(TECH) From Koogle To Yideotube, Efforts To Provide A Kosher Internet

"As more ultra-Orthodox Jews venture online, various providers in Israel are offering them pre-screened access so they can avoid inadvertently viewing any offensive content.

From a drab office in this ultra-Orthodox Jewish stronghold, three devout young women hunch over computers and surf the Internet — looking for pornography, celebrity gossip and a laundry list of other items banned by their rabbis.



It's odd work for this trio, dressed modestly and wearing wigs in keeping with their beliefs. But it's their job at Israel's first ultra-Orthodox Internet provider, Nativ, as it tries to launch a product that could transform the traditionally sheltered community: kosher Internet.

Because racy images of women are the most common offensive content found, the company decided it would be less objectionable to hire women to scour the Internet so ultra-Orthodox customers can surf without worry.

Lea Bernat, 22, a former kindergarten teacher, clicks through hundreds of web pages a day, using specialized software to open links and disable problematic content. 'If it's clean, we release it,' she said. 'If it's really unclean, we tell the customer that the site isn't approved.'

But is it kosher?

That's the question facing many ultra-Orthodox as they move online and are greeted by a fast-growing industry seeking to cater to their special needs, even though no one agrees yet exactly what a kosher Internet should look like.

There's Koogle, a Google-inspired searchable directory of kosher businesses offering, say, bargains on 'modest' wedding dresses. Many rabbis frown on YouTube, so Yideotube offers a 'daily online source of carefully screened videos,' ranging from spoofs of anti-war activists to tips for buying a ceremonial kittel robe.

Worried about violating prohibitions against working on the Sabbath? Software vendor SaturdayGuard sells technology that enables websites to block access for Internet users, depending upon their time zone, between Friday and Saturday night.

There's even an online support group, GuardYourEyes.org, specializing in helping Orthodox Jews break 'lust addictions' arising from Internet access. In addition to the usual 12-step programs and daily 'strengthening' e-mails, the group offers tips for curtailing inappropriate surfing, including using software that automatically sends lists of visited websites to your spouse or rabbi.

Modern technology has long been viewed by many ultra-Orthodox rabbis as incompatible with a spiritual life. Television is banned and only 'kosher' cellphones, which carry rabbinical stamps and have disabled Web browsing and text messaging, are accepted in ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, communities here.

Ultra-Orthodox Rabbis initially labeled the Internet as the biggest threat yet to Judaism, likening it to eating pork and calling it '1,000 times worse' than TV. As the technology spread, rabbis softened their stance and by 2005 allowed limited Internet use for work purposes only.

Now, as the Internet permeates most aspects of life, from banking to registering children at school, more Haredi families have no choice but to go online. About one-third admit to having Internet access at home, though the actual figure is believed to be about 50%.

With an outright ban on the Internet no longer feasible, ultra-Orthodox rabbis are realizing that their only option is to create a kosher variety.

'The overwhelming majority understand that if you can't fight it, join it,' said Avi Greenzeig, believed to be Israel's first 'kashrut monitor' — similar to those who inspect kosher restaurants. He was hired by rabbis to edit and censor one of Israel's most popular Haredi websites, Behadrei Haredim. 'People can live without television, but the Internet is different,' Greenzeig said. 'It's impossible to tell people to go back to the caves. Technology is moving forward and people must move with it. But there are limits.'

From the website's nondescript Jerusalem office, where there is no sign on the door and writers use pseudonyms because of the stigma of working for an Internet company, Greenzeig reviews every article and reader comment before it's posted online.

Greenzeig, only 24 and working at his first job, is younger than the writers and editors. But as the official eyes of the rabbis, he carries considerable clout because he's regularly in touch with the religious leaders.

A piece about a rabbi accused of sexually harassing male students? Greenzeig spiked it. He also killed a review of a band that performs for mixed audiences of men and women. Because the website workers are also Haredi, there's never a problem with profanity or inappropriate pictures, but Greenzeig says he often edits reader comments when they are disrespectful or criticize rabbinical decisions.



