{"id":111616,"date":"2014-04-07T19:35:43","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T19:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?p=111616"},"modified":"2014-04-07T19:35:43","modified_gmt":"2014-04-07T19:35:43","slug":"us-honoring-racist-rabbi","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/latest-news\/us-honoring-racist-rabbi\/","title":{"rendered":"Why is the US Honoring a Racist Rabbi?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alison Weir<\/strong>
\nRINF Alternative News<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

If things proceed normally, President Barak Obama will soon\u00a0proclaim<\/a>April 11, 2014 \u201cEducation and Sharing Day, U.S.A.\u201d Despite the innocuous name, this day honors the memory of a religious leader whose lesser-known teachings help fuel some of the most violent attacks against Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers and soldiers.<\/p>\n

The leader being honored on this day is Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, charismatic head of a mystical\/fundamentalist version of Judaism. Every year since 1978, a Presidential Proclamation, often accompanied by a\u00a0Congressional Resolution<\/a>\u00a0(the 1990 one had\u00a0219 sponsors<\/a>), has declared Schneerson\u2019s birthday an official national day of observance.<\/p>\n

Congress first passed a Resolution honoring Schneerson in\u00a01975<\/a>. Three years later\u00a0a Joint Congressional Resolution<\/a>\u00a0called on President Jimmy Carter to proclaim \u201cEducation Day, U.S.A.\u201d on the anniversary of Schneerson\u2019s birth. The idea was to set aside a day to honor both education and the alleged educational work of Schneerson and the religious sect he headed up.<\/p>\n

Carter, like Congress, dutifully obeyed the\u00a0Schneerson-initiated<\/a>resolution, as has every president since. \u00a0And some individual states are now enacting their own observances of Schneerson\u2019s birthday, withMinnesota<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Alabama<\/a>\u00a0leading the way.<\/p>\n

Schneerson and his movement are an extremely mixed bag.<\/p>\n

Schneerson has been praised widely for a public\u00a0persona<\/a>\u00a0and organization that emphasized \u201cdeep compassion and insight<\/a>,\u201d worked to bring many secular Jews \u201cback\u201d into the fold, created numerous schools around the world, and had\u00a0offered<\/a>, in the words of the Jewish Virtual Library, \u201csocial-service programs and humanitarian aid to all people, regardless of religious affiliation or background.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, there is also a less attractive underside often at odds with such public perceptions. And some of the more extreme parts of Schneerson\u2019s teachings \u2014 such as that Jews are a completely different species than non-Jews, and that non-Jews exist only to serve Jews \u2014 have been largely hidden, it appears, even from many who consider themselves his followers.<\/p>\n

As we will see, such views profoundly impact the lives of Palestinians living \u2014 and dying \u2014 under Israeli occupation and military invasions.<\/p>\n

Who was Rabbi Schneerson?<\/b><\/p>\n

Schneerson lived from 1902 to 1994 and oversaw the growth of what is now the\u00a0largest<\/a>\u00a0Jewish organization in the\u00a0world<\/a>. The religious movement he led is known as \u201cChabad-Lubavitch<\/a>,\u201d (sometimes just called \u201cLubavitch\u201d or \u201cChabad<\/a>,\u201d the name of its organizational arm). Schneerson was the seventh and final Lubavitcher \u201cRebbe\u201d (sacred leader). He is often simply called \u201cthe Rebbe.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded in the late 1700s and originally based in the Polish-Russian town of\u00a0Lubavitch<\/a>, it is the largest of about a dozen forms of \u201cHasidism,\u201d a version of Orthodox Judaism connected to mysticism, characterized by devotion to a dynastic leader, and whose adherents often wear distinctive clothing. (Spellings of these terms can vary; Hasid is also written as Hassid, Chasid, etc.)<\/p>\n

There is an extreme cult of personality focused on Schneerson himself. Some followers consider him the\u00a0Messiah<\/a>, and Schneerson himselfreportedly<\/a>\u00a0sometimes implied this was true. Some Lubavitch educators consider him divine, making such\u00a0claims<\/a>\u00a0as, \u201cthe Rebbe is actually \u2018the essence and being [of God] \u2026 he is without limits, capable of effecting anything, all-knowing and a proper object of worshipful prostration.\u201d<\/p>\n

