There is something very curious going on over at cross-currents. Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein posted about a public debate he had with Dennis Prager. In passing he mentioned that Mr. Prager made a very good point about why he thinks Lubavitch Kiruv works so well and Rabbi Adlerstein conceded the possibility.
This post has generated over 70 comments thus far, a lot for this particular blog where the comments are fully moderated. What was interesting was what most of the comments were not about the debate or Dennis Prager. They were mostly comments about Lubavitch, many of them hostile… along with responses by Chabad Shaliach, Rabbi Dovid Eliezrie of Yorba Linda, California defending Lubavitch.
If the cross-currents comments section is any kind of barometer about what the Torah world is thinking, Lubavitch is in big trouble whether it realizes it or not. The Torah world has all but rejected them. Not necessarily by ostracizing them or excommunicating them. But by almost totally ignoring them... and virtually everything they do. Which is a lot. There is hardly ever a word ever mentioned about Lubavitch or the Rebbe in the publications like Artscroll or Feldheim the two power-house publishers of English language Judaica. There is never any mention about Lubavitch in the classroom. And in private conversations between Rebbeim and Talmidim, if it is ever mentioned at all, it is usually in a negative context.
I have written about Lubavitch many times and the problems I have with them. This post is not specifically about that. It is more of a message to Lubavitch about their status in Klal Yisroel, one that I think they are not entirely aware of. They have been marginalized by mainstream Judaism. In some cases they have not only been marginalized but they have been totally and strongly rejected. Gedolim, like Rav Shach ZTL, among others had long ago started speaking out publicly agaist them. In still other cases they are ridiculed because of their Messianist beliefs. And the more that time passes the more these attitudes become entrenched in the thinking. I do not think that Chabad leaders realize the depth and breadth of this rejection.
While it is true that internally they are a growing movement… exponentially so, it seems… and it is also true that are very successful at what they do… they are none the less alone in the greater Torah world. And their obliviousness to this fact makes it seem as though they actually prefer it that way. Perhaps that's the case, I don’t know. But they should realize that no man is an island and neither is a singular group an island unto themselves. No group can survive as a part of Klal Yisroel when they march entirely to the tune of their own drummer, to the exclusion of all others… and that is what they do. There is hardly ever any cross fertilization between any of Orthodoxy and Lubavitch. The fact is that no Orthodox group really cares to work with them. And Lubavitch will only work with other Orthodox groups when it suits their purposes. They have their own methods, their own goals, and they are mostly only interested in furthering them.
Recent case in point: I have a dear friend who is a Rav… a Mora D’Asra of a small Midwestern town. One of his closest friends was the Lubavitch Shaliach there. They worked together on some joint projects there and since they were just about the only Frum Jews in town, they became fast friends. Or so my friend thought. But then something happened. Baalei Baatim from a neighboring city wanted to set up a Yeshiva in this town. They enlisted my friend the Mora D'Asra to help. He enthusiastically agreed and started to help them raise funds.
Along came the Shaliach and tried to stop it. He claimed that this Yeshiva would take away from Lubavitch’s fundraising in that town. He begged, cajoled, and threatened my friend to try and get him to join forces and stop this Yeshiva from opening up! The friendship was suddenly over! They are now barely speaking to each other. The Yeshiva opened despite this Shaliach’s opposition and now this small town has a religious presence the likes of which it hasn’t seen since the days of the “Great Depression”, when newly arrived immigrants from Europe populated it.
This is what Lubavitch does. They are interested in furthering their own goals, lofty though they may me… and will utilize any and all methods to achieve them. And in this small Midwestern town the Lubavitch Shaliach used the Morah D’Asra in furtherance of his Chabad projects. But when he saw his turf being challenged by a Yeshiva which included his friend’s help, he quickly discarded that “friend”. There was no real friendship there. The Mora D’Asra was just a means to an end for this Shaliach. And now my dear friend, the Mora D’Asra of this small town, realizes that. He had indeed been naïve.
The time is long overdue for Lubavitch to re-think its position in Klal Yisroel. It is time for them to stop being so self centered … so Rebbe centered! They may be growing…. but what are they growing into?! The Rebbe is long gone. He died on June 12, 1994. It is long past time to act as though they realized that. Moshichism has to be forcefully rejected in totality. No more dancing around this issue with excuses, explanations, and apologetics. Instead of being admired for their successes, Lubavitchers are becoming at the very least the laughing stock… or worse to the rest of the Torah world.
Though forcefully rejecting Meshichism would be a very significant start, that alone would not be enough. They need to re-integrate themselves into the mainstream. They need to rejoin the rest of us by making a bold move… something along the lines of sending their children to our schools. They would not lose their identity by doing so. That’s how it used to be when I was growing up in the fifties and early sixties. Lubavitchers could be found in every day school, high school, Beis Yaakov, and Yeshiva. They were an integral part of the community then. There was interaction and cross fertilization then. Some of my Torah U’Mesorah day school teachers were Lubavitchers. We were on the same page. Back in those days I used to look at their dedication to Kiruv as a model for all of Jewry. How I admired them! They truly had… and continue to have… Ahavas Yisroel and considered every Jewish soul precious. Their kindness and caring is genuine when it comes to Kiruv and other Lubavitchers. And their successful Baalei Teshuva were all mainstreamed in those days. But no more. They are now Poresh Min HaTzibur.
The separateness has to stop. They have been Poresh long enough. It’s time for them to come to their senses and re-integrate. It is time for them to come home.
