Orthodox Jews can now “Koogle” it

In the race to better our web browsing this week, we got Bing and Google Squared, but conservative and Orthodox Jews had few options for a kosher web search- until now.

Koogle launched yesterday, aiming to deliver web access and safe searches to Jewish surfers. With Koogle, Jews can browse freely without being tempted by scintillating images of “immodest” women flashing knee. Also stricken from results are merchants offering forbidden items, such as televisions.

The name “Koogle” is a portmanteau/pun of the ubiquitous search engine Google and the traditional noodle pudding “kugel.” The site is available in both Hebrew and American English, offering up Israel-centric news and shopping targeted to the Koogle demographic.

I bravely tried some standard naughty searches and got an error page. And you’re out of luck if you want results on the Sabbath. The site has a built-in lockdown to keep weak users from violating the rules against working or doing business from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Said a site spokesperson:

“If you try to buy something on the Sabbath, it gets stuck and won’t let you.”