While many secular Jews and Jews from\u00a0other denominations<\/a>\u00a0disagree with its actions and theology, Chabad-Lubavitch is generally acknowledged to be a\u00a0powerful force<\/a>\u00a0in Jewish life today. According to a 1994\u00a0New York Times<\/a><\/i>\u00a0report, it is \u201cone of the most influential and controversial forces in world Jewry.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are approximately 3,600\u00a0Chabad institutions<\/a>\u00a0in over 1,000 cities in 70 countries, and 200,000 adherents. Up to a million people attend Chabad services at least once a year. Numerous\u00a0campuses<\/a>\u00a0have such centers and the Chabad website\u00a0states<\/a>\u00a0that hundreds of thousands of children attend Chabad summer camps.<\/p>\n

According to the\u00a0Times<\/a>,<\/i>\u00a0Schneerson \u201cpresided over a religious empire that reached from the back streets of Brooklyn to the main streets of Israel and by 1990 was taking in an estimated $100 million a year in contributions.<\/p>\n

In the U.S., the\u00a0Times<\/i>\u00a0reports, Schneerson\u2019s \u201c\u2018mitzvah tanks\u2019 \u2014 converted campers that are rolling recruiting stations whose purpose is to draw Jews to the Lubavitch way \u2014 roamed streets from midtown Manhattan to Crown Heights. And the Lubavitchers\u2019 Brooklyn-based publishing house claimed to be the world\u2019s largest distributor of Jewish books.\u201d<\/p>\n

Non-Jewish souls \u2018satanic\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

While Chabad sometimes openly\u00a0teaches<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe soul of the Jew is different than the soul of the non-Jew,\u201d Schneerson\u2019s specific teachings on this subject are largely unknown.<\/p>\n

Quite likely very few Americans, both Jews and non-Jews, are aware of Schneerson\u2019s teachings about the alleged deep differences between them \u2014 and about how these teachings are applied in the West Bank and Gaza.<\/p>\n

Let us look at Schneerson\u2019s words, as quoted by two respected Jewish professors, Israel Shahak and Norton Mezvinsky, in their book\u00a0Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel<\/a><\/i>\u00a0(text available online\u00a0here<\/a>. This book, praised by Noam Chomsky, Edward Said, and many others is essential reading for anyone who truly wishes to understand modern day Israel-Palestine. (Brackets in the quotes below are in the translations by Shahak and Mezvinsky.)<\/p>\n

Some of Schneerson\u2019s rarely reported teachings:<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish person stems from the common expression: \u201cLet us differentiate.\u201d Thus, we do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. Rather, we have a case of \u201clet us differentiate\u201d between totally different species.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is what needs to be said about the body: the body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body of [members] of all nations of the world \u2026 The difference in the inner quality between Jews and non-Jews is \u201cso great that the bodies should be considered as completely different species.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAn even greater difference exists in regard to the soul. Two contrary types of soul exist, a non-Jewish soul comes from three satanic spheres, while the Jewish soul stems from holiness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs has been explained, an embryo is called a human being, because it has both body and soul. Thus, the difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish embryo can be understood.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026the general difference between Jews and non-Jews: A Jew was not created<\/p>\n

as a means for some [other] purpose; he himself is the purpose, since the substance of all [divine] emanations was created only to serve the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe important things are the Jews, because they do not exist for any [other] aim; they themselves are [the divine] aim.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entire creation [of a non-Jew] exists only for the sake of the Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people don\u2019t know about this aspect of Schneerson\u2019s teaching because, according to Shahak and Mezvinsky, such teachings are intentionally minimized, mistranslated, or\u00a0hidden entirely.<\/p>\n

For example, the quotes above were translated by the authors from a\u00a0book<\/a>\u00a0of Schneerson\u2019s recorded messages to followers that was published in Israel in 1965. Despite Schneerson\u2019s global importance and the fact that his world headquarters is in the U.S., there has never been an English translation of this volume.<\/p>\n

