WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
Posted on 06/22/2004 12:10:37 PM PDT by Alouette
If the non-Jewish public is even vaguely aware of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, it's probably because its annual telethon draws celebrities including Adam Sandler, Michael Douglas, James Caan, Whoopi Goldberg and Anthony Hopkins.
But within the Jewish world, this small branch of Judaism is generating outsized levels of interest — and concern.
On the one hand, Chabad — with its rigorous observance of Jewish law and rabbis in long beards and wide-brimmed black hats — has become an island of growth, innovation and success at a time of aging synagogue memberships and stagnant population elsewhere among American Jews.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I wish they would write an article like this about a successful evangelical church.
BTW my family are NOT "meshikhisten" (messianists)
WARNING: This is a high volume ping list
I knew that Adam Sandler was Jewish but I had no idea that he might be conservative, as many Lubavitchers are.
I can't decide what I think about this movement - in the past I've been in touch with the local Chabad in my area, and they are truly very nice, warm, welcoming people. I just couldn't get my head around viewing this Rabbi as the Messiah, so I ended up not being interested. Since then, though, I've read various articles giving different opinions of this movement - some go as far as to call it a cult, which I disagree with, but it may be true that by aiming to reach out to Jewish people who feel they are missing something they are targeting people who are most likely to jump at the chance to feel a part of Judaism again. THat was the case with me. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle on them - I'm just not sure where the line between outreach and opportunism is.
Chabad gets a lot of high-profile celebrities to participate in their telethon who are not observant or even Jewish.
I think the only Hollywood celeb (since "Dr. Laura" dropped out last year) who follows the faith is Jon Voight, a "Noachide." Can't say the same about his daughter, though.
They're the happiest Jews in New York, and possibly the world.
I've read Berger's book. There are widely varying estimates of the number and influence of the messianists in Chabad. What is your perspective?
That is not something my family believes in, and two of my sons married into very prominent Chabad families who repudiate this view.
I'm just not sure where the line between outreach and opportunism is.
Opportunism is when they keep pestering you for money.
I recall reading some years back that this group had built an exact replica of their shabby Brooklyn warehouse synagogue somewhere out in the Israeli desert, so that the Messiah (meaning Schneerson, of course) would feel "at home" when he returned. Sounded mighty kooky to me, albeit in a harmless way. But from this article it sounds as if the leadership of the group is very tolerant of its kookier subsets, so perhaps it was just one of those subsets, rather than top leadership, that was behind the warehouse replica project.
Why do you say that? I'm curious where that assertion comes from. I mean, I know lots of Jewish people, though certainly not enough to judge which lot is the happiest in any state.
Berger's book is an ugly hit piece written by a bitter, angry and jealous man. Sue Fishkoff's "The Rebbe's Army" is a much more objective and balanced book.
There are pockets of silly messianists in Crown Heights and Israel, but the shluchim and the movement's leadership have moved on.
In the LA Times article you will find a quote from Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky which exactly describes Alouette's opinion of the "messianists." BTW my son is married to Rabbi Krinsky's granddaughter.
Personal experience. I'm Jewish myself and familiar with a variety of Jewish communities. The Lubavitchers (sp) have none of the nagging self-doubt that is epidemic with the rest of us - they are confident and prosperous.
I do understand that there are many Chabad people and families who do not view him as the Messiah, but (and this is for me personally, not for anyone else) I have a problem with becoming a part of the movement when such emphasis is placed on that one man. It was something that made me feel uncomfortable.
Opportunism is when they keep pestering you for money.
true, but in a movement that is aimed at growing in size, seizing on a chance to gain new membership and new followers to this sect of Judaism could also be a form of opportunism.
I want to be really clear so I don't offend you or anyone else - I don't have a negative OR positive view on Chabad, though I have determined that it isn't right for me. But I do have some curiosities about it, and since this thread came up it seemed a good opportunity to discuess.
Boobkmarking to try to read the article later.
I have a Chabad Lubovitch (School? what do you call them) occupying what was the YWCA building at the entrance to my community. I've wondered who and what they were.
Anyone have a user logon to the latimes? Not sure I want to give them any "real" information.
i'm suspicious of any group in which there is no self-doubt. it's only through self-doubt that we find ways to improve ourselves. That said, I know what you are saying - there does seem to be a growing sense of unease among many other groups of Judaism, especially as the reform movement becomes increasingly liberal - leaves folks like me in a sort of a limbo.
Here is a different link to the article (courtesy of Google News): Judaism's Thriving Concern
They're unapologetically devout - that's their prerogative. I know of no antagonistic behavior from that group with respect to outsiders, which I find to be very unusual. I'm naturally skeptical myself, but I can't find fault with them.
He seemed pretty exercised, particularly about the fact that other Orthodox didn't take his concerns all that seriously. I read it with a healthy grain of salt.
There are pockets of silly messianists in Crown Heights and Israel, but the shluchim and the movement's leadership have moved on.
That seems a reasonable approach if the messianist "movement" is indeed waning rather than waxing. This is the kind of thing where you aren't likely to change people's minds. Better to let the passage of time take care of the problem.
I guess that's fairly well where I am as well - skeptical, but I've seen nothing that shows them to be anything but what they say they are. And one paragraph in the article sort of resonates - that critics of Chabad feel guilty themselves for their failure to follow even basic Jewish traditions and laws. I think there is a lot of that feeling of guilt, mixed with the desire to live "normally", to blend in, that sort of thing.
Maybe a group that makes you question your own level of observation is easier to ridicule than to face...
I don't know why CHaBa"D would have people like Whoopi Goldberg participate in their telethon, though. I mean, 'Aish I could understand, but not CHaBa"D.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.