Creating a truly kosher Internet is no easy task, partly because of the unreliability of commercial filters. Already, frustrated Haredi youth are asking websites such as Answers.com, 'How Do I Get Around Kosher Net?'

At the same time, Haredi rabbis remain deeply divided on what kosher Internet should look like, who should have access and which websites should be blocked.

'So far they haven't been able to find a clear line, as they have with cellphones,' said Mordecai Plaut, an Orthodox rabbi who operates an English-language Haredi website. 'They are still trying to figure out a way to throw out the bathwater and keep the baby.'

For example, pornography isn't the only thing that upsets some rabbis. They've also expressed concern about websites that espouse other faiths, such as Christianity or Islam. They worry Haredim will waste too much time surfing trivial news and entertainment sites, and not spend enough time in religious reflection.

Access to the Internet has also exposed Haredim, who traditionally have taken their direction only from rabbis, to alternate opinions.

'It's also about control,' said one ultra-Orthodox Internet professional who didn't want to be identified criticizing rabbis.

Hoping to fill the void, several Internet providers are developing customized products for the ultra-Orthodox community, combining filters, web-blocking software and dedicated servers designed to ensure control.

Nativ, which employs the female Web monitors, offers Internet service to about 20,000 ultra-Orthodox customers. The company, based in Bnei Berek just outside Tel Aviv, adheres to strict religious guidelines, employing only Haredi workers and taking instructions from rabbis.

Deputy chief executive Yechiel Twersky is dressed in a 19th century black suit with hat and sidelocks, yet has the very 21st century habit of checking his Blackberry while holding conversations.

Twersky installs 'unhackable' programs on customers' computers to ensure that all Internet access goes through Nativ. The standard service offers about 2,200 websites, mostly government agencies and Haredi businesses. All forms of social media, such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, are blocked, as are Google images. Customers who want access to anything else, such as a journalist who wants to read a particular news site or a doctor who needs a medical research page, must provide a letter from his or her rabbi. Then the female monitors inspect the site.

Software engineer Yaniv Sharon, a Haredi father of five from Rehovot, has tried all the providers, but says none offer the right balance of protection from inappropriate images and access to websites he needs for his Web-design business.

So Sharon is braving the Internet alone, even though he's worried about even inadvertent exposure to pictures of women.

'Just viewing such a picture damages the soul,' he said. 'I put my hand up and scroll the page down.'

He's been advised to hang a picture of his rabbi on the computer to keep him focused. 'It's a constant battle, though.'" (source)

(NEWS) 'Beat The Jew' Game Prompts High Schools To Increase Tolerance Education

"A high school where some students played the Internet game 'Beat the Jew' will receive a new tolerance curriculum, officials said.

The annoucement comes five months after officials a La Quinta High School in Riverside County disciplined students for playing the game.



'Administrators of the La Quinta High School and Desert Sands Unified School District have accepted Jewish Federation of Palm Springs and Desert Area’s offer for Anti-Bias Education, to be delivered by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) 'A World of Difference' Institute,' said Bruce Landgarten, chief executive of the federation, in a statement. 'We applaud the Unified Districts for their commitment in this issue and appreciate ADL’s partnership in this project.'

Other school districts in that region were also to get the training, Landgarten said.

The game, which gathered participants via Facebook, is a complicated contest of tag, in which 'Jews' are taken, blindfolded, by car to a place off campus and have to make their way back to base while pursued by 'Nazis.'

Organizers had put up a Facebook page announcing the game that was 'friended' by some 40 students, of which seven participated.

The game took place on the night of May 20 on the grounds of La Quinta High School. No one was hurt." (source)

(BLOG) Documentary Film Examines Lebanon's Jewish History, Evokes Memories

"Many left in silence, hastily packing their belongings. From one day to the next, the Jews of Lebanon were gone.

'We sat down and cried on the doorstep of the house,' said one elderly Lebanese woman in a new film about Lebanon's now-destroyed Jewish community.



The 45-minute Arabic-language documentary, 'The Jews of Lebanon: Loyalty to Whom?' by BBC journalist Nada Abdelsamad, tracks the lives of Lebanese Jews before, during and after their departure.

