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| Image for illustration purposes only (Rationalist Judaism) |
This might seem like a shocking statement. But I have no other way of interpreting what has become a recurring theme. The latest of which has been reported by Rabbi Natan Slifkin.
Apparently the Bobover Rebbe’s youngest son got married last night. I have no idea about the size of the event that eventually took place. But that is besides the point of the post. Which is that originally a massive wedding was planned to which thousands of his Chasidim were invited. Despite the fact that a highly contagious deadly pandemic is still plaguing the entire world.
That does not seem to matter to Chasidic leaders like the Bobover Rebbe. They ‘need’ to do what is always done by ‘Grand Rebbes’ at weddings of their children. What about the possible deadly consequences? I guess the Rebbe somehow doesn’t believe his Chasidim will get sick. Or if they do, they will get a mild case which they will easily overcome. Besides, he probably also believes that the fact that so many of them already had COVID - his community has achieved herd immunity. Which is of course scientific nonsense
I’ve heard variations on this theme so I am no longer surprised by such stupidity.
YES... I said STUPIDITY!
The idea of gathering thousands of men who will be standing indoors – literally shoulder to shoulder swaying and singing at the top of their lungs for hours at a time is the very definition of a super spreader. The possibility of some people in that crowd getting sick and dying from COVID is very real. it is more than likely that some people in that room will get it from asymptomatic attendees and then unintentionally pass it on to others who did not attend the wedding. The consequences of a wedding like this are frightening.
And yet, I have come to expect no less from Chasidic Rebbes with large flocks of Chasidim. Their state of denial is literally breathtaking.
Nebech, his Chasidim actually believe their Rebbe’s version of reality over the best medical advice available. Their mindset goes something like this: ‘Who should I believe?’ ‘Some Goy who is far from the Torah?’ ‘Or the holy Rebbe who has Ruach HaKodesh and understands reality based on direct inspiration from God!’
This is of course not the first time something like this has happened. And it has been addressed here before. But that is not the only troubling thing going on here. Equally troubling is the Rebbe’s attempt to deceive the authorities, telling their people how to do it, and telling them to keep their mouths shut.
If there is anything more damning than a Rebbe telling his Chasidim to mislead authorities who are only trying to save lives, I don’t know what is. This isn’t about some unscrupulous Chasid lying to the government on his own. It is their spiritual leader doing it, and asking them to join him in that deception!
It’s true that no government program is being defrauded here. And that no money will directly be stolen. But that isn’t the issue. The issue is that lying to the government is a perfectly kosher thing to do when it suits your purposes. A ‘value’ the Rebbe himself advocates.
According to Rabbi Slifkin, Bobov changed the invitation message once they were exposed. Which was revised to say that it will be a small wedding.
But the cat is out of the bag. When they thought they could get away with it, they were going to do it - as Rabbi Slifkin shows.
It is not insignificant that the Bobover Rebbe is widely known to be one of the kindest and most giving or Chasdic Rebbes. He has done a lot for his sizable community and is known to be Moser Nefesh - sacrifice his own life to help a fellow Jew. Hard to criticize someone like that.
And yet someone with a such a high bar for altruism thinks nothing about breaking a law designed to protect him and all those around him. And then try to deceive the government about it. It’s hard NOT to criticize someone for that.
That he has so much wide respect and admiration tends to ‘Kasher’ his advocacy for breaking the law and hiding it. Which makes it even more troubling. God forbid we end up paying a high price for this.
To me, there is no such thing as a half Tzadik. You can’t be altruistic on one thing while selfish on another. That makes absolutely no sense to me.
