By COLlive reporter
Students at the Central Tomchei Tmimim Lubavitch Yeshiva at 770 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, NY, were instructed to limit internet access on their cell phones on Thursday.
In two separate letters by the Yeshiva’s administration, bochurim were told that “every student that holds a telephone, it is only if there is no other option for internet.”
Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Zalman Labkowsky and Mashpia Rabbi Shlomo Zarchi wrote in their letter, publicly posted in the Yeshiva, that if a phone has an internet option “a good and strong filter that cannot be hacked must be installed.”
They notified that a team of technicians will be coming this Sunday to the Yeshiva, between the hours 3:00-6:00pm to install parental controls and secure web filtering software on all mobile devices that will be submitted.
The installation will be free for the bochurim and paid for by the Yeshiva, it was announced, seemingly referring only to the Israeli bochurim who study there as part of their “kevutza” year in New York.
In a second letter to students, it was written that those who don’t want a filter installed must deposit their devices with the Yeshiva’s administration which will be returned to its owner before traveling or leaving the Yeshiva.
“Whoever does not do one of the two above mentioned options is removing himself immediately from the Yeshiva without any warning or additional notice,” the letter said.
Students typically sign a letter of agreement with the Yeshiva before the beginning of the school year that they will adhere to all the Yeshiva’s policies.
Rabbis have long tried to shelter youngsters and even adults from open access to the internet. The late posek Rabbi Shmuel Wosner said that “surfing without a filter violates the prohibition of Yichud. There is absolutely no excuse not to have an Internet surfing filter on one’s home computer.”
A recent email to the inbox of COLlive.com illustrates the problem. The 17-year-old bochur from Florida reported that “too many of my friends have an internet problem (you know what I mean…)” and that he sees “what the internet is doing to them,” including himself at one point.
Naturally asking to remain anonymous, he placed the responsibility on the parents. “You may think you know what your kids are up to, but you probably have no idea. If you love your kids, save them from the filth and put a filter on their phones.”
The bochur recommended the website venishmartem.com which offers cutting edge filtering and reporting solutions for internet enabled devices.
these boys are old enough to make their own decisions in life and not be treated like a child
Filters are helpful but believe me when I say that anyone over the age of about 40 who thinks that they can make something unhackable to someone who grew up with technology and the internet is naive at best, delusional at worst. Reality is that as strong as the yetzer hara is, we have to find our own ways to control ourselves on the internet and boys have to learn this or that will be the least of their problems later. The same way that we do not tell our girls that they should dress tzniusly because men cannot control… Read more »
The internet, when it rose from being a military/government entity to the public, started innocently. It was going to be an unprecedented, convenient and revolutionary way of accessing information, staying connected, working, and being entertained. It sure was! However, like a computer forensic detective said: “When you see enemy planes, missiles, etc. coming at you – well, you see it and respond to it.” The internet, on the other hand, was really like a “Trojan Horse.” The computer, – a once, innocent calculating tool – now with this new feature became a nightmare for many: addiction, psychological and even physical… Read more »
WE NEED MOSHIACH!: The way we have become so dependant on this technology, to ban cellphones may be very unpragmatic, and even harmful. Suppose there’s an emergency, and you have no phone?! A generation ago, pay phones were so plentiful that it was almost as easy to get to a pay phone as getting one out of your pocket. Where are they now? – few, far between, and many of them don’t even work! Yes, filters are better than none. However, anyone who OWNS anything with internet access can bypass the filters. Even if they can’t, you can still acess… Read more »
Naïveté I don’t think anyone disagrees of the dangers of free internet access; and that a filter, dumb phone, etc., is a proper safeguard in protecting ones self from those dangers. But having established that, it is VERY naive for any Yeshiva or Hanhola to pretend that they can enforce that. The best we can do, is lead by example, and educate their students in a positive and realistic way. (Note: the hanhola should first rid themselves of smartphones, internet, etc., so they are “walking the same walk”, as they advise their students). The same goes for everything else, besides… Read more »
The only,people that are naive are the ones that think that people should,be strong enough to,control themselves. Famous story in gemara about Rabbi Akiva who thought he couldnt be tempted. So the yetzer hara dressed up as a ______ and went to the top of a tree. When Rabbi akiva saw the person, he hurried to climb to the top of the tree. And there are other stories with others. Are you greater then Rabbi Akiva? Fine maybe you are. Are your,husband and kids,greater than Rabbi Akiva?????????
