Securing the Future of Klal Yisrael — Thousands Attend Historic Yiddish-Language Gathering

By Hamodia Staff

Who would imagine that the thousands upon thousands of women and girls crowding 14th Avenue and 55th street on a drizzly June evening were making history as they vied for seats on one of the close to 200 buses chartered to take them to a historic event for women at the Prudential Center in Newark?

Organizers say that close to 20,000 women and girls from diverse communities in the N.Y.—N.J. area, including Monroe, Lakewood, Jersey City, Kashau, Linden, Union, Staten Island, Monsey, Boro Park, Flatbush and Williamsburg, carved out more than six hours of their time at the peak of a very busy season, to hear divrei chizuk at a Yiddish-language asifah on the dangers posed by modern-day technology and their special roles in protecting the future of Klal Yisrael.

Tuesday night’s asifah was held ten years after a historic gathering on the same subject at Citi Field in Queens was held for men. This time it was for women and girls — eleventh-graders and up. Endorsed by Gedolei Yisrael from across the spectrum of Torah Jewry, the twin gatherings — the Tuesday night event was to be followed by an English-language event in the same location on Wednesday evening —  was dedicated to urging the nashim of Klal Yisrael to erect safeguards around their families to protect them from modern technology’s poisonous influence.

The event was chaired by Harav Avraham Moshe Silber, Rosh Yeshivah of Yeshiva Eitz Chaim. The illustrious panel of speakers who electrified the audience included the Chechnover Rav, Harav Chaim Yankel Rubin, shlita; Harav Ephraim Wachsman, shlita, Rosh Yeshivah, Meor Yitzchok; the Viener Rav, shlita; and Harav Aaron Toiseg, shlita, Mashgiach of Yeshivas Alexander in Eretz Yisrael, who came specially for this event. Rabbi Nechemia Gottlieb, Director of TAG international, which arranged the event, announced a new initiative. Whereas TAG’s efforts have previously focused on filtering individual’s phones and computers, TAG  Workforce Protection Services (WPS) will enable the organization to assist businesses and employees in navigating the challenges of filtering devices for the business world.

An audio recording was played of  the historic psak of Harav Shmuel Halevi Wosner, zt”l, at Citi Field, stating that the internet has no place in a Jewish home.

In a very emotional appearance, a young boy read aloud a letter that was written by another child his age to that child’s mother, in which the son expressed that yearning for his mother’s attention, which he used to be showered with from when he got off his yeshivah’s bus until bedtime, but now was overshadowed by her preoccupation with her smartphone.  He begged her to once again share her genuine motherly love, smile at him and laugh together over his day’s stories instead of giggling at the jokes she’s sharing on her smartphone while pretending to pay attention to him.

During the Viener Rav’s speech, the Rav gave a moment during which each attendee was asked to quietly reflect and accept a specific kabbalah in safeguarding themselves from technology. The Rav stressed that even a small kabbalah for a short period of time was admirable.

Two dramatic audio-visual presentations also brought home many varied and fascinating aspects of the whole world of technology and its ramifications on our lives.

Rabbi Moshe Drew, assistant director at TAG International, told Hamodia following the event, “The atmosphere of unity — so many women coming togather to hear the dvar Hashem — was incredible and will surely inspire many women and their families to improve in the important issue of technology safeguards.”