What effect has the internet had on your yiddishkeit

Moderator Joined: Jun 05 2011 Posts: 3392

I'm trying to think about how I wasted time in my pre-Internet days. Reading. Shmoozing. Daydreaming. I wonder if I really waste *more* time post-Internet than I did in the olden days. It's probably about the same amount of time.

Interestingly, the most recent time I watched a bunch of junk movies and wasted literally HOURS was when I was on a flight home from Israel last year and there was no Internet service on the plane!
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Senior Member Joined: Jan 26 2010 Posts: 208

Torahanytime.com is subtitled "G-ds' Reason for the Internet", and it is also my reson for having internet. That's why I got it when my youngest left home for yeshiva. I listen to their shiurim on Thur. nite as I make Shabbos.
Yes, I look at other stuff, but not often, and nothing really bad. I've been using it this way for 4 years, with no ill effects, I THINK.
But "al tamin b'atzmecha" , and after the asifa's & all. I'm not so sure.....

Diamond Member Joined: Jan 14 2011 Posts: 2825

the only negative I can come up with is time waster, but as T&P said I found other unproductive ways to waste my time before the internet. on the plus side, and I know this sounds obvious but still, I have had access to information and diversity of opinions that would never be possible without the internet. it has opened my mind and in my opinion improved my appreciation for the wide range of jews out there...

For me I think the main problem is the medium itself. You get everything so so quickly online. There's virtually no need for any type of attention span, either.

Spiritual growth, OTOH, takes concentration, and takes a long long time. And a sensitivity to subtle differences.

It's kind of like how running affects your ability to do push-ups. That is, it doesn't - except that you're using a completely different set of muscles, so if you spend too much time on the former, your ability to do the latter will naturally be less.

But practically speaking, the internet makes my life much easier in many ways (most notably working from home), which makes it easier to do more mitzvot.

We had internet at work for ages before anyone in this country really had home computers so we were used to it and I would say that it's no time waster for me, but a work vehicle. It has definitely had a positive effect on my life in general including my yiddishkeit, connecting me to family, to friends, to new friends, to sources which would take ages to find, to blogs and shiurim about issues in yiddishkeit which have added to my life. I have never used it for shmutz, for wasting time, for playing games, or the like and think that when used correctly, like most tools, can be a wonderful thing.

Everything depends on the self discipline of the user.
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Executive Member Joined: May 22 2012 Posts: 475

Unless you have a self control issue, I do not see how internet can manage to harm you.

If exposure to other people's opinions brings you down - do not blame the internet for it. It is part of healthy Avodas Hashem to encounter new ideas, to rethink previously established truths, to be able to be honest enough with yourself to change if your newly acquired knowledge overrides your previous one.

I am no longer that brainwashed Bais Yaakov girl - and BARUCH HASHEM for that! My yidishkeit is so much more real, I don't have to be weary of people who have a different lifestyle than myself, I can deal with paradoxes, I have so much more of an ability to relate to other people.

Gold Member Joined: Jan 12 2010 Posts: 2345 Location: US

There is a lot of cynicism on the internet against frumkeit and rabbis and that can be troubling for people raised in communities that are taught to have the highest regards for them. It's not just a matter of being sheltered. I've been exposed to and mingled with non frum or much more left wing Jews than me, but in real life they are very respectful and none of the cynisim is expressed. Or maybe they are not cynical but the few cynics seem to be very vocal on the internet. I'm really not sure.

Platinum Member Joined: Apr 12 2010 Posts: 5882

I have read things that have made me really upset/angry/that I didn't want to read but I don't think it has had an "effect" on my yiddishkeit at all.

I mean do I waste time? yes. Did I waste time before internet? yes. Did I learn more? yes. Did I become less frum from it? maybe I don't know.
Its part of life. Its like my phone, car, freezer and shower...all things that are newer inventions since 1901 and impact peoples lives differently!
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The internet is quite literally how I discovered Yiddishkeit.

Yes, really. I grew up secular but was a voracious reader and wanted to know more about my heritage, the Holocaust, the Hebrew language, Israel, etc. There were very few pertinent books available in bookstores/libraries of southern Virginia, so I turned to the internet. I discovered askmoses.com, went from there to various shiurim websites, beyondbt.com, frumsatire.com, and eventually imamother. And finally, after about seven years of living vicariously by reading about Yiddishkeit on the internet and trying to follow what I read, I'm a frum woman living in Jerusalem.

Platinum Member Joined: May 07 2008 Posts: 8984

Senior Member Joined: May 13 2010 Age: 24 Posts: 128

torahanytime.com

aish.com

ou.org

etc.

'nuff said!

I love having answers at my fingertips.

I thrive on deep discussions that are impossible for me to find any other way.

Time waster?? I don't see it that way for me personally. The internet keeps me sane in the midst of all the other energy zappers in my life.

But for my kids, who play games too much, and watch shows, and facebook, I do see it turns their brains to mush.

Platinum Member Joined: Mar 12 2009 Posts: 13339