Excerpt of a shiur given on 14th Adar 1, 5784, at a gathering to wake people up about the terrible harm being caused by technology

The following is translated comments from Rav Berland.

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King David broke the internet.

And Devorah HaNaviah smashed her Xiomi, and also broke her smartphone. And so, they flew in the air.

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After Haman distributed bottles of whiskey – it was Purim, he gave out bottles of whiskey to a million soldiers.

So then, he came to Mordechai, that he should lend him [Haman] three billion.

A million soldiers, each one with a bottle, this is thirty million a day. Over 100 days [this equals three billion]. So, all his money ran out, poor thing. So he came to Mordechai, that he should bring him three billion.

He was in the ‘War Cabinet’, in the ‘reduced Cabinet’.

He didn’t let them enter Khan Younis, and also not Rafiach. So, he wanted three billion.

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He [Mordechai] said to him, what are you going to give me?

I’ll give you a plane that blows everything up, blows up all the tunnels! Three billiion.

He said, I don’t need three billion – I broke my Xiomi! I broke my internet, so [now] I can fly in the air!

Everyone who breaks their internet, they can fly in the air!

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[skipping some]

Once upon a time, every woman broke the internet.

They didn’t let their children see the internet. When a boy sees the internet, he comes out chiloni (secular). Simply, he becomes chiloni. Everything you invest in him, it’s all for nothing.

The mother says: I invested in him! I learned with him! I educated him!

[But] he saw the internet – so what do you want?!

So then, he saw things that even in the Generation of the Flood they weren’t seeing such things, and also not in the Generation of the Dispersion, and not in Enoch’s generation.

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Now, we are in the worst generation.

Rabbi Elimelech of Lizhensk said that in this generation, a generation would come that would be the worst of all. No-one will manage to hold on in this generation.

It’s written in the Chesed L’Avraham that only 7,000 will managed to hold on, from all the 10 million Jews – 7,000.

That’s what is written in Verse 22, ma’ayan 3 – that only 7,000 people will be left, who aren’t seeing the internet.

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And every mother needs to smash the internet to pieces – to shatter their son’s Xiomi and their smartphone.

Don’t take him into consideration! Don’t have mercy on him! He wants to see things…

There are all sorts of different options. There are the films of God-fearing [Jews], [films about the] Shoah – the moment that he uses a computer, on the internet, this is a total issur d’oraita (prohibition from Torah).

There is absolutely no heter (leniency) for this.

All those that permit this, this is even worse than desecrating the Shabbat! Because when someone breaks Shabbat, they still don’t become chiloni. But here [with the internet] – everyone will become chiloni!

All those who are watching the internet, they will become chiloni.

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So, Devorah HaNaviah broke her internet, and then she flew in the air.

She got to the highest mountain, Mount Tabor. Yael also broke her internet, so she merited to ‘stab’ Sisera. Sisera should have woken up [when Yael tried to kill him with a tent peg]. The fact that Sisera didn’t wake up, this is the greatest miracle!

Because it’s impossible to stab a person [with a tent peg] without him waking up. But, she took a tent peg.

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“From heaven they fought, the very stars from their orbits did battle with Sisera.”[1]

This is two times ‘Haman’. Sisera was twice Haman. Today, on Purim Haman was hung[2]. Today, Haman is the internet!

Today, there is no ‘Haman’, there is no ‘Amalek’ – we don’t have their DNA. If we had a single Amalekite who was left over from 3,000 years ago, 3,300 – that’s when there was the war [against the Amalekites].

So then, we would do the DNA, and clarify if someone was maybe from the seed of Amalek. Today, there is no DNA, so today, Amalek is the internet.

It is simply this: “[Y]ou shall wipe out the memory of Amalek from under the heaven – you shall not forget!”[3]

This is the internet.

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Whoever exploded the Twin Towers pushed off the matter by another five years.

Everything was already ready, all the Xiomis, and all the smartphones – everything was prepared from 5761 (2000 – 2001) – everything was ready!

In [a shiur from] 5759 (1998-1999), I already said [this], Itamar Raphael brought it – that we were talking to the wall.

The boy is under the covers, and he’s got the Xiomi there, he’s holding the smartphone, the iPhone, under the covers.

And the mother doesn’t see! And the father doesn’t see! And he’s watching the biggest tumah (spiritual impurity). He won’t get out of gehinnom forever! Not even when it’s techiyat hameitim, he won’t get out of gehinnom!

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Under the covers, or in his pocket – he goes to the bathroom, and he stays in the bathroom for two hours, instead of for five minutes.

Because in the meantime, he’s watching forbidden things, impure things.

In the end, he cuts off his peyot, and he’ll become chiloni. He’ll go to the army, they’ll kidnap him to Gaza. Because he went to the party on Simchat Torah.

He also wanted simchah, ‘v’samachta be’hagecha’[4] (rejoice on your festivals).

