Friday, April 03, 2009

With Friends like This…

The blog, Circus Tent is run by the son of an old Chicago acquaintance of mine. This blog is oriented to Lubavitchers. About a year ago when I was writing about some of the problems I saw with Lubavitch. He contacted me and we discussed the issues involved.

In the course of those private discussions we became friends and he revealed his identity to me. But now I am beginning to wonder just what this friendship really means. In a guest post on March 18th - I was viciously attacked. And the comments that followed were even worse.

It was quite revealing. I didn't know there was so much 'love and understanding’ by Lubavitchers about me. Except for one or two rather gallant defenders, almost every other comment was completely vile – far worse than the criticism I get even from my harshest critics.

Mr. 'Tzig' (alias of the blog-owner) allowed this drivel. How in heaven’s name does he justify it? Is that why he uses an alias? So that he can get away with it? Does that make writing - or allowing this kind of thing OK? Or is it the opposite? He does not think it’s OK and is hiding from the judgment of his fellow man.

Does he not realize that God knows who he is? Does he not consider the spiritual murder he is a party to by allowing those kinds of insults against a fellow Jew to be posted on his blog? I have never written one negative word about him nor would I even consider allowing others to do so. But he not only allowed the post - he allowed unbelievably nasty comments to be made.

I have not written anything negative about Lubavitch in many months since there has been nothing to write about. But that doesn't stop Mr. Tzig from approving a most hateful essay.I don't know where the writer gets all this hate comes from. It is certainly not universal. I Daven Shachris as the Shaliach Tzibur in a Lubavtich Shul every single weekday. And the people there are nothing but nice to me. And most of them have read all my criticisms.

Why all this hate on the part of Mr. Tzig and his readership? Is this a specific Lubavitch trait? Can someone explain it to me?