First, the idea that the iPad is the only platform that can support the complexity needed for the app: You could also simply use a “real” computer. Building an app that requires an iPad but won’t run on a laptop is a commercial decision, not a technical one.
However, to make a technical point, you can’t “mouse-over” in an iPad app because, well, there’s no mouse. There’s really no equivalent on an iPad; a tap is more like a mouse click. So I’m curious how this works.
As to the disclaimer that “following the ruling of leading rabbinic authorities, web devices should be used only with filters,” that’s not coming from any rabbinic authorities I’d actually follow. Especially since I prefer to follow my rabbinic authorities on Twitter. But seriously, while the warning may seem amusing, what else in the text is designed to lead a learner to a right-wing perspective?
The article gives a recommendation from a Conservative rabbi, but doesn’t mention a competing app from Koren with a (Orthodox, but presumably less right-wing) Steinsaltz translation which is also planned to be released this summer, which I’d think a well-researched article would at least mention.
Lastly, no one says “sextons,” especially not anyone who would use a product with “shul” in its name.
Who the Jewish people are is not a crisis or a tragedy or a “cancer” growing in our midst. It is simply who we are, the identity of my community without whom I am not “I,” without whom there is no meaning to Judaism. In theory, I might fantasize about belonging to a different team or a different team makeup. That fantasy, however, can only impact my work, not my loyalty.
