Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, Rabbi Yosef Veiner And Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner On Surfing Without A Filter

surfing net[Submitted by Guard Your Eyes Dot Org] Surfing the Net without a filter? See what the following three Rabbonim have to say about it. Rabbi Abraham J. Twerski, MD said the following: “You have no idea as to what category of people have fallen victim to internet addiction. We would not think that these type of people would be capable of it. Hopefully nobody who’s a Yirei Shamayim is going to go look for that kind of trash and that kind of filth. However, it is perfectly possible that while monkeying around with the internet, you hit a button and there’s a pop-up of a scene. You weren’t looking for it, but it happened. You have exactly 3/10ths of a second to turn it off. And if you avoid it for 4/10ths of a second, you may become addicted. That’s how severe it is. It’s one of the most powerful addictions. Day after day after day – I get letters and calls from people who say, “what can I do to save myself?” because they have fallen into the addiction and it has taken them all the way down. It has ruined more marriages than anything, ruined families. It’s been terribly destructive.” 

 
Rabbi Yosef Veiner, Agudas Yisrael Flatbush had the following to say:

“Not a week goes by that I don’t have to deal with a Shalom Bayis Problem or a problem in Chinuch Habanim or Banos, or a very fine Bochur who will call me up – or at least what is left of a very fine bochur – calls me up crying, begging for help. There is nobody that can claim that either they’re not affected, or a family member, or a neighbor, or the chaver sitting next to them in shul, or the chavrusah sitting across from them in yeshiva. If you discounted it until now, you’re gonna have to take my word for it when I say that there is no single problem facing the yechidim in klal Yisrael and communities at large, there is no bigger problem than this. There’s a Chov Kadosh to do something now before there’s no semblance of Kedusha left in Klal Yisrael. And I don’t say that lightly. Keep in mind, the people who come to me are so frum and so upset about what’s going on, that they’re willing to talk to their Rav. That means that there are thousands of people who would never even speak to their Rav. I hate to sound pessimistic – but if you have unrestricted internet in the house – internet that is not both filtered and reported, I would say there’s a higher than then 90% chance that people have already been Nichshal in your house. And if it hasn’t happened yet, there’s more than 90% chance it will happen. And if it’s not happening at home, it’s happening in the office.” 

Rav Shmuel Halevi Wosner had the following to say:

“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. Not to do so is to violate the commandment, “You shall not put a stumbling block in front of a blind person.”

(For those who want help or advice on which filters to install, they can contact thee GYE filter gabai at [email protected]. See also Guard Your Eyes dot org for help on installing K9, which is a free filter).

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19 COMMENTS

  1. Thank you TLS for promoting YishmorEini (small link on top of site 😉 as a helpful tool to fight this terrible addition. Many members of our shul signed up and it has changed lives!

  2. I agree to all of the above but…Teens who are savvy can get around any filter in minutes if not seconds and that includes K9. I have tried to address this issue with some rabbonim (moderated). Yes it’s dangerous, yes we need safegaurds. agreed. I respectfully disagree that this will solve the problem. An everything is assur approach has not worked and will not work now. Hashkafas hatorah needs to be taught as a CORE subject in all yeshivas. Even if it wasn’t the “mesora” of Europe to teach Hashkafa, it IS what’s needed in this dor. Hashem should help all of us avoid the pitfalls of the nisoyone called the internet.

  3. Quote “It’s one of the most powerful addictions.’
    Addicted to what??? if you cannot just click off of the site you have a problem before you even got there !
    While I would understand this is a big issue for very young children who may come accross something inapproprite that would not be the case for teenagers

  4. @3: If your kid is that computer savvy you need to throw out the computer or keep it locked up. Visit their site for other solutions.

    @4: Everyone has different Nisyonot, don’t be so quick to generalize or judge. Hashem might decide to test you C’V. There are several examples in the Gemara about the lengths Chazal went to protect themselves. Will you judge them too?

  5. not judging anybody only stating what is obvious. you control your own actions. If your upbringing was held to a high moral standard there would be no reason to be comncerned about things such as this!!! I’m not saying that young children should be guarded against this stuf ,but at some point young teenagers & adults are accountable for their own actions .

  6. Guardyoureyes.org is a truly wonderful site, but their advocation of the filter “K9” is way off! I, who Is not specifically tech savy can disable a k9 filter in less then a minute! DONT USE SOMETHING THAT IS SO EASY TO GET AROUND! TRUST ME IT’S NOT DIFFICULT! Pay the extra few dollars and buy a good filter that is healed responsible to consumers.
    PS I use a different filter because of the above.

