As it turns out, Betabeat was too hasty in declaring our attendance at the upcoming ”Jews Against the Internet” rally scheduled for City Field next month. As Rabbi Eliyahu Fink points out at Vos Iz Neias? (Yiddish for “What is news?”), women are not allowed to participate. Tickets are currently on sale for $10. “There’s just one catch. 50% of orthodox Jews cannot attend. The entire Asifa is for men only,” writes the Rabbi, who also blogs at Fink or Swim.
In addition to the general sexism, this dictum is particularly notable because the Israeli rabbis backing the event have blamed the Internet (and the insidious gadgetry that makes it omnipresent) for “family-related problems.” In fact, despite roundly decrying “the scourge of technology,” few other specifics are given. Read More
