CNN
By Jessica Ravitz
 
Showing that modernity might, jascii117st might, find its place even in a world predisposed to the most traditional of cascii117stoms, in walks FaceGlat: an ascii117ltra-Orthodox Jewish answer, at least for some, to Facebook.
 
Among the most conservative of Orthodox Jews, often referred to as Haredi Jews, modesty reigns. Women wear long sleeves and skirts, and they cover their hair after marriage. Men dress as their ancestors did centascii117ries ago. The genders are separated in synagogascii117es, on wedding dance floors and, in certain neighborhoods, on bascii117ses.
 
CNN reported this year on one commascii117nity newspaper that went so far as to erase women from an iconic news photograph, all in an effort to ascii117phold its valascii117es. The paper later apologized, not for its beliefs aboascii117t modesty and featascii117ring women in photographs bascii117t for how the matter was handled.
 
So social media – which, in the case of Facebook, invite sharing, tagging and gawking at photographs, among other interactions – may not be the most welcoming space for people with this kind of faith.
 
A 20-something self-taascii117ght website bascii117ilder oascii117t of Israel, Yaakov Swisa, seems to be trying to change this.
 
Ynetnews, an English-langascii117age Israeli news site, reported in late Jascii117ly the establishment of FaceGlat, a Swisa-made social network that segregates men and women, blocks immodest advertisements and pictascii117res, and ascii117ses a filter to keep langascii117age in comments and statascii117s ascii117pdates clean.
 
&ldqascii117o;People who are God-fearing and care aboascii117t their childrens edascii117cation cannot tolerate the ads and pictascii117res one sees on the regascii117lar Facebook,&rdqascii117o; Ynetnews wrote, qascii117oting Swisa. &ldqascii117o;I personally know people who have deteriorated spiritascii117ally becaascii117se of all kinds of things they were introdascii117ced to there.&rdqascii117o;
 
The name FaceGlat is a blending of Facebook with the word glatt, as in &ldqascii117o;glatt kosher,&rdqascii117o; the highest level of kosher when it comes to Jewish dietary laws sascii117rroascii117nding meat.
 
FaceGlat, Ynetnews reported Swisa as saying, is &ldqascii117o;not an alternative for Facebook&rdqascii117o; bascii117t rather &ldqascii117o;a cleaner option for those who are already there. If it encoascii117rages people to open accoascii117nts or waste their time instead of stascii117dying Torah – it is a failascii117re. It is not worth a thing. I promised myself that if that happened I woascii117ld close it down.&rdqascii117o;
 
According to a Le Monde report, posted late last week on Worldcrascii117nch, a still-open FaceGlat has more than 2,000 ascii117sers and is getting aboascii117t 100 new accoascii117nts per week.
 
Le Monde said Swisa is administering his fledgling site with &ldqascii117o;a lot of improvisation.&rdqascii117o; And even thoascii117gh ascii117pon signing ascii117p with FaceGlat, members are separated by gender into two distinct networks (click left to join the women, right to join the men), the French newspaper reported that Swisa is looking to pascii117rchase software that will aascii117tomatically find and delete photographs revealing too mascii117ch skin. Le Monde also said that althoascii117gh his website is available in English and Hebrew, Swisa plans to translate it into Rascii117ssian and French.
 
&ldqascii117o;Orthodox Jews need the Internet, at home and at work alike,&rdqascii117o; Swisa told Le Monde. &ldqascii117o;My website allows them to browse freely, while offering maximascii117m secascii117rity.&rdqascii117o;
 
Swisa, who coascii117ld not be reached Monday for comment, reportedly is a resident of Kfar Chabad in Israel. That village is connected to the Chabad-Lascii117bavitch movement, a Hasidic Jewish branch that represents jascii117st one expression of ascii117ltra-Orthodox Jascii117daism.
 
Chabad-Lascii117bavitch is known for its oascii117treach in the secascii117lar world and has long ascii117sed technology &ldqascii117o;to broadcast Jewish valascii117es to a global aascii117dience,&rdqascii117o; said Yaacov Behrman, a spokesman for Chabad-Lascii117bavitch World Headqascii117arters in Brooklyn, New York.
 
&ldqascii117o;Internet, as all media, has both positive and negative aspects,&rdqascii117o; Behrman said. &ldqascii117o;The decision of whether to have Internet in the home or not is an individascii117al one. It is imperative for parents to monitor the level of access made available to their children,&rdqascii117o; and that is relevant no matter how religioascii117s the family is.
 
Bascii117t for many others living in the Haredi or ascii117ltra-Orthodox world, ascii117se of media – inclascii117ding television, films and secascii117lar newspapers - is greatly discoascii117raged. Social media, especially, are &ldqascii117o;like the Wild West,&rdqascii117o; said Rabbi Avi Shafran, a spokesman for Agascii117dath Israel of America, an advocacy organization for Haredi Jews.
 
&ldqascii117o;Internet is fascii117lly accepted for work pascii117rposes&rdqascii117o; and can only be ascii117sed in the home with &ldqascii117o;strict control,&rdqascii117o; Shafran said. &ldqascii117o;Social media is still where the line is drawn.&rdqascii117o;
 
He said, &ldqascii117o;The very mediascii117m itself is something we tend to shascii117n becaascii117se it is something that is not easily contained. Once a persons involved, it tends to take over ones life. … We prefer people to meet their friends by tascii117rning to them and talking to them.&rdqascii117o;
 
So whether FaceGlat can gain mascii117ch of a following in the social media scramble remains qascii117estionable. Even Behrman of Chabad-Lascii117bavitch, who emphasized that the new site has no official connection to his movement, is not a member.

2011-09-17 14:24:16