Shahak, an Israeli professor who was a survivor of the Nazi holocaust, writes that this lack of translation of an important work is not unusual, explaining that much critical information about Israel and some forms of Judaism is available only in Hebrew.<\/p>\n

He and co-author Mezvinsky, who was a Connecticut Distinguished University Professor who taught at Central Connecticut State University, write, \u201cThe great majority of the books on Judaism and Israel, published in English especially, falsify their subject matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Shahak and Mezvinsky, \u201cAlmost every moderately sophisticated Israeli Jew knows the facts about Israeli Jewish society that are described in this book. These facts, however, are unknown to most interested Jews and non-Jews outside Israel who do not know Hebrew and thus cannot read most of what Israeli Jews write about themselves in Hebrew.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Shahak\u2019s earlier book,\u00a0Jewish Religion, Jewish History<\/a>, he provides a number of examples. In one, he describes a 1962 book published in Israel in a bilingual edition. The Hebrew text was on one page, with the English translation on the facing page.<\/p>\n

Shahak\u00a0describes<\/a>\u00a0one set of facing pages in which the Hebrew text of a major Jewish code of laws contained a command to exterminate Jewish infidels: \u201cIt is a duty to exterminate them with one\u2019s own hands.\u201d The English version on the facing page softened it to \u201cIt is a duty to take active measures to destroy them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The Hebrew page then went on to name which \u201cinfidels\u201d must be exterminated, adding \u201cmay the name of the wicked rot.\u201d Among them was Jesus of Nazareth. The facing page with the English translation failed to tell any of this.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven more significant,\u201d Shahak reports, \u201cin spite of the wide circulation of this book among scholars in the English-speaking countries, not one of them has, as far as I know, protested against this glaring deception.\u201d<\/p>\n

Praised by Said, Chomsky, etc., Shahak is almost unknown today<\/b><\/p>\n

This pattern of selective omission, it seems, applies to Shahak himself, whose work is largely unknown to Palestine activists today, even though he was considered a major figure in the struggle against Israeli oppression of Palestinians, and his work was praised by\u00a0diverse writers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While Shahak was alive, Noam Chomsky called him \u201can outstanding scholar,\u201d and said he had \u201cremarkable insight and depth of knowledge. His work is informed and penetrating, a contribution of great value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edward Said wrote, \u201cShahak is a very brave man who should be honored for his services to humanity \u2026 One of the most remarkable individuals in the contemporary Middle East.\u201d Said wrote a forward for Shahak\u2019sJewish History, Jewish Religion<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Catholic New Times<\/i>\u00a0said: \u2018This is a remarkable book \u2026[It] deserves a wide readership, not only among Jews, but among Christians who seek a fuller understanding both of historical Judaism and of modern-day Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewish Socialist<\/i>\u00a0stated: \u201cAnyone who wants to change the Jewish community so that it stops siding with the forces of reaction should read this book.\u201d<\/p>\n

The\u00a0London Review of Books<\/i>\u00a0called Shahak\u2019s book \u201cremarkable, powerful, and provocative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, very few Americans today know of Shahak\u2019s work and the information it contains.<\/p>\n

American tax money &\u00a0<\/b>Jewish Extremism in Palestine<\/b><\/p>\n

If they did, it\u2019s hard to believe that Americans would allow\u00a0$8.5 million per day<\/a>\u00a0of their tax money to be given to Israel, where such teachings underlie a powerful minority that is disproportionately influential in governmental actions.<\/p>\n

Nor is it likely that a fully informed American public would allow donations to religious institutions in Israel that teach supremacist, sometimes violent doctrines to be tax-deductible in the U.S.<\/p>\n

One organization raised over\u00a0$10 million tax-deductible dollars<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. in 2011 alone \u2014 removing money from the U.S. economy and enabling illegal, aggressive Israeli settlements in Palestine. And some of this money went to benefit individuals convicted of murder \u2014 including the murderer of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0New York Times obituary on Schneerson<\/i>\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0that Schneerson was \u201ca major political force in Israel, both in the Knesset and among the electorate,\u201d but failed to describe the nature of his impact.<\/p>\n

