I came across a remarkable op-ed at a Lubavitch website the other day, by an anonymous bochur, in which he takes to task some of his fellow Chabad-Lubavitch Chasidim.
Even though this op-ed does not address all points of contention with Chabad-Lubavitch of course, seemingly focusing more on peripheral issues, it is still good to see some introspection, seeking to improve the situation, and lower tensions.
I think that a real test of a Chasid, especially a Lubavitcher, when he preaches ahavas Yisroel and the greatness of every Yid, is how he relates to a מתנגד (Lubavitch seems to use/prefer the terms מנגד/מנגדים). I don't understand how some such people can claim to love every Yid, but when it comes to Litvaks or Misnagdim, something seems to be missing in that department?
There is also an interesting aside there (at the end of the second to last paragraph) about the Lubavitcher speaker Rabbi Y.Y. (aka, as he called by Lubavitchers, Rabbi Yossi) Jacobson. The author implies that he is popular (and is invited to speak at non-Lubavitch places) because he cites other sources as well, not just typical Lubavitcher ones. That is definitely correct as one of the reasons for his popularity, as I see it.
Now, if such things are אמת and sincere, fine and well. But if they are just gestures, a show, a tactical move to help with הפצה of Chabad-Lubavitch (as we know they often, if not always, are :), well, that is another story, and we should not be fooled by window dressing.
And we non-Chasidim should introspect sometimes too. One of the things we can and should introspect about is the fact that some of us are at times inviting outside "inspirational" speakers that don't always share our השקפות, and are sometimes even actively at odds with them. Is it perhaps because we don't have enough of our own giving a פנימיות התורה message in accordance with our מסורה? We need to realize that times have changed and we can't just serve up נזיקין lomdishe nuggets for every meal. We need a varied and balanced Torah diet to be spiritually healthy.
הלואי that we all introspect and merit to reach and implement proper conclusions.
Thank you for bringing that op ed to our attention. Given his level of brainwashing, I was impressed by many of the points he made. Clearly this Bochur is sincere in his belief that the Rebbe's goal was increasing Ahavas Yisroel. I, on the other hand, believe that the Rebbe's true goal was spreading the Chabad brand to the four corners of the world. While I certainly agree with that young man that members of the various camps should refrain from name calling, what I found troubling was his attitude. He proudly proclaims himself a soldier of the Rebbe. What do soldiers do? They wage wars of conquest. We must always be mindful that the ultimate goal of Chabad is to dominate the world, and not just the Jewish world. I once asked a particularly obnoxious Chabad Rabbi what he would do if his daughter told him that she wanted to marry a learner and live in Lakewood. He responded as follows,"We are the highest form of Jew, so why would she consider marrying out of Chabad?" One last ooint. The author of the op ed piece spoke of the great respect which the Rebbe showed other Gedolei Yisroel. I don't see any evidence of this. In the Rebbe's speeches he only referenced his six predecessors. Moreover, I'd like to know why he couldn't take time out of his oh so busy schedule to attend Rav Moshe's Levaya.
ReplyDeleteRe soldier - It has been observed in the past (by others) that the late last Lubavitcher Rebbe was fond of military metaphors (Tzivos Hashem uses them heavily, etc.). On the other hand, he was not the first one to use them of course. A primary meaning of the soldier metaphor in this context is that a soldier is supposed to listen to his commander, and so must the Chasid obey orders of his Rebbe, and be mevatel himself to him.
ReplyDelete"What do soldiers do? They wage wars of conquest."
Did you never hear of צה"ל - צבא הגנה ליובאוויטש? ;-)
Re the respect - I guess he is thinking of how they were addressed in correspondence and greeted when they visited Lubavitch HQ.
Re the levaya of Rav Moshe zt"l - in general, I don't think the Rebbe went to any levaya outside Crown Heights. I think that is part of their Rebbishe hanhogo that they want people to come to them, as opposed to the reverse.
