NEW YORK
The Wall Street Journal
By SOPHIA HOLLANDER
A group of ultra-Orthodox Jews have rented out Citi Field for a meeting later this month intended to draw thousands of men to discuss the dangers of the Internet and formulate a communitywide response.
The event, set for May 20, has been publicized internationally within the Orthodox Jewish press and tapped into a world-wide debate over how to reconcile modern life with the Internet’s perceived moral dangers.
It is a concern that transcends the Orthodox community, organizers note. …
But the meeting, which some published reports have estimated will cost nearly $2 million, has drawn a series of sharp attacks—for its men-only policy, for instance, and for its cost, criticized as extravagant at a time when many families are struggling.
The Hasidic rabbis wanted women to attend, but “logistics did not permit for it,” said Mr. Kobre, noting that in this community “a religious gathering of this nature is gender-separated.”
A live video-feed will be streamed to six locations around the metropolitan area for women to watch, he said.
Other critics say the event is a smokescreen for religious leaders seeking to consolidate control over their congregations by limiting access to outside information.
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.
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