Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane

The Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane (Hebrew: איחוד הקהילות לטוהר המחנה; "union of communities for the purity of the camp") is an Orthodox Jewish organization. It educates Jews about pornography-use habits, Internet addiction, and other problems that the organization believes can result from Internet usage.[1]

Technology Awareness Group

The Ichud HaKehillos has founded a sister group called the Technology Awareness Group (TAG). It provides various services to its target market, including installing and configuring Web filtering and monitoring software on computers, smartphones and other devices. TAG is a nonprofit organization staffed by volunteers, and there is no fee for any of its services. TAG has offices in the US, Canada, Europe, Australia and elsewhere; TAG also provides certain services worldwide using remote desktop software. In total, TAG fields about 1000 phone calls from around the world every day.

As of January 2020, TAG operates 40 offices in 16 countries and territories, staffed by over 400 volunteers.[2] TAG operates 6 offices in the UK,[3] as well as 3 offices in Israel;[4] other similar Israeli organizations include OutNet and the היעוץ המקצועי שעל ידי ועידת הרבנים לביצור חומת הדת technology advice hotline.[5]

Gatherings

To help promote awareness of the issues at hand, the Ichud HaKehillos has organized some gatherings.

On September 27, 2005, a gathering was held in Lakewood, NJ, shortly before Rosh Hashana.[6] The leaders enacted a policy that children with Internet access are subject to being dismissed from any private Orthodox Jewish school in Lakewood.

Internet Asifa

Internet Asifa, or Kinus Klal Yisrael, was a rally organized by Ichud HaKehillos LeTohar HaMachane on May 20, 2012, to raise awareness about the negative consequences the internet and related technology was having in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious community, to discourage the usage of the internet, and to promote the use of internet filters when the internet was being accessed.[7][8] The rally was held at Citi Field and Arthur Ashe Stadium, New York City, and attended by over 60,000 people.[9] Women were not allowed to attend the rally due to religious modesty concerns but were able to watch from closed circuit television at satellite locations.[10] The media was also barred from entering due to stated "homeland security concerns," as per the rally's spokesman.[11]

The rally was widely discussed in Orthodox Jewish online blogs and forums.[12] Much discussion centered around the irony of how the internet was utilized by event attendees and members of the Orthodox Jewish community to promote an event which explicitly discouraged usage of the internet.[13][14] Further discussion centered around speculation that some of the organizations sponsoring and promoting the event had ties to internet filter companies and had financial incentives from the religious promotion of internet filters.[15]

References
  1. Otterman, Sharon (18 May 2012). "Ultra-Orthodox Jews to Hold Big Meeting on Internet Risks". The New York Times. p. A24. Retrieved 1 August 2013.
  2. "Technology Awareness Group". TAG. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  3. "TAG Offices and Opening Hours | TAG Support". tag.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  4. "TAG Israel | Offices". TAG Israel. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  5. the.guard. "Filter Help". Breaking Free Chizuk Newsletter (#1642).
  6. "Lakewood Internet Asifa - Announcement". Yeshivishe News weblog.
  7. Grynbaum, Michael M. (21 May 2012). "Ultra-Orthodox Jews Rally to Discuss Risks of Internet". New York Times.
  8. Goldberg, Efrem (14 June 2012). "If You Were Anti the Asifa, Consider This". Orthodox Union.
  9. "Rabbis tell 60,000 in NY: Get rid of the Internet if you know what's good for you".
  10. "Behind the Scenes of the ultra-Orthodox anti-Internet Rally". Haaretz.
  11. Miller, Paul (22 May 2012). "Against the future: inside the Jewish anti-internet rally".
  12. "Is the Internet Asifa a scam?". 30 April 2012.
  13. Greenfield, Rebecca (21 May 2012). "There Was a lot of Internet at the Ultra-Orthodox Rally Against the Internet". The Atlantic.
  14. Miller, Paul (22 May 2012). "Against the future: inside the Jewish anti-internet rally". The Verge.
  15. "What the Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Internet Rally Was About".

Further reading
  • Becker, Joshua (1 February 2013). "Milwaukee Orthodox Jews act against Internet dangers". The Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2013. This is an article which speaks about the Technology Awareness Group.
  • Challenge of the Times (PDF). 100 pages. This publication was given to attendees at the rally held in May 2012 in New York City. FailedMessiah.com has posted a copy of the publication on its website.
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