kollelim, as well as the
administrators and teachers in the various Torah schools and
seminaries, authorizing them to rouse families regarding the
deleterious influence of those publications which infiltrate
chareidi homes to cause significant damage and undermine the
influence of Torah education being imparted in the various
Torah institutions.
Similarly, in a visit dealing with this subject at the home
of HaRav Shteinman, Maran the Rosh Yeshiva stated: "Our
generation's problems are severe, including that of the
Internet, which can bring everything abominable from the
street into the home and has claimed many a victim. These
communication devices inject harmful views but in the past,
whoever wished to be exposed to them, had to go looking for
them on the outside. Now, the yetzer hora has access to our
homes. In past generations, women had their hands full with
housework: laundry alone was a backbreaking chore. Today
everything is much easier, performed by merely pressing a
button. In olden times, who had time to read newspapers?
Today, leisure time increases the danger [of harmful
exposure] of worse things. We must know that every downfall
begins with a small step, a seemingly negligible breach,
beginning with alef that can end with taf. No less! Today he
tells you: Do this, and tomorrow? At first, the spiritual
decline is small but it accelerates."
