An influential ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi has ordered his followers to burn their iPhones, the latest move in a campaign by the insular community to encourage its members to keep the outside world — and specifically the Internet — at bay

The decree by Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, 84, came ahead of Judaism’s holiest day, Yom Kippur. It said that it was forbidden to own the smart phone, and those who already had one must burn theirs. Israel’s growing ultra-Orthodox minority tenaciously guards its traditional way of life against the influence of the secular majority. Many shun TVs and computers to avoid images that break their standards of modesty and values. The iPhone prohibition comes amid a push in recent months by ultra-religious Jewish leaders around the world to steer their flock away from the temptations of the Internet. Tens of thousands of black-suited Jewish men gathered in a New York stadium in May 2012 to hear some of the community’s most famed rabbis lecture on the dangers of what they deemed immoral content accessible via computers and smart phone. The rally was broadcast live to other crowds in stadiums in London and Jerusalem. After this most recent decree, large posters sprang up throughout Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, calling iPhones “an abomination 24 hours a day.” They called on community members to kick iPhone owners out of religious seminaries, and warned them to keep their children away from the children of iPhone users. Ultra-Orthodox rabbis have stepped up their campaigns against smart phones in the lead-up to Yom Kippur, a period of religious introspection. At the entrance to Jerusalem’s outdoor vegetable market, a group of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men in traditional long black coats and black fedoras showed off their “kosher” cell phones — simple devices with Internet access and video capabilities blocked, stamped with a seal of approval by a rabbinical council. They said iPhones are dangerous. “It takes over your life. It takes over your mind,” said Yitzhak Kabalo, 46, a telemarketer for ultra-Orthodox charities.