NEW YORK
Emes Ve-Emunah
An article in the Wall Street Journal reports that the upcoming Asifah on safe internet use has already been sold out. The capacity of Citi Field Stadium – which they have rented for this event is 42,000. This should not surprise anyone who has been paying attention. The organizers have been pushing this event hard! So hard in fact that in one reported case, a relatively moderate Charedi school has required all fathers and their sons to pay the ten dollar per seat admission charge to attend. I have no doubt that other schools have done the same.
I say fathers and sons because women have been barred for modesty reasons. Charedim tend to have separate seating for men and women at their large public events. Chasidim have an added requirement of a Mechitza. Without it they will not attend such an event.
Building one for this event would be cost prohibitive. I can understand this since the upcoming Agudah Siyum HaShas has spent about a half million dollars to construct one for their event. Were women allowed to attend, the potential attendance would be at least double that number. I guess 2 million dollars is their limit. Internet porn is a serious problem but not THAT serious! Women can watch in on the internet via a live stream. But I digress.
But there is something else happening that day. From the Journal:
A counterprotest—dubbed “The Internet Is Not the Problem” and expected to draw hundreds—is scheduled for across the street from the stadium event. It accuses Jewish leadership of scapegoating the Internet while avoiding a more pressing problem: child abuse.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.