This is not a typical Frum Satire article, and quite frankly, I don’t even know if they’ll publish it. Unlike some other “frum” news sites, Frum Satire truly prides itself on being above base gossip and vile news that comes from the underbelly and fringes of our society. While some other sites are rife with loshon hora and have no qualms about publishing the basest of stories, Frum Satire does not. They are to be commended and they are the standard bearer to how news should be presented to a frum audience looking to uphold Torah ideals.
Somebody supposedly did something bad. Very bad. The nature of what act this person committed does not need to be enumerated, as I am sure most readers can surmise what constitutes “very bad” in our day and age. If you want the unproven details of what was alleged, you’ll have to go elsewhere. As far as who was involved, it was a relative of mine. A respected talmud chochum whom some people would go to for advice. Identified as a “rabbi” and rightfully so. He is quite brilliant by most accounts, and never was involved in anything substandard in the past.
Why am I even writing about a nameless someone who at this point is only “alleged” to have done something wrong? Because at the very worst, he is as dubious a person as they come, or on the flip side, he was in a compromising circumstance that doesn’t reflect who he really is and what his intentions really are. At best, it is a classic “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
What is that wrong place? It is the unprotected internet. Rav Matisyahu Solomon, shlit”a supposedly has commented that being in a room with unfiltered internet is akin to yichud. In the year 2013, who can dispute that? How can anyone deny the accessibility to filth and forbidden communications that none of us can claim to be immune to?
We have ta’avos- it is our human nature. Of course we can be civil and maintain our control, at least most of the times. But chazal tell us not to put ourselves in compromising situations that will test us. That was what Mordechai implored the yidden from refraining from the “kosher” feast of Achashveirosh. When an aveira is committed, we know we have crossed the line; our sages in their wisdom have told us to not even get close to the proverbial line as well. Our ta’avos are not to be underestimated.
The gemara recounts how an elderly sage committed adultery at the very last stage of his life. The yetzer hora can ensnare a person until his very last breath on this earth- “od yom moyso.” No one is above this. Some people may comment incredulously on this article, “well, why are you writing on the treife internet?!” I am not advocating ceasing and desisting from internet use- it is a fact of life here to stay, and if anything, having a quality website like FrumSatire.net helps us stay insular even when delving in the World Wide Web.
What I am advocating, no, imploring, is the use of filters and buddy systems. My relative’s life is now ruined. He navigated unchartered waters where he did not belong and now his story will be fodder for the next speech you hear about the evils of the internet. Please do not let his fall be a total waste; use this as yet another wake up call to us all that no one is immune and we need protections from the base immorality that exists in the virtual world.
Use the kosher search engine at 4torah.com so you should not stumble too.
APerson March 2, 2013 at 10:36 pm
This is probably one of the best posts in a while. That is what I call “satire”.
“That was what Mordechai implored the yidden from refraining from the “kosher” feast of Achashveirosh. ” <—-there was literal LMAO
Ex-bochur March 3, 2013 at 12:13 am
If this meant is satirically or ironically, I fail to see what is wrong with the argument.
Heshy would be the first to agree that unfiltered internet leads to aveiros.
Ex bochur March 3, 2013 at 12:17 am
This post and the Hikind one remind me of that Simpsons episode:
“Here comes that cannonball guy. He’s cool.”
“Are you being sarcastic dude?”
“I don’t even know anymore”
Heshy Fried March 3, 2013 at 8:39 am
The internet leads to sins for sure, but you should see the obvious satire in the way the post praises my site as one of the guardians of the frum world. The internet basically proved that people care more about what others think of them and less of God.
J Efram March 3, 2013 at 1:10 am
Oy…whad did he do, see a shoyk?
Ari Gold March 3, 2013 at 8:18 am
People were sinning before the internet existed.
Heshy Fried March 3, 2013 at 8:43 am
No they weren’t, the internet has led the Yidden astray, no Jew ever looked at porn or cheated on their wife prior to social media.
Ex bochur March 3, 2013 at 11:46 am
The yichud analogy is really quite appropriate.
People basically want to do the right thing, but when a pleasurable avera is readily available they cave in.
The internet has made certain kinds of aveiras much more accessible.
Ari Gold March 3, 2013 at 12:14 pm
People always associate the internet with porn only. There is something else that is leading people astray. If people want censorship they could move to China.
Anonymous March 6, 2013 at 4:57 pm
True. Heshy had an extensive dirty magazine collection in his dorm room.
A. Nuran March 4, 2013 at 8:10 pm
Let Avenue Q have the last word…
youtube…. /watch?v=T-TA57L0kuc
FFK March 3, 2013 at 12:13 pm
Shimon?
Yserbius March 5, 2013 at 1:37 pm
Off topic, but thanks for the picture! I haven’t seen it in over a decade. It was produced in Israel and was during a huge anti-Internet campaign in 2001 or 2002. There were many others like it, such as one with a snake wearing a mask of a Chassid selling a computer to an innocent kid and one with evil hook nosed bakers pouring poison into a computer that a kid was looking at.
I especially like how the first step to turning into an earring wearing crocodile is to not have peyos behind the ear and a smaller yarmulka.