I am not saying that I agree with it of course, just giving some context.
The Rebbe never showed respect to other rebbes or rabbonim. He never mentioned other chassidishe seforim in his long-winded talks. He was NEVER EVEN ONCE seen attending levayas, weddings or fundraisers for anyone outside of Chabad. And when other rebbes visited 770 they were treated with condescension. They were made to wait in line with everyone else, shuffle past him, then be handed that dollar from the rebbe in his high perch. Sometimes he would acknowledge them with some brief words, but with an attitude of a teacher to a child; the other rebbe never got to say anything, or even an invitation to sit with the rebbe. (Sometimes these talks were outright ludicrous, like when the Erlauer Rav visited; after being informed by the gabbai who the visitor was, the rebbe went on a nonsensical rant that the Erlauer should command Hashem to bring Moshiach or something).
ReplyDeleteIs this the proper attitude of a true Leader Of Israel ?? There are pictures of the Satmar rebbe and Reb Moshe, Reb Aaron and Rabbi JB Soloveitcik, and the kapischnitzer with Litvishe gedolim. These people all had differences of opinion but made it clear they respected the other rabbonim on a personal level. That is the way of the Torah.
I agree with you entirely. I'm tired of people bending over backwards trying to excuse the Rebbe's faults. The reason the Rebbe never associated with other Gedolim is because that would give his followers the impression that those Rabbis were his peers. About a decade ago I had an encounter with a particularly militant Chabad Rabbi. I asked him why he was so antagonistic explaining that I had the utmost respect for the Rebbe. I told this fellow that when I was growing up we were told that the three giants of our generation were Rav Moshe, the Rebbe and Rav Soleveitchik. His response? The Rebbe can't be compared to any Rabbi. He can only be compared to other Tannaim and other Neviim. On another occasion, this "Rabbi" called Rav Aharon Kotler, "Some Rabbi who opened a little Yeshiva in New Jersey." The Lubavicher Bochur was spot on in criticizing his classmates and Rebbeim for regularly mocking non Lubavichers, but the simple fact is that it's part of their gestalt.
DeleteRe: Rabbi YY. I am very wary of him precisely because of his supposed open mindedness. He might be using that as Trojan horse, shrewdly getting audiences to listen to him. This method was used successfully by the Gutnick Center in Boro Park; They concealed their Chabad colors by innocently calling it Beis Hachasidus (not Beis Chabad), and stocking it with all types of Chassidic Literature, not only Chabad. The goal was to ensnare people from other sects to walk in. Once there they are treated with a boatload of Chabad videos, farbrengens and lectures.
ReplyDeleteThere is supposedly a speech from Rabbi Avrohom Schorr in which he sharply condemns Rabbi Y.Y. but I have not found it.
As far as YY is concerned, all I have to go by is his writings and they're quite good. This said, on the anniversary of the Rebbe's 20th Yahrtzeit or whatever they call it, his brother Simon was a guest on the Zev Brenner radio program, and it was the same nonstop propaganda that you hear from the hard core Lubavichers. I therefore agree that we should be wary of YY because the garbage they're peddling is so ingrained.
DeleteFYI apparently there was a brawl in 770 this past Motzei Shabos. You may want to look into it.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I am aware of it, there is extensive coverage at leading Lubavitch news websites.
DeleteI'd like to share the following. This past Shabbos someone asked me why I'm against Chabad. I told this fellow, who's a big time Talmid Chacham, that it's Christianity. He told me I was wrong, walked away and the discussion ended.
DeleteBoruch Hashem this blog allows me to present my argument. Christians worship a dead Jew, well you know the rest. The readers are probably aware of the skirmish at 770 this past Motzi Shabbos. I'm not interested in taking sides, rather I'd like to focus on their postings. To a person they say something along these lines,"This is not in accord with the Rebbe's wishes." Pardon my naivete, or perhaps I'm just old school, but I thought the idea of Judaism is about pleasing Hashem. For Lubavichers Hashem is at best, an afterthought.
