why don’t you mention Rabbi Eli Gewirtz from ”Partners in Torah”,

http://www.partnersintorah.org/index.htm

An organization from Tora Um’Sorah, that started this idea to organize telephone Torah partners all over the world years ago?

Like this program? Or perhaps this one, currently in the late planning stages.

A possible measure could be either giving or receiving certain minimum amount of Tzedakah in the last two years from Jewish religious institutions. And that actually would be more objective than TV or Internet which people can lie about.

The debate is entirely appropiate as a discussion of community attitudes or social standards, or similar issues, but it is out of place when we are discussing a particular organazation which has accepted what has become (at least outwardly) an assumed condition for a committed chareidi lifestyle.

Interesting, that those criteria are selected as the litmus test to “teitch someone up”. I don’t know for sure the statistics in Israel regarding this. Could the criteria be a proxy for a distinction that splits along Chareidi-Dati Leumi lines?

This line is extremely troubling. I don’t know where to start. But I’ll focus on a couple of ironies: This is being discussed on a charedi-leaning website that shows much passion for Torah; and this measurement disqualifies my charedi, Rosh Yeshiva cousin in Eretz Yisroel who speaks all over the world.

Both were before the time of the internet-but Rav Ruderman ZT”L had a TV-and certainly there was a TV in Rav Soloveitchiks apartment in YU-perfect test I guess to test for passion for Torah.
Written by one whose parents did not have a TV at home until after I left home and hardly ever watched it after I left.

Re El Al-I travelled on a couple of El Al flights during the controversy-there were a fair amount of Orthodox Jews on both flights.

I am unable to sufficiently articulate the astonishing silliness of this proviso–nor does it need to be expressed. “There is no good way to measure passion for Torah”–aside from measuring the electromagnetic signals emanating from one’s residence, that is. Well good. I’m glad somebody’s finally found a way…

Nearly the entire readership of Cross-Currents and hundreds (if not thousands) of Orthodox rabbis apparently don’t measure up. That single condition on its own tells me alot–too much–about the orientation and goals of Ayelet Hashachar–a program that I assumed to be worthy until now.

>“But one thing is for sure, the edict will do little to lessen the trend towards young women obtaining some form of post-high school advanced training. The reason is simple: the economic situation of the chareidi community.”

In other words the chareidi leadership has issued an(other?) edict that is impossible for the public to abide by. Some thoughts come to mind. They include terms like “counterproductive”, “out of touch”, “hermetic isolation” and “endemic poverty”.

I agree with your comments.

What I find puzzling is this organization’s distinguishing criteria re: the internet “… they not have a TV in their home and do not allow their children Internet access.”

If internet access ostensibly compromises sanctity of the home why distinguish between adult and child use. Treyf is treyf. One could argue that the distinction for the internet ought to be made for TV along the lines of your comment ie program mentors may be permitted to come from homes with tv’s because adults need it to monitor MSNBC and the news and this neccessary use will not breach the sanctity of the home.

These are virtually no measure whatsoever. All these restrictions measure is the narrow-mindedness of the measurers.