Author: Rabbi Jason Miller
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Yenta App is Virtual Jewish Matchmaker
Like a virtual matchmaker, the Yenta mobile app locates like-minded Jewish singles in a crowded room. When I received an email from Luba Tolkachyov, the co-founder of a new Jewish singles app, I was intrigued. Luba wrote, “I’ve been following your writing on Jewish Tech and thought you may be interested in Yenta, a new location…
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Apple’s Jerusalem Problem
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, an influential ultra-Orthodox rabbi, says it is forbidden for religious Jews to own an iPhone and has instructed his followers to burn the device if they own one. It’s not that Kanievsky sides with Android in the smartphone war, but that he’s concerned about what observant Jews will see with such a…
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Is Texting on Rosh Hashanah Kosher?
There was undoubtedly more texting in shul this Rosh Hashanah than in past years. In most liberal congregations, texting was likely done as discreetly as possible, often with a cellphone hidden low in one’s lap. In some congregations it might have been more overtly outside in the lobby or perhaps outside the synagogue building. But…
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Summer Camps Post Camp Photos: Good Idea or Bad?
Like many parents I was concerned that my son wasn’t getting enough sleep while he was away at sleep-away camp. As it turns out, it was my wife’s lack of sleep that posed a bigger concern. Each night beginning around 11:30 she would sit anxiously in front of the computer screen scanning each new photograph…
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Does Your Donkey Have a Wi-Fi Connection?
I wrote about my technology experience at the Mamshit Camel Ranch, a Bedouin village in Israel, in 2004 on my personal blog. I explained how funny it was to be at a Bedouin village that appeared to be authentically rustic to the Birthright Israel participants I was chaperoning, but behind-the-scenes the place was equipped with the…
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Shabbat and Technology: What Are the Issues in the 21st Century?
Electronic books, known as e-books, became the dominant format for adult fiction in 2011 surpassing hardcover books and paperbacks according to the BookStats annual survey. We are increasingly choosing to read our novels, magazine, newspapers and even children’s books on ereaders and tablets. But is it permissible to do this on the one day of…
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Can You Sell Chametz Online For Passover?
Not every Jewish ritual can be transferred to the medium of the Internet, but even the question raises some interesting points for discussion. With the latest Web technology, we have seen how Jewish life-cycle events can be more inclusive and we have also looked into the legality of convening a minyan (prayer quorum) over the…
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The Power of Facebook: Compelling Ex-Husbands to Grant a Get to Agunah Ex-Wives
Michigan Congressman Dave Camp is a proud Roman Catholic. Camp, a Republican, represents Michigan’s 4th District in Congress which includes places in Michigan’s “Up North” region that Jews only visit for a few days each year. Aside from the handful of families who live in Traverse City year round, Dave Camp likely doesn’t give much…