It is based on accounts from Lebanese Jews, who fled or migrated to other countries, and memories from their old neighbors and friends and the residents of former Jewish neighborhoods in Beirut and Sidon.

The 1948 establishment of Israel, the subsequent Arab-Israeli conflict and warfare between Israel and Lebanon triggered exoduses of Lebanese Jews to Israel and other countries around the world. It is estimated that only a few hundred or so Lebanese Jews are left in the country, compared with well over 20,000 in 1948.

The film begins with scenes of the Beirut seaside juxtaposed with images of Israel as soft Arabic music is playing the background. The camera then turns to a couple of old buildings, some of them riddled by bullet holes from Lebanon's 15-year-long civil war, in Wadi Abu Jamil, the neighborhood near downtown Beirut that in earlier days used be the city's Jewish quarter.

One older Lebanese woman in the movie takes out a black-and-white photo of her Jewish friend Gamalo that her friend gave her 60 years ago. Gamalo was leaving the country with her family and wanted her friend to keep a memory of their friendship.

'She told me her goodbyes and said 'I'm traveling and we might not see each other again.' ... Don’t tell anyone, but I’m leaving with my family to Israel,''' the woman recounted.

Many years have passed since Lebanon's Jews left, but nostalgia for the old days still appears to be there, according to the film. Former neighbors and acquaintances interviewed still wonder what happened to their Jewish friends, where they went, and about their families.

'Of course I think of them,' one Lebanese woman said in the film. 'I ask myself whether they're still alive, doing well, or if they are dead. I don't know. I think of them so much.'

During tearful goodbyes, some of those who left assured their friends in Beirut that they would come back one day.



The movie is filled with bittersweet ironies. Marco Mizrahi, born to a Jewish father and Christian mother in Beirut, returned to Lebanon in the early 1980s -- as a soldier with the Israeli army during the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

He said he never felt accepted by Lebanese, but that Israelis were suspicious of him too. His commander quizzed him about his loyalty to the Israeli Defense Forces and the Jewish state, he said.

Would Mizrahi have a problem killing a Lebanese soldier or someone from a Muslim militant group, if it turned out he knew them from his childhood?

If it were a matter of life and death, Mizrahi answered, 'I prefer that it's him who dies and not me.'

The film is based on Abdelsamad's book on Lebanon's Jews, 'Wadi Abu Jamil' , with which she made headlines in Lebanon earlier this year. A couple of weeks ago, the lines ran long at one of Beirut’s theaters for the screening of her film.

Not many remnants are left in the area of those days, except for the Maghen-Abraham synagogue, which is being rebuilt. Posh new residential communities are in the planning while slick new high-rises dot the skyline nearby.

The film has stirred emotions among some, and Abdelsamad said most of feedback she's received has been positive. Though a small number of Lebanese Jews attended the screening, the days of Lebanon's thriving Jewish community are a long gone era.

'All there is left is some photos and stories and some names in official records,' the Lebanese journalist says in the closing scene of the film, as the camera closes in on old pictures and personal belongings." (source)

(BLOG) Back From Israel, Fiorina Praises Efforts To Achieve Peace In Middle East

"Republican Senate candidate Carly Fiorina’s recent trip to Israel was a brief four days, but it wasn’t short on face time with top Israeli leaders.

During an appearance in La Jolla on Thursday, Fiorina said she met with President Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli opposition leader Tzipi Livni, as well as military and intelligence leaders during the trip, which was organized and paid for by the Republican Jewish Coalition.

'Everyone talked to me about their concern about Iran’s march toward a nuclear weapon and their hope that the United States was taking that seriously,' Fiorina said, speaking briefly to reporters about her trip after an economic roundtable with restaurant owners at an oceanfront steakhouse.



'It is why I find [Democratic Sen.] Barbara Boxer’s silence on that issue so concerning. And everyone as well spoke about their concern that the United States was perceived as weaker in the world today than we once were and the need for America to step up and play a unique role in the world.' Fiorina did not specify which leaders expressed concerns about perceptions of the U.S.

With voters focused on high unemployment and the shaky economy, Fiorina and Boxer have spent little time talking about foreign policy. But in a speech on the night she won the primary, Fiorina charged that Boxer 'has stood silently by as Israel is condemned and threatened and Iran moves toward nuclear weapons.'

