שאל את הרב - כללי
pics
- ה' חשון התשע"ה
שאלה
Dear kvod harav,I'm doing zikui rabim in Facebook since 2008.Many times i don't post pics of myself or family(of course tzniutpics)& i post pics according to the oncoming Chag or whatever but sometimes i feel that the message is gonna be more imbibed if they see a normal cool person delivering it,because is what people want to see,also a happy family etc...I know of course that is a safety measures that a person should take & only friends can see them(sometimes only me,depends how i want it,fb gives you choices of privacy)my question is I'm ok in my observation & i'm allow to post tzniut pics in fb?
תשובה
To the Questioner,
This is a difficult question to answer for numerous reasons.
For one, Most of the Gedolei Yisrael in Israel and the US have prohibited the use of social media as it does not promote a life of Torah and Mitzvos; quite to the contrary, it causes a deterioration of the Torah lifestyle
Therefore, for someone whose halachic rav follows the opinion of one of these gedolim, it would be prohibited for them to use facebook.
Even if one does not follow these gedolim, the only heter to use facebook would be for kiruv purposes when the account is run by a kiruv professional who is well recognized as being trustworthy.
In your question you present that your intent in running a facebook account is for the purpose of zikui harabim and kiruv, but then you say later that if you put up your picture, the message regarding a jewish lifestyle will become more imbibed by the viewer
This presents a contradiction that affects and questions the halachic permissibility of the act for a number of reasons:
1 , - Regarding the kiruv aspect, is it really correct that we try to be mekarev people through showing them that we engage in an approach that brings to the deterioration of the very lifestyle that we are expecting them to adopt?
2- In regard to the person we are mekarev, is it right to implant in them the subtle message that the use of facebook has some positive benefit in religious Judaism, because at the end of the day, because of this very message , he himself may never move forward in his own religious path to abandon this site that he was always so used to using from the time prior to his religious affiliation?
3- In regard to you yourself who puts up the pictures, how can we be sure that you yourself will not be affected by the negative aspects of the social media (you yourself write in your letter "I know of course that is a safety measures that a person should ") take
Therefore, this is a very difficult shaila to answer.
The best approach may well be for you to ask for a Psak from your personal or family rav who knows the details of your situation from up close, and can probably best advise you at how to act and how to proceed in regard to this very uncertain situation.
With Bracha for Siyata D'shmaya to accomplish the Spiritual goals together with Shmira,
Rabbi Nachum
להרחבה ושאלות נוספות, ניתן לפנות אל רבני שו"ת הידברות במייל rav2@htv.co.il