CRI听力: Kosher-friendly Technology

21st century technology is gradually making its way into the lives of Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel. While adhering to strict religious codes, kosher technology sits side by side with the Commandments and Jewish law.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

Reconciling their conservative lifestyle with ever-changing technological trends has become increasingly difficult for Israel's ultra-Orthodox community.

Mobile phones have become a part of society just as they have anywhere else. The difference is these ultra-Orthodox community members are speaking on phones that have been made kosher.

Abraham Kanlesky, advisor on Orthodox society to the Israeli mobile phone companies, explains what their criteria for mobile phones are.

"In Israel came a need that they should have phones that are close from one side to the whole internet system and from the second side, they have a way that they are checking improper numbers and from the third side it could not send an SMS and it could not get an SMS."

Moreover, if the mobile phones are used during the Jewish Sabbath, users are charged extra.

But the new market the ultra-Orthodox community now represents goes far beyond mobile phones.
Innovators have tried to circumvent the ultra-Orthodox aversion to technology, by creating goods and services suitable to their needs.

Zomet institute is an Israeli high-tech non-profit organization specializing in kosher technology. The Institute focuses on creating and approving tech solutions for the Sabbath, when Jews are forbidden from using electrical items.

The Zomet institute has approved a mechanism to lock and unlock doors in a way that does not violate the Sabbath: special elevators, wheelchairs, water heaters, kosher toothbrushes, kosher lamps, clocks an so on.

Dan Maranas is an employee of Zomet. He says they have also designed a Sabbath keyboard made for observant Jews working in hospitals, or for the army.

"This is a keyboard we made for use on a Sabbath in army installations and in hospitals, usually on a keyboard you press keys which close circuits, but closing a circuit is forbidden by Jewish law. On this keyboard everything is just one sheet, each key has a capacitance when you touch a part of your body with something that attracts current, something that transfers current - say to the letter N it will type N, B it will type B, so we are not creating any new circuits, we are not building a circuit and therefore we are not violating the Sabbath."

Even the internet has been made kosher. A site called "Koogle", offered in Hebrew and English, acts as a filtered search engine and a news site. Maranas says:(www.hXen.com)

"I do think that Internet being kosher and having restricted internet is something that a lot of us are very happy with and a lot of us use especially in our homes because what you can see on YouTube or you can see on all these other, things just popping up by themselves, even when you don't physically go and look for it a lot of pictures, a lot of things open in front of your eyes that you didn't necessarily want to see."

With all the available goods and gadgets, members of this community are shopping their way into the 21st century.

For China Drive, I am Li Dong.