One of a sprinkling of writers willing to publicly discuss Shahak and Mezvinsky\u2019s findings is Allan Brownfeld, who is less reticent. Brownfeld is editor of the American Council for Judaism\u2019s periodical\u00a0Issues<\/i>\u00a0and contributor to the\u00a0Washington Report on Middle East Affairs<\/i>.<\/p>\n

In a\u00a0review<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel<\/a><\/i>, Brownfeld describes Schneerson\u2019s views on Israel:<\/p>\n

\u201cRabbi Schneerson always supported Israeli wars and opposed any retreat. In 1974 he strongly opposed the Israeli withdrawal from the Suez area. He promised Israel divine favors if it persisted in occupying the land.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Brownfeld reports that after Schneerson\u2019s death, \u201c[T]housands of his Israeli followers played an important role in the election victory of Binyamin\u00a0Netanyahu<\/a>. Among the religious settlers in the occupied territories, the Chabad Hassids constitute one of the most extreme groups. Baruch Goldstein, the mass murderer of Palestinians, was one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Another such Chabad Hassid is Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburg (also sometimes written as \u201cGinzburg\u201d and \u201cGinsburgh\u201d), who studied under Schneerson in Crown Heights and who heads up a major Chabad institution in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Ginsburg praised Goldstein, the murderer of 29 Palestinians while they were praying, and considers all non-Jews subhuman.<\/p>\n

According to author Motti Inbari, Ginsburg \u201cgives prominence to Halachic and Kabbalistic approaches that emphasize the distinction between Jew and non-Jew (Gentile), imposing a clear separation and hierarchy in this respect.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his book\u00a0Jewish Fundamentalism and the Temple Mount: Who Will Build the Third Temple?<\/a><\/i>\u00a0Inbari states, \u201c[Ginsburg] claims that while the Jews are the Chosen People and were created in God\u2019s image, the Gentiles do not have this status and are effectively considered subhuman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor\u00a0Inbari<\/a>, an Israeli academic who now teaches in the U.S., writes that Ginsburg\u2019s theological approach continues \u201ccertain perceptions that were popular in medieval times.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example,\u201d Inbari writes, \u201cthe commandment \u2018You shall not murder\u2019 does not apply to the killing of a Gentile, since \u2018you shall not murder\u2019 relates to the murder of a human, while for him the Gentiles do not constitute humans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inbari reports, \u201cSimilarly, Ginzburg stated that, on the theoretical level, if a Jew requires a liver transplant to survive, it would be permissible to seize a Gentile and take their liver forcefully.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the mainstream American press almost never reports this kind of information, an April 26, 1996\u00a0article in\u00a0Jewish Week<\/i><\/a>\u00a0by Lawrence Cohler reported on Ginsburg\u2019s teachings, including their problematic roots in Jewish texts.<\/p>\n

Cohler reported that a professor of Bible at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Rabbi Moshe Greenberg, \u201ccalled for radically revising Jewish thinking about some Jewish texts on the grounds that scholars such as Rabbi Ginsburgh are far from aberrant in their use of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cohler quoted Greenberg\u2019s concerns: \u201c\u2018There\u2019ll be a statement in Talmud\u2026 made in circumstances where it\u2019s purely theoretical, because Jews then never had the power to do it,\u2019 he explained. And now, he said, \u2018It\u2019s carried over into circumstances where Jews have a state and are empowered.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

A rabbi associated with Ginsburg coauthored a notorious Israeli book,The King\u2019s Torah<\/a><\/i>, which claims that Jewish law at times permits the killing of\u00a0non-Jewish infants<\/a>. American donations to the Chabad school Ginsburg heads up, and that published the above book, are\u00a0tax-deductible<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S. Ginsburg, who endorses the book, teaches classes throughout Israel, the U.S. and France.<\/p>\n

