Unfortunately, people like Miriam are blind to the misgivings of her own. She cannot see the vile behaviour from time to time that comes from the Haredi community. She becomes deaf and blind when cases of sexual abuse by rabbis are splashed across the front pages of our newspapers - and the beaten to death babies at the hands of sick and evil haredi teenagers. And MP4 players are evil?

set light to this, that and the other? What's wrong with complaining? As religious people, their behaviour is very irreligious.

Sounds familiar the smashing of windows,vandelizing of stores....what is next burning of all books that are not approved by the Rabbis,or chasing non ultra orthodox people from the area? Wasn't this done in Germany as Hitler was rising to power? Do you remember reading about Kristallnacht? How dare the Rabbis resort to such activities, what happenened to boycotting the offending stores peacefully?

You might not like it but that's what the Torah says: "...and you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear and they shall fear."

Next time you walk into an internet cafe in Jerusalem or Bnei Barak, tell me how many Haridim you see there watching porn. So all I gotta say is, if the shoe fits..

The forked tongue strikes with one word at the end of the first paragraph. did you not notice it? one word. 'chastity' with one the author defines this to be a sexual matter. oh, those charedim !!! they are so troublesome. and the worst part is... you cant really attack their behavior, after all they usually have better manners then others, of course that's all eclipsed by the extreme fringe that throws rocks or acid. My favorite myth though is the one where charedis are all so sexually suppressed that its perverse. and they are anti gay because they are really closet homosexuals. but there is a valid need for recognizing the danger of new technology weakening the structure these parents have spent their whole life building. I have a background in both worlds and i still live it, folks, any of you who is a liberal should know the danger of stereotyping.

"Chareidi" is someone who fears. It is widely assumed that Chareidim fear Heaven. Not so. They each fear that the neighbor next door may not think that he is as religious as they are. Therefore, each one has to out do the other. The violent ones are the ones that make believe that they study all day, but don't. They are bored and show their religiosity and how charedi they are by hurting others. The the leaders are chareidi by fearing to lose the credibility of their followers, who include these goons. They therefore will never condemn these acts even if they believe they are wrong.

And then they can watch in secret. Reminds me of when I was a teenage girl reading "Peyton Place" in secret!

How odd! My NYC public school never had any murders! I don't recall any filth, nor was there a cesspool! It did ,however, produce seven Nobel Prize winners, six Pulitzer prize winners, and six National Medal of Science honorees. Maybe one of them will design the first ever in-school cesspool that Miriam describes!

And who decides that's 'evil???' I think it's Hareidi guys who physically attack a woman who refuses to go to the back of the bus!! Or some young hareidi guy who throws acid on the face of a girl he 'thinks' isn't modest enough! Please, stop with your 'holier than thou' message.

I have long contended that religion, and in particular the more extreme form such as the haredi sects, is a mental illnes. Thank you for agreeing with me. As regards a ban I suggest we ban all black suit wearers with long beards and sidelocks who are not prepared to pull their weight in society.

So many people starving around us and a bunch of stupid people discussing about MP4's prohibition. Those who wanna dennies its uses have nothing better to do, like working to pay its bills instead of wait for State's money or even wear green clothes at the Army, sometimes?

its hard to be a holy person if you watch TV. mp4 players are the same idea. now, for people who don't have such high standards, it might sound absurd. we are so anured to the garbage we feed our brains that many of us don't even understand the problem of TV, internet etc. i myself do get my news on the internet but i do not own a TV and my children do not watch tv or play video games. and i am not haredi.

I have a cousin in London who is a rabbi in England. The kids love Harry Potter books they dont get burned. His oldest son preparing to go off to yeshiva has an ipod and he listens to dvarim or more acceptble music. He actualy thinks technology is a good thing when put to good use. He loves the internet thinks its a great tool for study and he lets his young kids use not just for study purposes They have a tv the kids can use anytime but to watch learning vidios He understands that technology & religion dont have to be enemies if you learn to use your enemy for the greater good use it as an instrument of learning judiasm not fear it as something thats going to corupt. These idiots need to learn that lesson but well they cant because they destroy anything that conflicts with their ideas.

Funny, mine is loaded with the entire talmud, classes on halacha, and torah readings. I cover massive ground this way. How is that the devil's tool, again?

I presume you are refering to Miriam our very own self appointed moral guaradian who sees her role on Earth as Gods official spokesman. Shes basically harmless, although keep your children well away from her as she could be potentially dangerous. Just ignore her it will only encourage her more. The devil takes many forms and one of them is called Miriam.

Doe's your rabbi know that you are using a computer?

that is why i love to live in brazil

sound like a fundamentalist Baptist. They are great at taking things out of context. I'm still shaking my TV and MP4, but have not seen a devil drop out yet. If you know the trick to this, please tell me.Otherwise I'll just keep watching PBS.