In 2014 Rabbi Joseph Telushkin wrote an "unbiased" biography of the Rebbe. He decided that the Rebbe never gave any indication that he thought he was Moshiach. Even more outrageous was his assertion that the whole subject is a nonissue, because Lubavichers keep the Mitzvos. In fact the Mitzvos are empty shells if they aren't buttressed by the belief that Hashem is the sole power in the world.
There's a telling footnote in the Telushkin book. He noted that his friend Ari Goldman, the New York Times writer, felt that Chabad was akin to Jews for Jesus. Telushkin simply dismissed the suggestion as ridiculous. The Gemara makes it patently clear that Avoda Zara is the most serious sin in the Torah. This said, if something gives even a remote hint of resembling idolatry, and Chabad does so much more than this, how can anyone sit by the sidelines with his hands in his pockets? Moreover how do we explain, Chabad sycophants like Telushkin, Lichtenstein and Sacks who excuse away the inexcusable? The answer is simple. Gaavah doesn't allow these people to admit they're wrong.
Thanks for your comment.
DeleteIn general, I would like to say that I don't necessarily agree with every detail of every comment that appears here, but sometimes they are partially correct and/or worthy of discussion anyway.
Anyway, since we are about Emes, I hope you don't mind if I quibble with some of your's, or play "devil's advocate" at times. I think we are generally on the same side, of course, just that we may have some differences in some details.
"This is not in accord with the Rebbe's wishes." - if there was a difference of opinion in an institution, let us say after the passing of a founding Rosh Yeshiva, such an expression might be used even in a non-Lubavitch place I think.
Anyway, I think you are making the argument made in the old Jewish Observer by R. Keller years ago.
Re Joe Telushkin's book - it was written about here previously. In case you missed it, here is a snippet -"Joseph Telushkin - a talented author who Lubavitch paid to write a book promoting the late Rebbe as "the most influential Rabbi in Modern History". He has gone around speaking in Chabad houses around the country promoting it and the Rebbe. So, one might reasonably assume that he is connected to the Orthodox movement. However, believe it or not, Joe Telushkin is actually the leader of a non-orthodox Temple in California, something that caused a significant group of Lubavitchers to come out against his book." More at https://mrlitvak.blogspot.com/2019/08/straight-talk-about-chabad-lubavitch.html
I very much appreciate your feedback. Your comments are well taken. I'd like to take this however, in a different direction. I think we've pretty much established that Chabad, as presently constituted, is an illegitimate brand of Judaism. This said, our goal should be to find solutions because, at the end of the day, Lubavichers are Jews and they require our love. The question was raised as to whether or not Rabbi Jacobson is a voice of reason. Perhaps there's an objective way to determine this. Arguably the biggest problem with Chabad is that they've set themselves apart from mainstream Judaism. What would it take to organize a day of learning which brings Lubavichers and traditional Orthodox Jews together? We understand that the leadership(Kotlarsky,Krinsky) would never agree to such blasphemy, but there are normal Lubavichers like YY, Rabbi Shochet, Rabbi Zajac to name a few. We need to demonstrate that despite the differences between each stream of Judaism we do have common ground which is love of Torah. I would be willing to listen to a shiur in Tanya if it meant that a Lubavicher would see the beauty of a piece of Gemara. I may have given the impression that I'm simply a "hater", but I'd like to believe that the ultimate goal is doing Hashem's will, and there's no question that what gives Hashem nachas, if you will, is seeing Achdus among His children.
Delete"I would be willing to listen to a shiur in Tanya if it meant that a Lubavicher would see the beauty of a piece of Gemara."
DeleteTanya is (as Lubavitchers say) the תורה שבכתב of חסידות. It (or parts of it) historically has been a main point of contention between חסידים ומתנגדים.
Lubavitchers learn gemara already. Maybe not exactly the same as we do, okay, granted, but they learn it.