Such extremism is opposed by the majority of Israelis, and major Jewish religious authorities condemn it, a Chief Rabbi, for example,\u00a0stating<\/a>: \u201c\u2019According to the Torah, every man is created in God\u2019s image.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, such extremist views continue to exert a\u00a0powerful influence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Israeli military manuals echo extremist teachings: \u201ckill even good civilians\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Israeli military manuals sometimes replicate extremist teachings. For example, a booklet authored by a Chief Chaplain stated, \u201cIn war, when our forces storm the enemy, they are allowed and even enjoined by the Halakhah to kill even good civilians\u2026\u201d Such teachings by the\u00a0IDF rabbinate<\/a>\u00a0were prominent during Israel\u2019s\u00a02008-9 attack<\/a>\u00a0on Gaza that killed 1,400 Gazans, approximately half of them\u00a0civilians<\/a>. (The Palestinian resistance killed nine Israelis during this \u201cwar.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Chicago writer Stephen Lendman has\u00a0described<\/a>\u00a0these teachings, giving a number of examples.<\/p>\n

Lendman writes, \u201cIn 2007, Israel\u2019s former chief rabbi, Mordechai Elyahu, called for the Israeli army to mass-murder Palestinians:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they don\u2019t stop after we kill 100, then we must kill 1000. And if they don\u2019t stop after 1000, then we must kill 10,000. If they still don\u2019t stop we must kill 100,000. Even a million.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lendman reports that some extremist Israeli rabbis teach that \u201cthe ten commandments don\u2019t apply to non-Jews. So killing them in defending the homeland is acceptable, and according to the chairman of the Jewish Rabbinic Council:<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018There is no such thing as enemy civilians in war time. The law of our Torah is to have mercy on our soldiers and to save them\u2026. A thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew\u2019s fingernail.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lendman writes, \u201cRabbi David Batsri called Arabs \u2018a blight, a devil, a disaster\u2026. donkeys, and we have to ask ourselves why God didn\u2019t create them to walk on all fours. Well, the answer is that they are needed to build and clean.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another such rabbi is Manis Friedman, a Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi inspired by Schneerson who served as the simultaneous\u00a0translator<\/a>\u00a0for a series of Schneerson\u2019s talks. (Friedman is currently dean of a Jewish Studies\u00a0institute<\/a>\u00a0in Minnesota.)<\/p>\n

A 2009 article in the Israeli newspaper\u00a0Ha\u2019aretz<\/i>\u00a0reports, \u201cLike the best Chabad-Lubavitch rabbis, Manis Friedman has won the hearts of many unaffiliated Jews with his charismatic talks about love and God; it was Friedman who helped lead Bob Dylan into a relationship with Chabad.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Friedman, who today travels the country as a Chabad speaker, showed a less warm and cuddly side when he was asked how he thinks Jews should treat their Arab neighbors.\u201d<\/p>\n

In\u00a0Moment<\/i>\u00a0magazine\u2019s article, \u201cAsk the Rabbis \/\/ How Should Jews Treat Their Arab Neighbors?<\/a>\u201d Friedman answered:<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t believe in western morality, i.e. don\u2019t kill civilians or children, don\u2019t destroy holy sites, don\u2019t fight during holiday seasons, don\u2019t bomb cemeteries, don\u2019t shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle).\u201d<\/p>\n

Lendman reports, \u201cViews like these aren\u2019t exceptions. Though a minority, they proliferate throughout Israeli society\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

They also, Lendman notes, work to prevent peace in Israel-Palestine.<\/p>\n

Shahak and Mezvinsky note that when the book containing Schneerson\u2019s statements quoted above about Jews and non-Jews was published in Israel, he was allied to the Labor Party and his movement had been provided \u201cmany important benefits\u201d from the Israeli government.<\/p>\n

In the mid-1970s Schneerson decided that the Labor Party was too moderate and shifted his support to the more right-wing parties in power today. The authors report, \u201cAriel Sharon was the Rebbe\u2019s favorite Israeli senior politician. Sharon in turn praised the Rebbe publicly and delivered a moving speech about him in the Knesset after the Rebbe\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roots in Some Early Texts<\/b><\/p>\n

Brownfeld decries the fact that few Americans are properly informed about the fundamentalist movement in Israel \u201cand the theology upon which it is based.\u201d<\/p>\n

