‘Filterthon’ Takes Flatbush By Storm
13 SIVAN 5773 MAY 22, 2013
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What do you get when dozens of talented technicians, concerned community askanim and lay leaders, and a community looking to purify their homes and protect their souls in advance of the holy Yom Tov of Kabbalas HaTorah gather in one tent? Why, a Filterthon!
Well over 1,600 Yidden came through the large tent that was erected outside Khal Veretzky in Flatbush last Sunday with desktop computers, laptops, phones, and other devices in tow, in need of filtering for proper internet usage.
The event, co-sponsored by Hamodia, was arranged by a few concerned activists who feel that the best way to help the community to protect their families is by offering professional-grade filtering solutions for their devices, with the added incentive of bringing the solutions to their doors — in this case outside the shul where thousands come through on a Sunday.
To this end, a large tent was erected on Avenue L, with stations manned by trained technicians, each station geared to different kinds of devices. From 8 a.m. until midnight, they offered solutions and installed many various kinds of filters, according to need.
Hamodia sat down with the people behind Venishmartem, the powerhouse organization behind this Filterthon, the Filterthon in Boro Park one year ago, and hopefully many more as long as one Jewish home still possesses open internet.
“The goal of Venishmartem is to solve the internet problem at its root, by providing effective and easy-to-use filtering solutions for Klal Yisrael.
Venishmartem aims to help tens of thousands of Yidden from all over the world to install effective filtering in the coming years. Venishmartem’s team of technicians researches every existing up-to-date solution for every type of device,” Yaakov, the organization’s founder, told Hamodia.
Venishmartem has since its inception been on the lookout for effective, sophisticated solutions, and after constant experimentation have arrived at the VCF (Venishmartem Cloud Filter) solution, complete with a call center which, for a minimal monthly fee, provides a full and tailored service to each customer. On the heels of their success at the Boro Park event last year, as soon as a sponsor was found for this Flatbush event, they came here.
Yaakov relates one event that expresses the effectiveness of the Filterthon: “One guy came with seven devices! Two laptops, a tablet, a phone, a notebook and two gaming devices... We sat him down with one of our top volunteers who worked with him for over an hour and got all his devices filtered.”
Meanwhile, Yechezkel, a psychologist with addiction counseling training, and his partner at Venishmartem relate his highlight of the day: “A father came in and asserted that in his opinion, filtering isn’t necessary. After a few moments of my sharing a few stories with him, he promptly agreed to filter all his devices,” Yechezkel told Hamodia.
Despite having spent many years in the arena, Yaakov is nevertheless inspired. “It was so inspiring to see how many Yidden from all walks of life came to get protection on their devices.” Yaakov says to the community, “While hundreds came to get filters, thousands of frum Yidden out there still have open internet on their computers and devices.
Many people think that filters will slow down their computers or block them from things they like to do, but this is not necessarily true at all. “The problem is that people are used to not having filters and are therefore afraid of what the filter will do. This whole situation has to change. We must ensure that the coming generation doesn’t even have a question about whether to use internet without a filter. Just like frum families today don’t have a television, it should be understood that no frum person uses unfiltered internet.
“Our children will not be frustrated that the filter blocks the things they like — because they never will have had the experience of using the internet without a filter in the first place. It should become a given for every frum Yid that unfiltered internet is a danger to the very fabric of Jewish life. The next generation of frum Yidden must grow up with the concept of filtered internet as a basic prerequisite to being an erlicher Yid,” he says.
What is their petition to the community? “We need your help!” says Yechezkel, cofounder. “Get in touch with us so we can bring this campaign worldwide, and effect the change that Yaakov speaks of.”
To those who want to answer the call of “Mi laShem eilai,” Yaakov can be contacted at info@filterthon.com or at (646) 600-8100 Ext. 3.
As Rabbi Shain told Hamodia: “One of the reasons for the minhag to eat milchigs on Shavuos is that the utensils of Am Yisrael were rendered treif due to receiving the mitzvah of basar b’chalav at Kabbalas HaTorah. What we saw today was people of all stripes coming to, l’havdil, ‘kasher’ their ‘keilim’ in order to receive the Torah on Shavuos in a more elevated and purified manner.”