He travelled to Zikim Beach, in the ‘honor’ of Simchat Torah, v’samachta be’hagecha’, the oneg (pleasure) of yom tov. He wanted the oneg yom tov by the beach.

Ten boats came, and each boat there were 20 terrorists. 500 people were killed in a second.[5]

They went to perform v’samachta be’hagecha, ‘oneg yom tov’, they intended it for the sake of Heaven. A person intends things for the sake of Heaven – and he is killed at the party.

And he’s murdered on the beach.

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And everything is because he has some Xiomi.

How did he get to the party? Because he had a Xiomi, he had internet, a smartphone, so he got to the party.

A lot came before shkeia (halachic sunset), but they didn’t drink. This was the miracle – so they understood what was happening.

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Today, Hamas is the ‘bubby’ (i.e. The most loved one).

The bubby of Yoav Gallant, the bubby of Bibi – so, he’s called ‘Bibi’. This is their ‘bubby’ – the Hamas.

[The heads of the army and the government] said: Hamas will never attack!

They told them the Hamas is going to attack!!!

Now, they had everything, you can see all the plans, all the drills. A bulldozer appeared – it took it quarter of an hour to break the fence.

[And during this time] they didn’t send even one plane, because they said Hamas is a bubby! It just wants to go out for a walk, it just wants to come and look around the kibbutzim. To tour the kibbutzim, a bit.

[So] Why are they breaking the fence?!?

Because they are a bubby…

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A person’s brain is turned over.

Who are those people, who watch the internet? These same chilonim, these same generals, the heads of the army, the commander of Kheil Avir.

They want to do a trial against him, he says no, no! Wait until the war is finished!

The war will never finish.

Hamas is always going to be here.

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Because ‘Hamas’ is the internet.

It’s the Xiomi. It kidnaps children, it kidnaps babies before they are even a year old. And it kidnaps girls aged 12, because they have a Xiomi in their pocket, they have internet at home. They have a smartphone.

So, they are kidnapped to Gaza. And it’s impossible to free them.

They are making deals, every day they say there is progress, a breakthrough. Every day, they make another announcement to us about a ‘breakthrough’. In another day, they’ll be freed! Every day, there is a ‘breakthrough’.

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Even Dinah was kidnapped.

Dinah was also kidnapped, but she didn’t have the internet. She didn’t have a Xiomi. She was kidnapped [but they managed to rescue her immediately].

Because Yaakov had 100 Turkish passports. Yaakov lived in Haran, he didn’t live in Jerusalem. He lived in Haran for twenty years, he had 20 passports. Every year, he did another passport for Reuven, for Shimon, for Levi, for Yehudah, for Dinah – he did a passport.

Suddenly, she was kidnapped to Gaza, she was kidnapped to Rafiach, to the tunnels.

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So, Shimon and Levi didn’t have patience – they were young boys, aged 13.

They said, come, let’s go and give them a speech, a speech in honor of the barmitzvah.

Go and open up the Rambam, Hilchot Malachim, Verse 9, Halacha 14, see what the Rambam writes.

The Chiddushei HaRim says that this was a barmitzvah drasha, the Rambam.

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The first thing the Rambam says is to chuck out the internet.

The second thing, is to chuck out the Xiomi. The third thing is to chuck out the Smartphone.

And then, the whole of Shechem will be won! And then, the whole of Gaza will be won!

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It’s impossible to conquer Gaza.

They’ve already been fighting for four months, 140 days. Exactly today, it’s 140 days. And they haven’t progressed by even a millimeter. They are just going backwards.

Because every soldier, he has a Xiomi in his pocket. He has a smartphone in his pocket.

So, how is he going to win?

He’s keeping the Hamas in his own pocket!

The smartphone is the Hamas.

A person has the internet in his home, so then he has the Hamas in his home!

Tomorrow, they’ll come and kidnap his children, and he won’t understand why.

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[On Simchat Torah, the Hamas] Almost conquered the whole of Ashdod.

They found their plans in their pockets, that they were meant to have conquered Ashdod.

Except, they got confused on the way, and instead of travelling to Ashdod, they travelled to Ofakim. Now they are explaining, every day, they are explaining exactly [what happened], all the mistakes.

How Ashdod was saved, because they were on the way to conquer Ashdod. They’d already conquered Sderot. There was not a single Jew in Sderot, they blew up all the buildings.

In Ofakim, they entered all the houses.

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There was one person, Rachel [in Ofakim].

She gave them food – kneidlach, and blintzes and kreplach – every woman needs to prepare kreplach in honor of Purim.

And to also throw away the Xiomi, and also to make kreplach.

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So, they simply got confused on the way, they found all the plans, that they were on the way to Ashdod.

And then at one of the intersections, instead of turning left to Ashdod, they turned right to Ofakim. And they went into Ofakim.

And all the houses in Ofakim were full of terrorists – all the houses. And people came outside, they thought it was a couple of terrorists. No-one believed that 30,000 terrorists [entered Israel].