He notes that Jewish Americans, in particular, are often unaware of the \u201cnarrow ethnocentrism which is promoted by the movement\u2019s leading rabbis, or of the traditional Jewish sources they are able to call upon in drawing clear distinctions between the moral obligations owed to Jews and non-Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Teachings that Jews are superior and gentiles inferior were contained in some of the earliest Hassidic texts, including its classic text, \u201cTanya<\/a>,\u201d still taught today.<\/p>\n

Brownfeld quotes statements by \u201cthe revered father of the messianic tendency of Jewish fundamentalism,\u201d Rabbi Kook the Elder, and states that these were derived from earlier texts. [Kook, incidentally, was also an early\u00a0Zionist<\/a>, who helped push for the Balfour Declaration in England before moving to Palestine. He was the uncle of Hillel Kook, an agent who went by the name \u201cPeter Bergson\u201d and created front groups in the U.S. for a violent Zionist guerilla group that operated in 1930s and ’40s Palestine.]<\/p>\n

Brownfeld quotes Kook: \u201cThe difference between a Jewish soul and souls of non-Jews\u2013all of them in all different levels\u2013is greater and deeper than the difference between a human soul and the souls of cattle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brownfeld explains that Kook\u2019s teaching, which he says is followed by leaders of the settler movement in the occupied West Bank, \u201cis based upon the Lurianic Cabbala, the school of Jewish mysticism that dominated Judaism from the late 16th to the early 19th century.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahak and Mezvinsky\u00a0state<\/a>, \u201cOne of the basic tenets of the Lurianic Cabbala is the absolute superiority of the Jewish soul and body over the non-Jewish soul and body. According to the Lurianic Cabbala, the world was created solely for the sake of Jews; the existence of non-Jews was subsidiary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, Shahak and Mezvinsky report that this aspect is often covered up in English-language discussions. Scholarly authors of books about Jewish mysticism and the Lurianic Cabbala, they\u00a0write<\/a>, have frequently \u201cwillfully omitted reference to such ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahak and Mezvinsky write that it is essential to understand these beliefs in order to understand the current situation in the West Bank, where many of the most militant West Bank settlers are motivated by religious ideologies in which every non-Jew is\u00a0seen<\/a>\u00a0as \u201cthe earthly embodiment\u201d of Satan, and according to the Halacha (Jewish law), the term \u2018human beings\u2019<\/a>\u00a0refers solely to Jews.\u201d<\/p>\n

Israeli author and former chief of Israeli military intelligence Yehoshafat Harkabi touches on this in his 1988 book\u00a0Israel\u2019s Fateful Hour<\/a><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Harkabi writes that while such extremist beliefs are not \u201cwidely dominant,\u201d the reality is that \u201cnationalistic religious extremists are by no means a lunatic fringe; many are respected men whose words are widely heeded.\u201d<\/p>\n

He reports that the campus rabbi of a major Israeli university published an article in the student newspaper entitled \u201cThe Commandment of Genocide in the Torah,\u201d in which he implied that those who have a quarrel with Jews \u201cought to be destroyed, children and all.\u201d Harkabi writes that a book by another rabbi \u201cexplained that the killing of a non-Jew is not considered murder.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brownfeld writes, \u201cAlthough messianic fundamentalists constitute a relatively small portion of the Israeli population [most Israeli settlers are motivated by the subsidized lifestyle US tax money to Israel provides], their political influence has been growing. If they have contempt for non-Jews, their hatred for Jews who oppose their views is even greater.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brownfeld cites the murder of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who had started to make peace with the Palestinians, writing that it was just one \u201cin a long line of murders of Jews who followed a path different from that ordained by rabbinic authorities.\u201d Brownfeld reports that Shahak and Mezvinsky \u201ccite case after case, from the Middle Ages until the 19th century.\u201d<\/p>\n

The authors report, \u201cIt was usual in some Hasidic circles until the last quarter of the nineteenth century to attack and often to murder Jews who had reform religious tendencies\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

