On Aliyah to Eretz Yisrael and The Internet Ban

Life In Israel has an interesting follow-up post from Yehoshua Shapiro.

Excepts and comments.

I would like to address those people who live in the diaspora and because of the type of issues I wrote about they are not interested in coming. These are not reasons not to come and I feel you are using this as an excuse. There a lot less problems raising kids here in Eretz Yisroel then there are in Chutz La'aretz and if you need me to spell them out you can write me (you can get my email address from Rafi). It is so much easier to learn because here everyone knows Hebrew so when you go to school it is that much easier to learn. The kids know chumash well, and nach as well.

While I didn't email him, I don't agree with this statement. This really depends on many factors. Even if we discount other strong reasons not to make Aliyah.

1. There is a much higher level of chutzpah in Israel relative to the US in my experience.
2. It really depends on which community you belong to.
3. The dropout rate in Bnei Brak, for example, hovers around 20%. AFAIK, no place in the US comes close to this.
4. The language isn't that much of a barrier in the US. Definitely not a strong reason for Aliyah.
5. In the US, if you are chareidi, you actually have a chance to learn a trade and go to work, as opposed to Israel.

Don't construe this as me believing that its a bad idea to go to Israel. I think its a great idea. It just need proper planning. Especially on the financial side.

The last couple of weeks we have seen here in Israel that the askanim are trying to assur the internet. I say the askanim and not the gedolei Yisroel because many of the gedolim receive their information from these people. The internet is a brocha and of course it has some things that are less than desirable but with proper controls one can use it and not fall in.

I fully agree. Indeed, Rav Steinman explicitly said that it shouldn't be publicly banned. His signature was forged. It is partially on this basis that a lawsuit is now being filed by the website owners.

With all this attention that is being given to the internet, if one never heard of it before he now has a yazter horah to see it and find out what it is all about. The internet is here to stay.

Rav Steinman's argument!

I spoke to a prominent Rov and years ago while the internet was still in its infancy he saw the potential of all the torah that could be broadcast and learned through the internet and he opened a site. Many people because of this site and the others that have opened since then have learned much torah. Technology is a great thing and we have the potential to use it for good things.

The internet is very good in the sense that it makes people tow the mark. Many issues that were not addressed for years on account of the internet these issues were finally addressed. There are dangers to the internet but with proper care they can be avoided. The internet and technology are here to stay and we have to channel the good of them for positive things.

 Who said the following quote: Its not the Internet that bad, its what you do on it that might be bad.