Campaign urges people to put down devices on Yom Kippur

Everyone's done it. They've checked their e-mail while talking on the phone, they've checked their phone while at the dinner table, they've tweeted while at a family gathering.

But today, everyone can atone for their technology sins.

Two New York men have launched a campaign to make today, Yom Kippur, a "device free" day.

Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo created ads encouraging people to put down their iPhones, BlackBerrys and other technology.

One of the ads features a picture of Tiger Woods and says "you don't have to be Jewish to atone for your texts on Yom Kippur."

Yaverbaum, who is Jewish, said when he attends synagogue he sees people checking their phones or stepping out to take calls all the time.

"The message of Yom Kippur seems to be one that would make it real easy to put down your device. It's the holiest day of the year," he said. "But people still won't."

While Myrtle Beach-area rabbis said they hadn't heard of the campaign, some think the idea is a good one.

Yom Kippur is a day when Jews ask for forgiveness for their sins from God. People fast and go to services.

"It seems to really fit in quite well with the theme of Yom Kippur," said Rabbi David Weissman of Temple Shalom in Conway.

He said Yom Kippur is "supposed to be a day in which we are removed from all the external factors in the world" and concentrate on self-evaluation and self-improvement.

Weissman said despite an announcement at the beginning of services asking people to turn off their phones, a ring sometimes disrupts the services.

"It's really annoying," he said. "Technology has reached the point of overkill now."

Rabbi Avi Perets, of Temple Emanu-El in Myrtle Beach, said that while he thinks a no-device Yom Kippur is a good idea, "the holiday is much more than that."

"It's a day that we get closer to God," he said.

He said at Temple Emanu-El in Myrtle Beach, no cell phones are allowed anyway. He said a campaign to make the holiday device-free is "a gimmick."

"For us it's not necessary," he said. "For the Jewish people it's obvious, especially on Yom Kippur."

But the reminder is not a bad idea, said Rabbi Doron Aizenman, the director of Chabad of Myrtle Beach.

"It sounds wonderful," he said of the campaign. "We became less of a free person by the advancement of technology, less of a private person."

He said he has been guilty of sending a text while at services.

"Yom Kippur is a day of confession," he said. "I do it sometimes too. It's contagious."

Yaverbaum said he was initially worried about the kind of reception the campaign would get from rabbis.

"No one has used Yom Kippur in a campaign before," he said. "It's not something to be used for commercial reasons."

But he said the campaign is not selling anything other than "lifestyle recognition."

He said the first "no device" campaign they did was for Father's Day.

The campaign is designed to "brand the off button," he said.