A parallel or more equivalent exchange would be if the Lubavitchers would learn a shtickel Hisnagdus instead. But I think it would be a ברכה לבטלה.
At the institutional level such exchanges can be difficult. Perhaps on the individual level, among people who are אנשי אמת, there is room to talk. Especially out of the limelight. But I think the best solution is the Alter Rebbe's Non-Hasidic Moshiach sorting things out. :)
I have a sinking feeling that Mr.L is abandoning ship. He has started a habit of playing devil's advocate in his counter comments. He has also taken on a more conciliatory tone in his posts.
ReplyDeleteIs this some sort of guilty feeling ?? He has nothing to apologize for. This is virtually the only space for the truth.
I hope I'm wrong.
I respectfully disagree with your thesis. I think it's important that Mr. L. keeps us from making over the top statements. Since we're in the great Yom Tov of Chanukah, it's appropriate to use the Moshol of the Maccabees. Taking on Chabad is no simple task. We are the few and the weak. What's the source of Chabad's strength? They are fully supported by Satan, who wants nothing more than their atheistic agenda to thrive. We can't downplay the effectiveness of their media machine which allows them to win over the uninformed masses. Moreover the neo Chassidic movement has enabled Chabad to make inroads among Chassidim. Sadly Chabad even has a key ally in the Yeshiva world, none other than Rabbi Avigdor Miller. In contrast, as Dr. Berger pointed out in his excellent book, those Gedolim who agree that Chabad should be ostracized, have been loath to speak out. I think then that it's left to us to take arms, in the figurative sense to be sure, against this enemy. To that end we must not forget that we're fighting as representatives of Hashem and whatever success we may have will only come because Hashem endorses this endeavor. Therefore I think that Mr. L is correct in trying to insure that we express ourselves in a manner befitting Bnei Torah.
DeleteThanks for your support.
DeleteAs we know, in this world now טוב ורע are mixed. There is a situation of אור וחושך בערבוביא, light and darkness, clarity and confusion, at the same time. There are ניצוצות of קדושה in Lubavitch (as elsewhere) that gives them certain strength, but they are mixed with problematic elements. They have zechusim of תורה, חסד, נגינה, וכו. We know that אין הקב"ה מקפח שכר כל בריה, so they get credit for such things. אי"ה, over time the holy sparks will be redeemed and uplifted, perhaps by the non-Chasidic Moshiach (as the Alter Rebbe said), שיבוא במהרה בימינו, אמן.
Re Rav Avigdor Miller z"l - I think it is reasonable to assume that his thinking about Lubavitch was to a large degree based on a Chabad melamed he had in his childhood, IIRC his name was R. Axelrod, in Baltimore, who taught him 'regular Torah' (unlike the melamed of Rav Yoshe Ber Soloveichik z"l, who, against the express wishes of his father, his employer, taught Tanya surreptitiously to his young student). I suspect that if he would have seen and really known firsthand about the changes over the years, and especially the matzav after the last Rebbe's passing, he may well have changed his position.
Anyway, if we present a case for something, we try to make sure it is sound, by probing it for weaknesses, and expressing it in a matter that will not hinder its acceptance.
יה"ר that we will be zoche to the kiyum of the posuk ברצות ה' דרכי איש גם אויביו ישלים אתו - משלי טז:ז.
I didn't mention Rabbi Miller's name to defame him. I know that he felt Hakoras Hatov to his teacher and this clouded his thinking. The problem is that when someone like Rabbi Miller makes a statement so many people in the Yeshiva world think it's Torah Misinai. It's not heresy to suggest that Gedolim can make errors in judgment. In fact, the Torah prescribes the Par Helam Dovor for such situations. What is problematic is when people ascribe papal infallibility to certain Rabbis. Such people essentially have forfeited their free will.
