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MP4 replaces MP3 on the Haredi contraband list

 MP4 replaces MP3 on the Haredi contraband list Unsigned posters reading "Prepare for the great campaign to stopthe corruption" have appeared throughout the neighborhood in recentweeks, denouncing the store for openly advertising "reviled devicesthat drag all who touch them toward danger."

The store's owners say they have already removed the offendingdevices from the shelves, but refused a demand by theultra-Orthodox Eda Haredit's rabbinical court to sign a commitmentnot to sell them. This week, the court is due to decide whether todeclare a boycott of the store.

>The Sicarii, however, are not waiting for the court ruling. Theydemonstrate almost daily outside the store, and are suspected ofbeing behind the torching of the store's workshop, located onadjacent premises. The sales staff called the police, but lamentedthat "only [hired] Russian thugs" would be capable of holding backthe demonstrators. The police have not lifted a finger on previousoccasions, the salesmen complained.

>Not far from this store is another, which sells Hasidic music. Along queue of men can be seen at almost all hours of the day,waiting in line at the computer that the owners set up in themiddle of the store a few months ago. The men are downloading Torahlectures onto MP3 players, which can only be used for recording andlistening to audio files.

The 50 meters that separate the two stores represent the long roadthe MP3 has traversed - from a device reviled by the Haredipublic's gatekeepers to a must-have item for every yeshiva student.

An amusing video clip circulating on the Internet shows anultra-Orthodox rabbi preparing to give a lecture. The table infront of him is quickly piled up with MP3 players set to record thelecture. When the rabbi raises his eyes, he discovers the room isempty. Unperturbed, he takes out his own MP3, presses the Playbutton, and leaves the room.

Kol Halashon, an organization in Bnei Brak, picked up on this idea.It has built an immense audio library of thousands of lectures byrabbis, on Torah, Talmud, halakha (Jewish law), ethics, education,even eulogies for deceased rabbis.

The lectures are available in Hebrew, English, Yiddish, French,Russian and Spanish, and there are even converted digital files oflectures of revered rabbis who died years ago, like Rabbi EliezerShach.

In addition, computer stations for downloading lectures have beenset up in yeshivas, Gal-Paz music stores and even Ben-GurionAirport. Ultra-Orthodox communities abroad have similar stations.

"This is an ingenious idea," said Natan Ivgy of the Geula branch ofGal-Paz. "Sometimes there is a queue of 10 to 20 men waiting tofill their devices. It bothers our customers a bit, but as long asit's for a mitzvah [good deed], no one complains."

Why does the music store offer this free service? "Many touristscome here from abroad. They download lectures and buy music at thesame time."

Aharon Weisfish, a Jerusalem yeshiva student, filled his MP3 withTalmud lectures last week. "I downloaded an entire volume ofTalmud," he said.

For him, the player is worth money:

 "When I travel from one place to another, I listen to lectures.Once, this time was wasted; now, I use all that time. For me, it isalso worth money, because every month I prepare for an exam on 30pages of Talmud and can win a scholarship thanks to the MP3."

Why are audio players allowed while video players are banned?Because films are much more dangerous. The distance between thestores, however, also reflects the inexplicable contradictions inthe ultra-Orthodox attitude toward technology. Why was the cellulartelephone endorsed and SMS disqualified? How did the MP3, untilrecently considered a detestable device, suddenly becomeacceptable, and what will the ultimate fate of the Internet be?

One of the salespeople in the MP4 store offered this frustratedanswer: "The ultra-Orthodox public suffers a high dropout rate fromits yeshivas and is constantly looking for a scapegoat. Today, it'sthe MP4."