Your computer can get a virus from the internet. But cancer?

That's the message on this poster, recently plastered in some ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem. Internet causes cancer.

The proof? The Hebrew words for internet and cancer both add up to the same numerical value, according to an ancient Jewish system of assigning numbers to letters for religious or mystical meaning, called Gematria.

Merav Raznavi, an ultra Orthodox wedding photographer, previews her photograph of a bride at a recent wedding. Photo by Daniel Estrin.

Never mind that a letter is missing from the word "internet" in order for the math to work. The alarmist poster is a small example of the tug-of-war taking place within Israel's ultra-Orthodox community. Modernity on the one side, tradition on the other. The ultra Orthodox Jewish community in Israel adheres to a rigorously traditional lifestyle. In most instances, men and women marry young, and raise large families. Men are expected to study Scripture full-time, and women are charged with raising the children.

Modern society is often perceived as a threat to that kind of lifestyle. That includes modern technology. You still won’t find a television in an ultra Orthodox Jewish household. Computers used to be taboo, too. But for the women in this report (and some men) who are seeking employment to make ends meet, it's impossible to find a job if you can't distinguish a mouse from a keyboard. Today, it's not unusual to find a computer in an ultra Orthodox home. If there's an internet connection, it’s because someone in the house needs it for work purposes.

Those who posted the Internet = Cancer posters are concerned about members of their community being exposed to everything that the modern world offers at the click of a mouse.

Others are offering solutions. Just like some ultra-Orthodox women are seeking jobs in niche markets — like the wedding photographer featured in this report — there are clever members of the community who are adapting the trappings of the technology age to their needs.

One man by the name of Yossi Altman recently started Koogle — Kosher Google (and a play on words on a delicious Jewish noodle casserole, kugel).

Koogle.co.il features Israeli news and links to shopping sites (that filter out TVs and shut down on the Jewish Sabbath). There are no photos of women, which the community's rabbis perceive as immodest, and no access to any sexually explicit sites.

This new Kosher web portal proves that Israel's ultra-Orthodox community is slowly evolving — and more concerned about finding employment and being connected, than about any cancerous URLs.

Listen to this story.

Watch Daniel's slideshow on an ultra-Orthodox community in Israel.