Learning to Beat Smartphone Addiction from Haredim

Orthodox schools in the U.S. played a major role just a few years ago in showing other schools that it is possible, and highly beneficial, to ban students from using cell phones during the school day. But hasidic Jews, and many other Haredim, often go further: eschewing smartphones altogether. For this reason, Haredim in both the U.S. and Israel have lobbied regulators to ensure that phone companies continue to offer what have become known as “kosher phones,” which, as Emily Goldberg explains, typically “can make calls, send texts, and access [a] bank account. No Google, no news apps, and no Instagram.”