DeleteThe תוה"ק tells us to go אל השופט אשר יהיה בימים ההם, a moreh horaah of your time, that knows the current matzav. Rav Miller z"l (I often read his Toras Avigdor and enjoy and gain from it) was a gadol from a different דור. During most of his life, the reality was quite different than it is now. למעשה, his descendants and talmidim seem to adhere to the current Yeshivishe consensus on this issue, and that is a great ראיה as to where he himself might have stood if he would have grown up in this time.
DeleteI beg to differ with you on this point. I've been a part of a Yeshiva run by Rabbi Miller's Talmid Muvhak for the last 30 years. I was initially attracted to the emphasis on Gemara and mussar, particularly the way Rabbi Miller focused on seeing Hashem in every thing we do. About a decade ago I started to discern the true nature of Chabad and I brought it up to my Rosh Yeshiva. He simply brushed off whatever I told him. After several attempts I realized that whatever I told him was going in one ear and out the other. As far as he was concerned Rabbi Miller gave his imprimatur to Chabad and that was the end of the story. I'll give you, as they used to say in the "hood" ah f'rinstance. Several years ago Shmuel Butman said the following on his Saturday night radio program,"When Moshiach comes there won't be any more Shnayim Ochzin B'Tallis". He continued,"Yes there will be Shnayim Ochzin B'Tallis, but only the Kabbalistic interpretation. For 2000 years the Rosh Yeshivas have had their fun, but that's all coming to an end." I told this to my Rosh Yeshiva and he had some choice things to say about Butman. When I then said that Butman is one of the five most powerful voices in Crown Heights, my Rov dismissed it saying that Chabad never heard of him. I countered that it would be highly unlikely that they never heard of him since he's been on the radio for over 20 years. His response," Lubavichers don't listen to the radio." How do we explain this reaction? Very simply. Very few people are willing to admit they're wrong even in the face of overwhelming evidence. In any case, Millerites with few exceptions, consider Chabad and the Rebbe invioplate.
DeleteAs I've said it's important that you act as a guiding force so that the contributors don't step over the boundaries of Halacha. This said, when uncovering the Chabad kerfuffle unfortunately we'll discover that certain groups and individuals who are considered in many circles as sacred cows don't deserve that status. If our allegiance is to Emes we must state what must said even if certain feathers will be ruffled.
I don't know you (AFAIK), and don't know which institution you refer to, but you seem to be an איש אמת, so I react on that basis.
DeleteRe "Millerites" - I am not sure how many "pure Millerites" there really are. Many people were influenced by Rav Miller z"l, but they usually have other affiliations as well. There are no Rav Miller institutions running all the way from childhood to adulthood AFAIK. Some yeshivos gedolos and Shuls, yes. But yes, Rav Miller's influence has been growing due to all the work of "Toras Avigdor" in recent years.
Anyway, I will try to put a more positive spin on what you describe - 1) Many people are already busy and overwhelmed, so they don't seek new problems, preferring to continue doing things as in the past, instead of opening the proverbial "can of worms". 2) Many people are concerned about lashon hora, machlokes, and so on, so don't want to touch the inyan. 3) We know that מעט מן האור דוחה הרבה מן החשך. As Lubavitchers like to say, I think in name of the last Rebbe, you don't drive out darkness with brooms, etc....but you do it with light. The same here, if people are not open to discussing something, you cannot be מתקן it directly, but you could try to help indirectly, e.g. by increasing light, working on oneself, davening, etc.
We have to work on our regular avodah....the inyanim that are discussed here, are a snif, but not the ikar avodah for most people.
May הקב"ה help us conduct ourselves properly in this area.