Even today, they don’t know the number, how many [terrorists].

At the beginning, they said a thousand. After that, they said 2,000, three, five – it was 30,000.

It was the whole South, tens of kibbutzim were burnt down to the ground. It will never be possible to rebuild them. It will take another 20 years.

They say tomorrow, you’ll return. Tomorrow, you’ll go back.

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So, every person has a Xiomi, and he doesn’t understand.

He has internet in the house – so why shouldn’t they burn his house down?

The internet is the ‘burning’, it’s the fire!

When a person holds on to the internet, he burns the brain of his son.

In the end, he’ll surf into forbidden things.

At the beginning, he just watches the news. At the end, he gets to the programs. Abba and Ima go to a wedding, and the child is left alone. He opens whatever he wants, wherever the yetzer hara [wants].

The boy doesn’t have control over his yetzer hara. Until the age of 20, he doesn’t have control over his yetzer hara. The boy is in the hands of his yetzer hara. And his yetzer hara pushes him to see forbidden things.

He still doesn’t have a brain. Until he gets to 20, there is no da’at.

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So, a person can’t wait until the age of 20 [to get married].

Because he doesn’t have any intelligence, he doesn’t have any da’at. Until the age of 20, the boys just want ta’avot (their lusts).

They just want forbidden things, they just want to see the things that it’s forbidden to watch.

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[And they tell the groom before the wedding] things [that are backwards].

So instead of bringing children to the world in kedusha (holiness) and tahara (purity), so they tell you that everything is allowed. That the more that you impurify yourselves, the more you’ll have, so do a bigger mitzvah!

‘According to the size of the tumah, that’s the size of the mitzvah’.

This is what all the counsellors [that explain the taharat hamishpacha laws etc] teach. They ‘counsel’ the bridegrooms today, that the busier you get with tumah, so the holier you’ll be.

The tumah will sanctify you – this is what every counsellor teaches his pupils.

Impurify yourself with as much tumah as possible!

He pushes him into the tumah, so then the bridegroom also takes a Xiomi. And he takes a smartphone.

The counsellor doesn’t understand that the moment that he teaches the bridegroom all the tumah in the whole world, and you tell him that the tumah is a mitzvah, and all the tumah is a mitzvah d’oraita. But really, it’s an issur d’oraita.

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[skipping some]

The bride wants kedusha (holiness), and wants tahara.

A lot of women write me letters before their chuppah. They want the peak of kedusha, the peak of tahara. But all the counsellors just educate them for tumah.

And then, they have a Xiomi, and they have a smartphone, and they have internet. And this is an issur d’oraita, mamash.

There is no heter for this, not in the home and not in the office. Not in any location!

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Look, now, Israel Porush (mayor of Elad) showed us.

He’s already been managing a community for 10 years – he’s been governing Elad , and he doesn’t have any non-kosher devices. It’s possible to run the whole world, to manage the whole planet.

Already in a little while it’s 6,000 years. Everything will be governed without a Xiomi, without internet.

The Second World War was run without internet, we don’t need internet.

[Internet is] To make people spiritually impure. So, everything starts with this, that they educate the bridegrooms and the brides to impurify themselves as much as possible, and to act as much as possible in the manner of tumah.

In other words, this is already a Xiomi in the home, and a smartphone in the house.

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[skipping some]

Haman is the internet.

Haman is the Xiomi. Hamas is the smartphone. Everything should be shattered into fragments and shards!

Anyone who once saw a smartphone, he’s lost for the rest of his life. And also his children are lost, and his grandchildren are lost. Nothing is going to help.

No chinuch (education), no investment in the boy. This child will turn out all backwards. He will remove his peyot. In the end, the girl will wear trousers, or a skirt that’s above the knee, so the body can be seen. And she won’t get out of gehinnom forever!

Also not when it’s techiyat hametim.

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And everything is because a person starts to see some Xiomi, some smartphone.

At the beginning, he says only the news! After this, he sinks and sinks and sinks down, to sheoul hatachtiot.

To the deepest depths, he sinks! To the deepest, deepest depths – the very deepest depths!

And there is no-one who will take him out.

Nobody can take him out.

And so, it’s an issur de’oraita.

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[Skipping some].

All the chilonim want Shabbat.

All the chilonim want kedusha. They see the religious themselves, that the dati’im are stuck in all the tumah. So they say, what, we’re better than the dati’im?

Today, every one of the religious are holding a Xiomi today. Today, each one has a smartphone. Each one has the internet today.

And so at that same moment – the chilonim don’t want to make teshuva.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] Judges 5:20.

[2] The Rav was speaking on the day of Purim Katan, Adar Alef, 5784.

[3] Devarim, 25:19.

[4] Devarim 17:14.

[5] To this day, the State hasn’t released any information about what really happened on Zikim Beach the morning of October 7th, 2024, nor how many people were actually killed there.