Boxer’s campaign manager said Thursday that Fiorina has 'her facts wrong,' and the senator’s aides pointed to a series of recent statements by Boxer on Iran’s 'dangerous uranium enrichment program' that she has said 'poses a grave threat to the security of the Middle East, the U.S. and the entire world.' They also noted that Boxer co-sponsored legislation expanding President Obama’s authority to penalize foreign firms that export gasoline and refined petroleum products to Iran, which was folded into a broader bill that became law this year.

'Barbara Boxer has been an outspoken advocate for tougher sanctions on Iran, while under Fiorina's leadership, HP used a shell company to circumvent the embargo on trade to Iran,' Boxer’s campaign manager, Rose Kapolczynski, said in a statement.

Kapolczynski was referring to Hewlett-Packard’s ties to Iran while Fiorina served as chief executive of that company between 1999 and 2005. During that time, a Dubai-based subsidiary of HP sold printers to Iran, which is subject to a trade embargo. The company was not charged with wrongdoing and ultimately prohibited its distributors from selling products to Iran. Fiorina has said HP 'complied with every export law.'

A week after Israeli and Palestinian leaders resumed direct talks in Washington, Fiorina also praised the 'concerted effort to achieve peace in the Middle East.'

'Time will tell if that effort is going to be successful, but I think it is certainly worth the effort,' she said Thursday." (source)

(NEWS) LA Times Concludes: Withdrawal From Gaza Was Not Smart

"Five years after, a major U.S. newspaper summarizes Israel’s Disengagement from Gaza: 'It was a big mistake.'

Entitled 'Lessons and Legacies of Israel's Gaza Withdrawal,' the August 8th Los Angeles Times piece by Edmund Sanders lists a series of conclusions that can be drawn from the abrupt, unilateral pullout from Gush Katif in Gaza orchestrated by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the summer of 2005. Just five months later, Sharon suffered massive hemorrhaging and entered the comatose state from which he has not awoken."

(NEWS) Haitian Amputee Is On Her Way To Israel For Care

"On Feb. 17, Mitchell Landsberg told the story of Sounlove Zamour, a 19-year-old who lost both legs and her father in the Haitian earthquake in January. She is one of many new amputees in Haiti whose futures are in question. As Landsberg wrote, the disabled are often on the margins of society in a country where even the able-bodied struggle to get by.

Zamour was close to finishing high school, a rare accomplishment in Haiti. But her injuries and the death of her father, her sole means of support, put her education in jeopardy.

'I have no father,' she told Landsberg. 'I'd like to continue my education, but I can't.'"

(BLOG) Israel, Lebanon: Who Is Winning The Intelligence War With Hezbollah?

"In October 2009, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon, a former head of military intelligence, all but confirmed that Israel had intensified spying efforts in Lebanon because of Hezbollah and would stop when the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militant group was disarmed and Israel's border with Lebanon was peaceful.

The intelligence war continues unabated, as the Los Angeles Times reported in a front-page article Sunday, with Israel apparently trying to infiltrate and Hezbollah, with help from the Lebanese government, trying to thwart it.

'Hezbollah is not a easy target' to infiltrate, said Ephraim Kam, an Israeli intelligence expert. 'The organization is not a big one. It is very compartmentalized and tough to penetrate. Also, it is an ideological-religious one, always tougher to penetrate.'"

(BLOG) Israel: Possible Iran Scenarios

"The military option against Iran's nuclear program always seems to be discussed in the context of one table or another. On the table, off it or under it, the possibility of a strike lurks in the background, a semi-abstract code for something potentially awesome -- and not in the cool sense of the word.

President Obama told Israeli television in a recent interview (in itself an interesting occurrence) that the possibility of Iran possessing a nuclear weapon was unacceptable and that the issue has been the No. 1 priority in foreign policy of the last 18 months. 'We continue to leave the door open for a diplomatic resolution of this challenge, but I assure you that I have not taken options off the table,' he told Channel 2.

Again, the table. So whose table is it?"