  7. I’m sorry but that whole 3/10 of a second thing is simply not true. Also I have no filter and have been using the internet for many many years and I am yet to “stumble” onto anything inappropriate. If you are already on a questionable website then yes there is a chance you might see something but then you already put yourself at risk. I guarantee you that if log onto yahoo or gmail or any not perverted site that pritzas are not going to crawl out of the woodwork and into your neshama it just does not work that way.

  8. Just curious. how does one so quickly bypass K9 filter. I had a problem once and even experts had a hard time bypassing it . .

  9. @doubtfullI would tell you how but I’m not sure it’s the correct thing to let everyone know that information in a public forum. But, the reason the “experts” may have had such a difficult time is because all I did was corrupt the file, I didn’t bypass it…

  10. #5. Who said it was my teen? Besides that, your solution is idiotic. If a teen is that savvy they will get access whenever and wherever they want. You are obviosly a novice and a simpleton in this parsha. i have heard from people who deal with this issue that it is better to give them public access where they can be monitored instead of forcing them to sneak around to get the access. I also assume you have already paskined that it is assur to admit that lock it up and throw it out doesn’t work anymore. please let us know when you arrive in 2011.

  11. @11: Normally I would not dignify personal attacks with a response. This is a public forum and the gerneral etiquette is to respectfully disagree and not issue sarcastic, accusatory and derogatory remarks when making your point.

    Name calling is absolutely immature when one has a case to make.
    It does not add credibility to one’s point.

    It is sad that the town does not have enough opportunities for the savvy kids to learn how to really use computers for the great tools they can be. Monitoring is a given, Mentoring is something that goes farther. There are plenty of paths in the IT world from programming, web design, business applications and on and on that would help the kids learn a valuable skill to earn a living.

    Finally, please do an Internet search on my name and then decide if I am, as you say, “a novice and a simpleton”. Facts require research and critical thinking, not verbal abuse. I think the laws of Loshon Hora apply, therefore please do the search so people do not think you are right. I contribute many articles to the Scoop which I beleive are pertininent and necessary and from the positive feedback the site gets and I get personally regarding those subjects, I think, in all honesty, that most would strongly disagree with your crass characterizations.

  12. It is better to monitor access in your home, in an otherwise locked room and not the kids room.

    It is a well known fact that Public access, as in a public library or bookstore is NOT monitored at all unless YOU are there with them. In fact these places contend that the First Amendment protects your kids “rights” to see and hear smut at their own workstation or on the potential pervert’s workstation sitting next to them. And the courts hold it up. Let’s deal with facts and and opinions with civility.

  13. to #13 I notice you have changed your tune from your comment in # 5 was “if your kid is that savvy you need to throw it out or lock it up” Now you talk about IT paths and mentoring and teaching them how to use it. How can they learn how to use it if it is thrown out? You don’t appear consistent here as you have changed your tune and used my own suggestions as your own. So much for proper ettequite. I will leave prim and proper responses for the germans.

  14. to #13. OK. I spoke out of line with the labels I gave you. I hereby publically apologize and beg your forgiveness. Respectfully sir I do take issue with that which you said in regards to throw it out or lock it up. That only works before kids are exposed to internet. While in an ideal world it would be great to say the approach works after the fact, it does not unless the exposed teen does so of his own volition. If in fact he still wants access he will get it one way or another. If you have some magic bullet that will make the youth not want to be online We would all love to hear about it. While I’m sure guard your eyes is quite helpful to some, I dare say a teen who has found himself amoungst peers who heavily use the net, will not be interested in such a sight. The sight is for people who want to change. When you have youth that are disenfranchised from the frum olam, this is their solace. Agreed it is wrong, but when the yeshivas won’t accept them, when they can’t get a job, can’t find vocational training, where do you think they end up? throw it out or lock it up is great before the fact…

  15. To #4. Contrary to what you write chazal say ain apitropus larayos which means that when it comes to these kinds of temptations NO ONE is gaurnteed. If for some reason you were wired definitely thank Hashem for that but don’t preach to the rest of us (the normal ones) we NEED filters as gedolai yisroel have instructed.besides just because you don’t have these issues how do you know that your childrn won’t b regular peopl who do hav thse nisyonos?!

  16. #8 you are fooling your self , we all know it dosent happen when you go to gmail the problem is when you dont have a filter you go to gmail
    and OTHER sites as well

  17. @: I forgive you wholeheartedly. I admire your courage. While I don’t completely agree with your conclusions I respect your passionate concern regarding this complicated situation.

    I agree that there is no magic bullet. We have had success with some kids and not with others. It is complex dynamic or personality, family, school, peers and the complete decline in the morality of the society we live in.

    I have a website you can get to at: frumkidsatrisk. com where I have some information, materials and links to other resources that I think can be helpful both for parents and kids.

    Thank you very much. We all need help from Shomayim, may He grant us and our children success.

Comments are closed.