In last week’s Yated Ne’eman, the newspaper’s Chinuch Roundtable column tackled a difficult but often asked question.
The question began: “Our family has been following the p’sak of the gedolim regarding internet use for years,” the question begins. “We don’t have the internet at home, in the office it’s with a filter, and we have a flip phone.  We have always told our children that although internet with a filter is not assur, we follow the daas of the gedolim and we don’t even shop online. For years, all we heard at public gatherings was to ‘stay away from it and only use it for business, if necessary.’”
The question continues: “Recently, many organizations and yeshivos have been advertising virtual events. There are concerts online and “kosher” shows and fundraisers that we have stayed away from. Now for the question: How do we explain to our children why there are so many yeshivos encouraging people to join them online if we have been forever teaching and showing our children that it’s best to stay away from the internet?
Panelist Rabbi Nosson Scherman, General Editor, ArtScroll/Mesorah Publications, avers in his response that the question should have been addressed to gedolei Yisroel but adds that the “unfortunate fact is that yeshivos have budgets to cover and salaries to pay… and to tell yeshivos that they should deprive their faculties and talmidim of halachically permissible ways to function is wrong and even cruel.”
Rabbi Yechiel Spero, Rebbi, Yeshiva Chofetz Chaim, Baltimore, says that “Organizations are under the gun to come up with money. …Is it a lechatchilah? Absolutely not.” He adds, “Are there those who are still holding out? I don’t remember the last time Satmar had a Joey Newcomb concert. So there are those who remain steadfast and true to the script. It’s a complicated question. I wish I had a better answer.
Rabbi Yisroel Hisiger, in his response, states that “it is fair to say that there is no single daas Torah on this subject. Different communities have been responding to the use of the internet in differing ways. We find those who completely forbid any use, period. Others allow its use for business, with filters, for Torah classes, outreach, and, lately, for fundraising. I don’t believe these wonderful mosdos and tzedakos have any intention to encourage the use of the internet. They are merely taking advantage of the reality that many people have access to it.”
Rabbi Meir Kranczer, Rebbi, Yeshiva Beis Yehuda, Detroit, admits that “Life does have its share of blatant hypocrisies. It is not apples to apples, but there is what to tell children. Some people eats gebrokts; others do not. Lots of people are makpid on only yoshon flour; many are not. Some institutions use internet; we do not.”
{Matzav.com}