His new approach is indeed more in line with that idea. What
has all this wrought? Unfortunately it is not good.
First let me make clear that R’ Wosner is a Gaon Atzum. His knowledge
of Torah is immense! He is a Zaken and a Gadol with few peers. And he deserves
the kind of respect that such individuals should entail. Any reference to him
in terms less than that is an affront to the Kavod HaTorah.
That said this entire episode leaves me with a fear that it has in
fact just done that. Kavod HaTorah has been lessened because of what happened
here. The irony is that the organizers and supporters have been saying exactly
the opposite. That the Asifa was a Kiddush HaShem! How is that possible? How can some see this as a Kiddush HaShem and
others see it as much less than that?
I guess it depends what one focuses on… and who is doing the
looking. From the perspective of those who worship their rabbinic leaders as
near infallible icons they see the massive attendance of people listening to
the words of their icons as a Kiddush Hashem. But to those of us who see the
broader picture… well I am reminded of a
scene from Fiddler on the Roof.
In that scene the elderly respected rabbi was depicted as a well
meaning but doddering old fool who was barely aware of what was going on just
around him let alone the rest of the world. I remember being outraged that a
rabbinic leader was depicted that way. I
felt this unfair and distorted depiction of a rabbinic leader was disgusting.
But I suppose that is how Hollywood writers see our Z’keinim. So they wrote the character that way. And yet I fear that this is the image that some may have gotten from what has occurred.
I listened to that portion of the Asifa where Rav Wosner spoke. The entire over 4 hour Asifa can
be viewed on line in its entirety on YouTube. It was professionally recorded
and uploaded to the internet almost immediately. . I’m not going to comment on
the absurdity of an anti Internet event being uploaded to the internet… other
than to say that it is absurd.
When Rav Wosner spoke, you could feel the electricity in the
air. He spoke in slow and halting tones indicative of how serious he was about
what he was saying. Anyone who listened to it had to be impressed that a Gadol
was Paskining on a serious matter of public policy about which he had given
serious deliberating thought.
In his address he basically banned the internet in any form entirely
from the home and permitted it for business only with filters. He forbade
people from entering the homes of people who do have it and said Yeshivos should not accept children from those homes! Adding to the seriousness of his Psak was
the introductory remarks by Rav Ephraim Wachsman who used the writings of Rabbenu Yona to inform the attendees that if they
didn’t listen to R’ Wosner’s Psak they would lose their Oalm Habah. You cannot
get more serious than that.
After such a serious moment where Daas Torah seemed to be
expressed, the Psak has suddenly changed. What happened to all that
deliberation R’ Wosner had? How could he say the things he did at the Asifa and
now just a few days later so quickly change his mind?
I think the answer is as follows. It is because he was
misinformed albeit with the best of intentions. I can just imagine how the entire internet situation was presented to him from day one. Rav Wosner probably never saw a computer in his life. Those who
first informed him about it, certainly did not present it in any positive way.
I’m sure the picture they painted was that a medium has infiltrated our
community that in a single moment can take you to the worst Smut available in
the world. Although it does have some good uses, it has nevertheless already destroyed
lives and caused many divorces. Many children
have been ruined by these images. It is almost impossible to avoid them.
If I had never seen the internet and had no clue what it was
before that, I would have Assured such a thing a long time ago. Rav Wosner Paskined based on
that information. Realizing that the smut available on the interent is not automatic,
he realized that it can be accessed quickly and easily. By adults as and by children.
Filters he was told help, but are not foolproof. To him it was a no brainer. No
matter what the positive benefits might be, the fact that smut is so easily accessible
and that it has already caused so much devastation… it was an easy decision for
him to make.
He probably felt that if he emphasizes the Issur strongly
enough, painting it in the most dire of terms it would take hold. His Psak that
no child whose home had the internet would be allowed into a religious school
would surely be met by compliance after such a presentation. But what he had
really accomplished is a requirement to prevent thousands of students from
Yeshivos whose parents were not about to so quickly give up the internet. That
many did give it up after the Asifa is a drop in the ocean.
After being informed of the impossibility of such a Psak
being carried out… he probably realized
that the ‘cure would be worse than the disease’. And he backed down from his
very severe Psak.
What does this say about Daas Torah as it is understood by
the Charedi world? I think it has to
diminish the view of it. It has to say to them that what a Gadol says is not
necessarily Daas Torah. If he is ill informed his pronouncements can - and
sometimes will - be wrong.
In this case R’ Wosner corrected himself very quickly. But
what about those instances where a Psak based on incomplete or erroneous
information is not corrected? Where Askanim got their Psak based on a skewed
description of the reality of a situation. Or a presentation that is incomplete
in order to secure the Psak they want. If I were a serious Charedi I think it
would seriously challenge my confidence in the concept of DaasTorah as it has been presented to me.