I bought a laptop when I became a teacher. After innocently trying to google images for my worksheets, I was shocked by what came up. I tried putting on google safe search but that didnt help either. Even clicking on harmless websites had disgusting ads with disgusting pictures that were very hard to ignore and with oh so tempting headlines. When I tried to youtube videos that I could show in class, the videos themselves where fine, but the suggested videos on the sidewere complete pritzus. I would not blame anyone who clicked on it. I tried researching filters but… Read more »
“Closing the barn doors after the horses have escaped…”
The Rebbe called for early marriage. The Rabonim called for early marriage. There should be no delays. That’s the main solution.
i cant believe you would make such a statement?
BH
Rabbonim have already clearly stated that one musn’t have unfiltered internet.
Make it unhackable to the best of your ability, and if you ‘fall’ learn from your mistake, and figure out how to fix the hole you found in the filter.
Kesiva Vechasima Tova, be well
any filter can be bypassed. but here we are assuming that holy Jews don’t want to sin and having a filter remind them that the website they clicked is wrong will save many lives.
Very nice to think you are smart and that is enough to educate children not to surf where they r not supposed to.
The problem is that filthy pictures are posted also on web pages of news, and u don;t even have to click to see further!!!!!!!!!
only if u want more details u click on the picture, otherwise, u have already seens enough without clicking.
DON”T FOUL YOURSELF!
So now these bochrum can follow the lead of almost every mesivta/zal bochur out there today, by having 2-3 different phones to satisfy the naive (at this point it has to be intentionally naive!) hanhalos of all Yeshivos. The latest unfiltered smartphone for themselves, an old-fashioned dumb phone, and now maybe a filtered smartphone, to show the hanhala. The people, not the phones, are “dumb”!
No announcements about advancements in learning but a public announcement (that should remain internal) about issues that make noise.
Why are people even pretending this is going to happen? Since when has any rules been enforced in 770, seriously get real this is just to answer those who ask why lubavitch just allow the Internet in there yeshivos unsupervised.
by putting to much rules people start rebbeling so stop this nonsense of so much rules
i easily broke through opendns without an administration password, but if i needed one i could easily do that too
The best filter I have found is the venishmartem cloud filter.
That being said, filters only work for those that want to be filtered. There really is no filter that cannot be bypassed or hacked
There is, absolutely, positively, no such thing as a filter that cannot be hacjed
#28. Do bochurim also feel like babies when hearing the Aseres Hadibros?
they filter one phone in the Yeshiva, and keep another phone for private internet use
free app for Android is the best lock works like a charm. The Hanholo should make sure they have every phone on this app lock
So I guess all the laws of yichud are disgusting bc grown men should be trusted. We are told ” sin crouches by the door” and man cannot be trusted AD YOM MOSO (until he dies).
and the American Bochurim too!
Why are only the kvutza bochurim’s phones being installed with filter!? What about the rest of the 770 bochurim!? Why are you singleing them out!? Everyone has a teiva for the internets! Discrimination!
kevutza bochrim, are 19 -20 I believe. Like any other Shiur daled bocher.
Smart idea!
Ur only fooling urself to think who needs it….torah says to guard ur eyes so y not protect urself… Or do u wanna wait till its too late and the guys are on a different planet hard to return from that will have long term negative affects on what is right and wrong
If grown people can’t control themselves and have to be treated like children, we have a much bigger problem.
Almost any filter can be bypassed. The internet with all its challenges is her to stay. Instead of all these big Rabbis trying to stop the internet why don’t they start educating.
IMHO the Rabbi’s fear the internet not because of the filth on it but because they can easily be challenged. OMG there are good Jews in the world that have a different opinion then this Rabbi and are not burning in hell.
As a young father I will not add any filter to anything but rather focus on educating my children right from wrong.
What makes you think married men dont do this too? Are you that naive? Filters should be installed on everyone’s phones. There is so much filth on the internet you have no idea just how bad it is. Don’t wait until its too late and you find out it has entered your home too. Good for the yeshiva!
Bochurim need to get married early. Not start thinking of dating at 25. Yeah. At 25 they have lots of stuff in their heads already and can’t make chassidishe decisions anymore.
It’s a new world. We need to roll with the punches.
