NEW YORK, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Two New York executives are encouraging U.S. Jews as well as gentiles to give up their cellphones for a day to mark the high holy day, Yom Kippur.
Eric Yaverbaum and Mark DiMassimo, who founded company Offlining to encourage people to take breaks from cellphones and the Internet, are campaigning for those observing the Jewish Day of Atonement, which begins Friday and ends Saturday, as well as non-Jews in need of a break from their gadgets to put down their phones during the holy day, The Seattle Times reported Wednesday.
The men have taken out ads in magazines and online encouraging people to keep their phones switched off during Yom Kippur. Some of the ads feature images of celebrities including Tiger Woods and Lindsay Lohan with captions including: "You don't have to be Jewish to atone for your texts on Yom Kippur."
Mary Sobel, an Orthodox Jew who attends Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation in Seattle, applauded the campaign's message.
"I think it would be good for everybody to try," she said. "Not just Jews."