As a public service, Venishmartem filter guides are available free of charge, describing the many different types of filters in detail, for many types of devices. There is an accompanying CD that allows you download protection directly, for a computer or laptop. Rabbanim and principals are welcome to call (347) 869-7331.
Well over 1,600 Yidden came through the large tent that was erected outside Khal Veretzky in Flatbush last Sunday with desktop computers, laptops, phones, and other devices in tow, in need of filtering for proper internet usage.
The event, co-sponsored by Hamodia, was arranged by a few concerned activists who feel that the best way to help the community to protect their families is by offering professional-grade filtering solutions for their devices, with the added incentive of bringing the solutions to their doors — in this case outside the shul where thousands come through on a Sunday.
To this end, a large tent was erected on Avenue L, with stations manned by trained technicians, each station geared to different kinds of devices. From 8 a.m. until midnight, they offered solutions and installed many various kinds of filters, according to need.
Hamodia sat down with the people behind Venishmartem, the powerhouse organization behind this Filterthon, the Filterthon in Boro Park one year ago, and hopefully many more as long as one Jewish home still possesses open internet.
“The goal of Venishmartem is to solve the internet problem at its root, by providing effective and easy-to-use filtering solutions for Klal Yisrael.
Venishmartem aims to help tens of thousands of Yidden from all over the world to install effective filtering in the coming years. Venishmartem’s team of technicians researches every existing up-to-date solution for every type of device,” Yaakov, the organization’s founder, told Hamodia.
Venishmartem has since its inception been on the lookout for effective, sophisticated solutions, and after constant experimentation have arrived at the VCF (Venishmartem Cloud Filter) solution, complete with a call center which, for a minimal monthly fee, provides a full and tailored service to each customer. On the heels of their success at the Boro Park event last year, as soon as a sponsor was found for this Flatbush event, they came here.
Yaakov relates one event that expresses the effectiveness of the Filterthon: “One guy came with seven devices! Two laptops, a tablet, a phone, a notebook and two gaming devices... We sat him down with one of our top volunteers who worked with him for over an hour and got all his devices filtered.”
Meanwhile, Yechezkel, a psychologist with addiction counseling training, and his partner at Venishmartem relate his highlight of the day: “A father came in and asserted that in his opinion, filtering isn’t necessary. After a few moments of my sharing a few stories with him, he promptly agreed to filter all his devices,” Yechezkel told Hamodia.
Despite having spent many years in the arena, Yaakov is nevertheless inspired. “It was so inspiring to see how many Yidden from all walks of life came to get protection on their devices.” Yaakov says to the community, “While hundreds came to get filters, thousands of frum Yidden out there still have open internet on their computers and devices.
Many people think that filters will slow down their computers or block them from things they like to do, but this is not necessarily true at all. “The problem is that people are used to not having filters and are therefore afraid of what the filter will do. This whole situation has to change. We must ensure that the coming generation doesn’t even have a question about whether to use internet without a filter. Just like frum families today don’t have a television, it should be understood that no frum person uses unfiltered internet.
“Our children will not be frustrated that the filter blocks the things they like — because they never will have had the experience of using the internet without a filter in the first place. It should become a given for every frum Yid that unfiltered internet is a danger to the very fabric of Jewish life. The next generation of frum Yidden must grow up with the concept of filtered internet as a basic prerequisite to being an erlicher Yid,” he says.
What is their petition to the community? “We need your help!” says Yechezkel, cofounder. “Get in touch with us so we can bring this campaign worldwide, and effect the change that Yaakov speaks of.”
To those who want to answer the call of “Mi laShem eilai,” Yaakov can be contacted at info@filterthon.com or at (646) 600-8100 Ext. 3.
As Rabbi Shain told Hamodia: “One of the reasons for the minhag to eat milchigs on Shavuos is that the utensils of Am Yisrael were rendered treif due to receiving the mitzvah of basar b’chalav at Kabbalas HaTorah. What we saw today was people of all stripes coming to, l’havdil, ‘kasher’ their ‘keilim’ in order to receive the Torah on Shavuos in a more elevated and purified manner.”
As a public service, Venishmartem filter guides are available free of charge, describing the many different types of filters in detail, for many types of devices. There is an accompanying CD that allows you download protection directly, for a computer or laptop. Rabbanim and principals are welcome to call (347) 869-7331.
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