Are the pay phones still upstairs,near the coats?
if it is true, tat they are 21-25, then that is really sad that they are being like that…
im in a school that does this on our phones and it makes us feel like babies, we hate it.
parents should be on top of their childrens’ phone. and if they are not, they will suffer the responsibility of having chilled children.
Too late for me.It ruined my life as a 770 bochur.
Boruch hashem once married things are easier.but the damadge was done.
where can i get it?
i need one desperately!! i want to be good ,but it is overwelmingly hard!!!!
please where can i download the filter? for the phones?
and how many down load filth on a n innnocent phone and watch it in a private place where no one can see, even if their old fashion cell phones have no internst.
they can go anywhere and do that…
mken foon dem katz nit ztu nemen dem laiterel!!!!
hashem yerachem oleinu!!!10 years down the line we lost a whole beautiful genenration , till the adults chapped zich what is going on!! we need Moshiach NOW!!!!!!
and even the mashpiaim and menahalim and Mashgichim need the SAME FILTER mit a laingeh vaishe borde!!!!
In most chassidishe schools parents must sign that they have only filtered Internet. If anyone is found with a phone without a hechsher their child is thrown out of school.
bochurim shouldn’t have cellphones on them during the yeshiva sdorim at all. Beside the disturbing learning calls many can play games during seder without internet conexion.
It’s true for everyone. I have a filter on my home computer but not on my phone. It makes a lot of sense, since we live in a digital world where banking and airlines penalize you if you don’t use them online. I’m not throwing out my smartphone but i would definitely put a filter on it.
Try using OPENDNS. It works very well and cannot be overridden without the administrator password.
Boruch Hashem. It’s long overdue
Please share which Web Filter will be installed so that the rest of us can install on our tech devices. I’m not sure which one to install for my family.
What we believe in will certainly withstand the temptations present online. The Torah isn’t going anywhere. The question here is – are WE strong enough? And the answer is usually no. There is no shame in needing a filter; there is much to be ashamed about when not installing one.
they should be stricter, and not allow phones in zal; and punish when seen in zal. I do not want to support any yeshiva if the bochurim are on phones, they may as well not be in yeshiva and learn how to earn money instead
Chabad has still not gotten over our “chareidy wannabe” complex. The thing is, we’re not them. We can’t even do it properly no matter how hard we try. One day (maybe) we’ll realize that. Until then, we’ll keep on making fools of ourselves
Great that there is no banning. Cant agree enough about filters though.
Why do you need to give it a negative title?
The ruchniyus of our generation is not being helped by smart phones.
I think you forgot about screen addictions and yetzer horah.
Of course this is a good idea.
These bochurim are 21 through 25 years old. At a Certain point we can’t babysit people anymore. They’ll eventually need to learn on their own how to behave. And this is the perfect age for them to start learning.
Drinking should also be banned instead of encouraged! I have seen countless families suffering because of the drinking problems that are groomed by fabrenghens and Shabbos kiddushes where alcohol is rampant!
Are the people who offer and install the filters on the cell phones the same people or related to the ones offering the filters for the water?!… maybe all the bochurim in yeshiva should also have filters on their eyes and ears too?!… Do you Really Believe, That Going in This Direction, Will Produce Frum and Cassidish Bochurim?!… maybee the time came, to make major changes in the Yeshiva?!… Hashem Yeracheim al oisonu kulonu!! Avol Ad Mosai??!!…
I have the k9 filter on my phone but also the Facebook app which can serve as a browser by merely a few clicks, so im
banning internet isn’t enforceable, but a filter changed every half year or so can be do-able. Adults have problems, but do you remember the temptations and pull of the YH when you were kids??!!think back. Another (harder to enforce but more effective)way is to ban cell phones with internet. Being able to call and leave text and voice messages should be enough for most legitimate uses.
Ban drinking and save lives.
Some chassidic groups ban internet altogether. Here we are lenient, to the destruction of some, chas v’shalom, may G-d save us. It is the very least that should be done. We must tell the yetzer hara where to go.
Can you please share the info of the technicians so we to can benefit.
Thank You.
It’s that bad? It’s commendable the Yeshiva is doing something about it. Next up – stopping the violence.
If what you believe is not not capable to withstand the internet then it’s not worth believing in altogether. Just a thought for all the haters
Yay. The hanhalah are doing their jobs!
Also they are sending a very good and strong message!
Better later then never