Gothamist: "JewBerry" Lets Observant Pray by PDA

tamar

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:10:05 -0500

"I thought jews can't touch electricity on some days? I always find it weird that people use science for their religion. It's like "dude, this thing totally contradicts my blind religious faith but let me just ignore that fact"." Jews are supposed to pray 3 times a day, 7 days a week. On the "some days" you speak of, the "JewBerry" is not allowed. Further, why is it that this story gets more news than the iPhone Siddur? That one was created by Jewish entrepreneurs as well.

Future Taliban

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:50:43 -0500

How about creating an "AdolfBerry"; a standard Blackberry that dispenses a small dose of ZyklonB every 30 minutes?.

PFCheungs

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:59:00 -0500

awww why

NannyState

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:43:59 -0500

A minyan at "the Carvel stand"? Oy Gevelt! Fudgie the Whale is kosher? Who knew?

babyhitler

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:22:00 -0500

#12- Infantile? yes. that's how religions get 99% of their followers. through infants. As I'm not against religion per se like wondering if there is a god or not but I'm against ceremonial and processional religion that's rooted in superstition and such.

drliving

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 12:14:23 -0500

re: babyhitler, Are people's conceptions of the relationship between faith and religion really so infantile? This notion that religious faith is completely blind is completely contradictory to most major religious faiths. I can only speak for Catholicism, which has always had a deep appreciation and encouragement of science and reason. I can only imagine what sort of comments that will inspire, but the reality of an entire culture is often much more complex than the simplistic notions that people try to understand it with it. After reading the rash of recent popular atheist writing, such as Dawkins and Harris, etc., I was convinced that they were just people with an axe to grind. They're bad philosophers who demonstrate absolutely no understanding of Christianity, at least, even is. They may very well be right in their assertions, that faith is bad, there is no God, etc., but the arguments they make completely ignore reality and only succeed in setting up strawmen. Anyway, I only mention that, because I thought they were isolated examples, but every comment on religion that I read on here betrays the same simplistic understanding. In a culture like ours that supposedly values dialogue and understanding of the other, this has no place. I'm sure I'll be informed shortly of why I'm wrong, and I think all Christians and people of faith have to acknowledge the bad things that people of their faith have done in the past and still perpetuate today, but that's never an excuse for lazy thinking.

emilydickinson

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:47:29 -0500

@4 That's not true actually, I was curious about that a few years back and asked a good friend who was a former Chasid. @8 No, it has nothing to do with 'electricity' per se. It's based on the idea, that in order to dedicate yourself to g-d on shabbos, you don't perform any labor, you just spend the day praying. Labor includes cooking, driving, turning on lights etc. People obviously take this to mean different things, but that is generally the way the Chasidic communities here in NYC understand it.

CR

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:47:19 -0500

Babyhitler - ever "unplug" for a day? No TV, computer, internets, blackberry, iphone, cellphone, etc, etc, etc? It's AMAZING!

Steven

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:32:54 -0500

The crazy orthodox jews made up all these weird Jewish laws.

babyhitler

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:19:05 -0500

#5- how does that work? you can't touch electricity, walk through electricity, be around electricity and yet the human body is a living battery and it also creates static electricity by just wearing clothes and walking around.

rustybrick

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 11:13:04 -0500

iPhone users should check out http://www.rustybrick.com/iphone-siddur.php It has all weekday prayers, smart siddur features, GPS enabled synagogue and prayer time lookups and more.

r1b2

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:58:22 -0500

Can't use it on shabbos and Yom Kippur, but this seems a good idea for access to text.

Aristocrat

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:57:44 -0500

Their next invention is a cell phone attachment that automatically cuts holes into sheets.

Shinobi Shaw

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:43:32 -0500

#1 it's a lot more complicated then that, as per the teachings of Plato and Aristotle Christianity can have a basis of 'rationality.' However this has been hijacked in the last 50-60 something years by Fundamentalism.

Rob T Firefly

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:31:12 -0500

That GPS minyan finder is a great idea, much better than my idea for a big spotlight that shines Hebrew prayers into the clouds. (I call it the "Shabbat Signal.")

babyhitler

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 10:25:54 -0500

I thought jews can't touch electricity on some days? I always find it weird that people use science for their religion. It's like "dude, this thing totally contradicts my blind religious faith but let me just ignore that fact". Why do christians go to doctors? they should just pray to god.