I hear and derherr what you're saying. The reality is what Dr. Berger discovered, i.e. most people and that includes Gedolim just don't care about what Chabad says and does. That's sad because Chabad spends countless millions trying to "con"vince people how wonderful they are. I happen to live in a place where there are about 20 Chabad Rabbis who operate within a mile radius. I would say that most are very nice and we're on good terms. There are a few, however, who are legitimate crazies, to the point that they actually despise non Lubavich Orthodox Jews. In any event I'll share the following. About ten years ago my son found a piece on the internet which indicated that there was friction between Krinsky and Kotlarsky. I mentioned this to a Chabad Rabbi who got all upset asking me how I knew this. When I told him it's on the internet he calmed down and explained to me that the Chabad Rabbonim made these two "Rabbis" get together and pretend to like each other because Chabad must always present a positive face to the world. I later learned that the reason they hate each other is that Krinsky views Kotlarsky as an outsider i.e. he wasn't part of the Rebbe's inner circle, but Kotlarsky reached the upper echelons because he hooked George Rohr who gives Chabad 50 million a year. I was told this by a Chabad Rabbi who's not afraid to speak openly with me so I believe this information is true. Maybe I'm a religious fanatic but do you think this is palatable to Hashem?
DeleteAs I said, people are overwhelmed, some people don't follow news, don't want to follow it, some people think that if you ignore things they go away (perhaps sometimes they do, but not always), etc.
DeleteRe reported friction between leaders - I don't know if that was/is accurate, not everything online is, but even if it is/was, that could have changed/disappeared over time. As the saying goes, מה שלא יעשה השכל, יעשה הזמן. B"H people get older and wiser at times, and can do teshuvah. As the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, the Tzemach Tzedek, said, tracht gut, vet zein gut. :) (Maybe we should do an analysis of that saying/idea in a future post, maskim? :)
Anyway, may הקב"ה bless his nation with peace and משיח האמיתי בקרוב.
Dear Mr Litvak
ReplyDeleteThis blog is b"h gaining in popularity and it may be time to institute a policy of no anonymous comments. It just gets confusing. I think every commentator should state their name or make one up and stick with it.
Now to my point. This fellow making waves in Chaabad is pretty interesting but I don't think he will fix anything. The problems they have are built in; they are the results of many years of confusion.
I get amused when I hear people talk about the "Meshichisten" in chabad, as if there is anything else. In truth most are meshichistin to one degree or another. Ask any Lubavitcher "is the rebbe dead?" , and you'll almost never get a straight "yes" . They'll hem and haw about tzadikim kruyim chaim, or about yaakov avinu lo meis etc. (Of course that only applies to the rebbe. Any other tzadikim are dead)
I'm not sure how I feel about giving a name but I do agree with you that all Lubavichers have the Chazaka of being Meshichistim. Actually I'll amend that statement. Rav Aharon Feldman, in his wonderful Sefer "Eye of the storm" said that he isn't bothered by the Meshichistim, it's the Elokistim whom he finds troubling. I don't believe that's an overstatement.
DeleteI have a question i'm hoping someone can answer. Where can I find the statement that the Baal Hatanya said Moshiach will be a non Chossid?
Re your question, more info (with link to מקור in תורת מנחם) can be seen at https://mrlitvak.blogspot.com/2014/11/moshiach-will-be-misnaged-seventh.html
DeleteHello Old Litvak!
ReplyDeleteYour suggestion is well taken. I have to see how to do such a thing, I think a notice could be put before the area where comments are typed.
There is also a campaign now to bring order to 770, a petition, etc. We will see what happens with that.
A gutten Shabbos, chaydesh, un Chanukah.
Some not so random musings. I found your site by complete accident(Yad Hashem.) about three months ago. I was too tired to learn one night but I didn't want to go to sleep so I decided to look up Dovid Lichtenstein's podcast to see if had done anything new on Chabad. To my pleasant surprise your blog appeared. Avraham Avinu was able to stand alone against the world, but I'm no Avraham and so it was very heartening to discover that I'm not the only "self hating Jewish nut"(that pretty much covers the names I've been called) who's anti Chabad. "Truthers" have never been popular see Yosef Hatzaddik and most of the Neviim, so I guess we're in good company. I wish us all good success and we must keep up the fight. Eventually the light of truth will destroy the darkness when the true Moshiach comes. This is the eternal message of Chanukah.
ReplyDelete