For once this season, the Mets home ballpark hosted a sellout crowd full of rabid New Yorkers eager to watch the defeat of their adversary. The only problem is the Mets weren't in Citi Field – they were playing up in Toronto.

The enemy on this day was the Internet. The fans: 60,000 Hasidic Jews adorned in black suits and yarmulkes, ready to do away with the "filth" that the Web world brings to their doorstep.

The rally was not intended to encourage the banishment of the Internet – as had been previously suggested – but rather to identify the dangers of the modern Internet and present ways to use the technology responsibly.

Held at the New York Mets' home stadium and the adjoining Arthur Ashe Stadium, the event was sponsored by the rabbinical group, Union of Communities for the Purity of the Camp, and featured speeches about the evils of pornography, gambling and social networking sites, according to the Associated Press.

"There is a very significant downside to the Internet," event spokesman, Eytan Kobre told the AP. "It does pose a challenge to us in various aspects of our lives."

One of the speakers, Rabbi Waxman of Lakewood, NJ, called the Internet a "minefield of immorality," and expressed his disdain for parents who provide their young children with smartphones and other Web-enabled devices.

Attendees were offered fliers that advertised Orthodox-friendly services like GPS apps that help users locate synagogues and kosher restaurants, according to the New York Times, which reported a few ironies that occurred during the event.

First off, the rally, which raised in excess of $1.5 million for the Union of Communities for the Purity of the Camp, was broadcast to local synagogues via – you guessed it – the Internet. The paper also reports that the No. 7 train headed to the stadium was filled with men sported traditional Orthodox clothing surfing the Internet and firing off e-mails on their mobile device.

Tickets, which cost $10, were being sold on Internet sites for north of $100 a pop. The Times says that the rabbinical group is linked to a software company that sells Internet filtering software to Orthodox Jews.