An Open Letter - Please Pass On And Help Save People's Lives

An open letter to all Modern Orthodox parents:

Dear Beloved Parent!!!

Hi! My name is Elchanan Ehrman and there is something I would like to share which fits in nicely with this teshuva season. I have been heavily involved in Jewish education for over 20 years so I write not from hearsay or conjecture but from vast, hands-on experience.

Would you give your teenage child a pornographic magazine and expect that he not look at it? Would you get a subscription to the magazine and pay a large monthly fee to make sure it keeps coming? Would you intentionally do something that would derail your child's Jewish and general education after having paid hundreds of thousands of dollars on that very education?

Of course not - because you are not stupid-brainless-or-mentally-incompetent. You are a well educated, respected, loving, caring, intelligent, spiritual being, who wants nothing more than to see you child grow up in the healthiest possible way, both physically, emotionally and spiritually. You have only the very best of intentions.

So I must tell you. That smart phone [or iphone and all of their relatives] that you bought your child is the root of all evil. I once asked someone how much a smart phone costs. He explained that it depends what "plan" you have.

The "plan" is to destroy your child.

It is not just one pornographic magazine but equals millions.

If your child is a normal, odds are very high that he is watching bad stuff. [If he is not in that category, then you have other problems to deal with לא עלינו]. Odds are also very high that this contraption completely absorbs him which prevent him from getting an education. That is why he is virtually illiterate in Jewish topics. Truth be told, when I was the age when people went to Israel for the year, the kids who weren't learning, spent lots of time READING BOOKS. Today, things are different. It has been a looong time since I have seen a kid reading a book. Instead, they are busy almost all day every day with their toy/s.

Wasting time is an elegant form of suicide. Your child is "elegantly" killing himself every day.

This is causing almost irreparable harm to your child. One need not be "right wing" to want that his child should be emotionally and spiritually healthy. This is what we all want for our children. Yet, that device [toy-contraption] is causing tremendous damage, derailing his/her education and by the time you or they realize it - it may well be too late.

Have mercy on your child's soul. Buy him a phone with which he can only make calls. No texting, no internet, no anything. Allow him to focus on what is inside, what is deeper, what pertains to the soul and the spirit, and not to spend all of his waking hours in a fake virtual world where friends aren't really friends and superficiality reigns supreme.  

Love and blessings,

Elchanan Ehrman