Aliyah Diary 31: Internet filtering … sometimes

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Aliyah Diary

Arrival
01. Aug 19, 2024: Preparation In America
02. Aug 25, 2024: First Few Days
03. Aug 29, 2024: Moving In

Cultural Adjustment
04. Sept 4, 2024: First Day of School
05. Sept 8, 2024: Two Weeks In . . .
06. Sept 16, 2024: Getting Comfortable
07. Sept 22, 2024: Ready for Yom Tov
09. Sept 30, 2024: Nasrallahed on the Floor
15. Nov 10, 2024: Safety Fourth
18. Nov 24, 2024: Language – l’at, ‘lat
29. Jan 31, 2025: My Son Still in America
31. Feb 3, 2025: Internet Filtering for Kids

The Roads
24. Jan 5, 2025: Supermarkets & Highways
25. Jan 12, 2025: Not Cutting Me Off

Government and Bureaucracy
10. Oct 8, 2024: Driver’s License
11. Oct 13, 2024: Packages. (חבילות.)
13. Oct 30, 2024: Bureaucracies and Stories
19. Nov 28, 2024: Taxation for Americans
22. Dec 23, 2024: Doctors & “Choleh Chadash”
27. Jan 23, 2025: Healthcare in Israel

Politics & Thought
12. Oct 25, 2024: October Sun and the Jew
16. Nov 17, 2024: Where People Look Like Me
17. Nov 19, 2024: Jewish Identity and Outlook
21. Dec 11, 2024: Let Freedom Ring

Travel and Trips
08. Sept 25, 2024: Jerusalem Concert
14. Nov 2, 2024: The Kindness of Strangers
20. Dec 5, 2024: Tel Aviv Art Museum
23. Dec 29, 2024: The West Bank. (Shomron)
26. Jan 18, 2025: Dead Sea Beer and Ice Cream
28. Jan 26, 2025: Yarkon River Judaism, Tel Aviv
30. Jan 31, 2025: My Son Visits and we Travel

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Imagine a Higher Life Form Thinks You’re Cute

Sometimes I wonder if this is what G_d thinks of us … “oh, the kids don’t have internet filters and the government wants more money from you. That’s cute. Remember the source of everything, cutey.”

That’s kind of what I think when my cat refuses to lay down next to me and be pet – she’s a carnivore that is designed to use her sharp teeth and claws to rip apart the flesh of other animals, yet I think everything she does is cute.

Strengthening Your Identity in the United States

The haskkafa‘s, outlook, of religious Jews in the United States don’t match up so well with those in Israel. In Israel, it’s very bifurcated (with exceptions, as always):

• Haredi –> avoid secular culture not nationalist;
• Dati –> we’re religious, nationalist, and we like the state so much that we pray for it.

In the United States I felt like there was more gradation … and more of a need to strengthen your identity as a religious Jew. Regardless of the American equivalent (Haredi –> Yeshivish; Dati –> Modern Orthodox), Shabbos day davening (prayers) in the United States often take 2.5 to 3 hours … including a speech by the Rabbi which is often 20 minutes. Following all this there might be a kiddush where the Rabbi says the prayers and the community spends another 20 to 40 minutes together. That’s typical in everything from Haredi synagogues in Lakewood, NJ to modern Orthodox synagogues in Savannah, GA.

Typical in Israel seems to be 2 hours … no speech … no schlep … no two-day holidays, and no regular communal activities in the synagogue except for prayers to G_d. This seems to be typical in many Dati (modern) and Haredi (yeshivish) synagogues in Israel. Do I need to dress differently, eat differently, and speak differently, than others when I’m in Israel? Not so much it seems.

Internet Filtering

Here’s where I feel so Haredi in Israel. Our youngest kids needed cellular phones for their social life – we would never get them phones in the United States … at least not until high school. We’re talking about a very religious school here where all the teachers are from Ultra-Haredi-ville next door and ALL the kids have phones.

We purchased a low quality, slow charging phone and took it to Haredi-ville to get filters. We wanted EVERYTHING blocked except telephone, Whatsapp and Google Maps for my daughter’s social life and in case she gets lost. Now – again – this is in Haredi-ville. What do they do? They load it with Jewish apps … music, Torah learning … okay, nothing too bad though we don’t want the phone used for music and frankly, we’d like it used never and so we only want minimal, minimal. Even getting that done in the most religious of communities in Israel was difficult. Are we so Haredi for not wanting our elementary school kid to use a smart phone?

Also, there’s no such thing as a “kosher smart phone” here. That’s called a “flip phone.” That’d be fine … except her entire class is on Whatsapp and that’s how they arrange their social events and talk to each other the way we used to use the house phone to call our friends.

We’re slowly relenting on apps … including Google Translate and with it, the camera. The good news is that filter works. In trying to get around it, the only thing that’s happened so far is that apps stopped working which is a great incentive not to try to mess with the filter.

TAG

TAG is big in the United States – it’s the Jewish organization that helps you put blocks on your phone. Guess what? It only exists in Israel where the Americans are … Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. I’m in neither so we have to drive 45 minutes to change settings on the kids’ phones with whom we used TAG in the United States.

Spotify in Israel

One of the nice things about everything being on the internet is that moving doesn’t break things. Your phone works just the same in two places (with a different Sim; Google Fi highly recommended for frequent travelers – keep you same phone number and it works in almost every country just the same). Okay, you need an $8 plug adapter … that’s it.

Spotify, however, doesn’t have a kid safe mode in Israel. You can use iHeartRadio and others, however.

Locating a Missing Child

Telling this story over third hard so I hope I get it right: if your child goes missing the police have a ton a ways of finding the person. Phone died? They can lookup where it last was / is. They can lookup what bus they last took … assuming they paid. They can figure out where the kid was last seen … and I don’t know this though I’d put money on that they are using China-style facial recognition. They used it to find when people violated quarantine rules during Covid and they use it to stop terrorists. The fear is always that it will fall into the wrong hands or be misused … you know, like … if you’re in China. They’re people tracking system is saving lives in Israel so it’s good … for now.

Israel Style Phone Addiction

I’ve decolorized and embossed the photo so that the person can’t be recognized. No bad intent intended – plenty of good reasons to have your phone out – I just like the concept in this photo.

She’s at a wedding in Jerusalem in elegant clothing and a machine gun across her lap and smart phone in her hand. Only in Israel.

Also, I used the word “elegant” – that’s not a word I used to use. I’d have said “fancy” in Diary entries 1 to 10 or so … It’s just that “eleganti” is a Hebrew word so my brain uses that word now for simplicity, it seems.

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