DATE: Saturday, July 19, 1997               TAG: 9707180107

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MICHELLE MIZAL, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   78 lines

PRAYERS ARE PASSED VIA RELIGION SITE ON THE WEB

Since David Allen found the Virtual Jerusalem web site, all his e-mail prayers have been answered.

Allen is one of many Hampton Roads Internet surfers tapping into a growing number of religious sites on the World Wide Web. And while some may frown at the idea of cyberspace religion, others find hope and a sense of worship.

``I can't complain,'' said Allen, a senior accountant at Old Dominion University. ``It works for me.''

Like the time Allen e-mailed a prayer to help his father-in-law get through a heart attack three months ago. His father-in-law is fine now.

Or the time he e-mailed for guidance on buying a house. He and his family now live in a new home.

People worldwide can send e-mail prayers through Virtual Jerusalem.

A spiffy user password and - click - a prayer is sent to a site in Jerusalem. Staff members there print the prayers out and take them to the Wailing Wall, where it is believed God can retrieve them.

``We get an interesting combination of devoutly religious Jews and non-Jews on the site,'' said Yehuda Wurtzel, director of marketing for Community Network System in Great Neck, N.Y., a company affiliated with Virtual Jerusalem.

Jews make up 67 percent of the visitors, Christians 23 percent, and others 10 percent.

``The site actually unifies the people religiously by promoting a great deal of understanding,'' Wurtzel said. ``These people are looking for a sense of connection.''

Upon entering Virtual Jerusalem, computer users can - with the click of the mouse or the punch of a button - embark on a trip to Jerusalem or even chat with someone from the Holy Land.

Wurtzel believes that many people who visit Virtual Jerusalem have no religion and somehow find their own ways of worship through the Internet.

Virtual Jerusalem receives about 11 million visitors a month, Wurtzel said, most of whom want to know more about the Holy Land politically and culturally.

Aside from sending e-mail prayers, Allen enjoys looking at a VJ feature called Judaism 101. The section includes updated articles about Judaism and Israel.

``It's very interesting,'' said Allen, a Christian. ``I like the way the information is written. It's not like Christians need not apply.''

Allen thinks religion on the Internet is a great idea, especially for people who want to know more but aren't particularly outgoing and don't want to attend a local church.

``If they want to know about another faith or denomination, a resource like the web is great because they don't have to go to the library,'' he said.

Local rabbis have mixed feelings about Virtual Jerusalem.

Cyberspace should never take the place of personal prayers, said Rabbi Arthur Ruberg of the Beth El Congregation in Norfolk. ``They (web sites) are simply good tools and supplements to worship.''

But people can learn a lot about religion through the Internet, he said.

The web site of the Catholic Center at the University of Vermont, for example, sports a box at the bottom that reads, ``Click here for guidelines for confession.'' A Baptist site provides information on family values and parenting.

But while the Internet can be a valuable resource for soul searching, local priests and rabbis warn that too much technology could depersonalize religion.

In the Jewish religion, Ruberg said, a person who has wronged another must first approach that person face to face and then ask forgiveness from God. Technology should never replace worship like that, he said.

Letters to the Wailing Wall via the Internet are not unusual, Ruberg said. It's been tradition to slip handwritten prayers into the wall's crevices for centuries.

Family members have faxed prayers to relatives in Jerusalem to have them delivered to the wall. The Internet just speeds up the process.

``Yes, it's less personal, but it fulfills the idea,'' said Ruberg, who has never used Virtual Jerusalem. ``But a person should not pray to God only through e-mail.

``The Internet makes things no better or worse for the human race . . . it simply reflects what's out there. . . . It could be used for good or evil. Hopefully it will be used for good.'' < ILLUSTRATION: Color illustration

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