They\u00a0quote\u00a0<\/a>a long article by Israeli writer Rami Rosen, \u201cHistory of a Denial,\u201d published by\u00a0Ha\u2019aretz Magazine<\/i>\u00a0in 1996. This article, which cannot be found online, at least in English, is also cited in the\u00a0book<\/a>Brother Against Brother: Violence and Extremism in Israeli Politics from Altalena to the Rabin Assassination<\/i>, by Israeli professor\u00a0Ehud Sprinzak<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In his\u00a0Ha\u2019aretz<\/i>\u00a0article Rosen reported: \u201cA check of main facts of the [Jewish] historiography of the last 1500 years shows that the picture is different from the one previously shown to us. It includes massacres of Christians; mock repetitions of the crucifixion of Jesus that usually took place on Purim; cruel murders within the family; liquidation of informers, often done for religious reasons by secret rabbinical courts, which issued a sentence of \u2018pursuer\u2019 and appointed secret executioners; assassinations of adulterous women in synagogues and\/or the cutting of their noses by command of the rabbis.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Rosen\u2019s article may seem shocking, in reality, it simply shows that members of the Jewish population, like members of Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and diverse other populations, have at times committed atrocities, sometimes allegedly in the name of their religion. The difference, as Shahak and Mezvinsky point out, is that such information is largely covered up in the U.S. Such cover-ups, however, don\u2019t make facts go away. They merely bury them, where they smolder and at times eventually lead to exaggerated perceptions.<\/p>\n

U.S. media rarely report that some extremist Israeli\u00a0settlers<\/a>\u00a0are intensely hostile to Christians, and in one instance\u00a0threatened<\/a>\u00a0peace activists who came to the West Bank to participate in nonviolent demonstrations, \u201cWe killed Jesus and we\u2019ll kill you, too.\u201d There is also a record of official hostility. For example, a few years ago an Israeli mayor ordered all\u00a0New Testaments<\/i>\u00a0to be rounded up and\u00a0burned<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Schneerson\u2019s \u201cschools\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

While Schneerson is honored on national \u201cEducation\u201d days, the reality is that the elementary schools he created often failed to teach children \u201cbasic reading, writing, spelling, math, science and history,\u201d according to a graduate.<\/p>\n

In his article \u201cNational Education Day and the Education I Never Had<\/a>,\u201d Chaim Levin reports on his experience at the Chabad school \u201cOholei Torah\u201d (Educational Institute Oholei Menachem) in Crown Heights, New York \u2014 the site of Chabad\u2019s world headquarters:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have profound respect for the late Rebbe and his legacy. However, I remember very clearly those talks that [Schneerson] gave \u2014 the ones we studied every year in elementary school about the unimportance of \u2018secular\u2019 (non-religious, formal) education, and the great importance of only studying limmudei kodesh (holy studies). As a result of this attitude, thousands of students were not taught anything other than the Bible throughout our years attending Chabad institutions.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The goal of such schools, Levin writes, was to produce \u201cschluchim,\u201d missionaries who would promote Chabad all over the world.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, he notes, \u201cFailure to provide basic formal education cripples children within Chabad communities. We cannot ignore the harm done\u2026\u201d Levin writes, \u201cUntil this day, Oholei Torah and many other Chabad schools \u2013 particularly schools for boys and a few for girls in Crown Heights and in some other places \u2013 do not provide basic formal education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Education and Sharing Day 2014<\/b><\/p>\n

In his 2000 article, Brownfeld writes that Shahak and Mezvinsky\u2019s book should be \u201ca wake-up call \u201cto Americans, particularly Jewish supporters of Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fourteen years later, however, very few people are aware of these books and their powerful information, and U.S. tax money continues to flow to Israel. The main author, Israel Shahak, is now dead, as is Edward Said; Noam Chomsky rarely, if ever, mentions him; and Shahak\u2019s co-author, Norton Mezvinsky (uncle of Chelsea Clinton\u2019s\u00a0husband<\/a>), is a member of aLubavitch<\/a>\u00a0congregation in New York.<\/p>\n

In many ways, little seems to have changed since 1994, when Congressmen Charles Schumer, Newt Gingrich, and others introduced legislation to bestow on Schneerson the Congressional Gold Medal. The bill passed both Houses by unanimous consent, honoring Schneerson for his \u201coutstanding and lasting contributions toward improvements in world education, morality, and acts of charity.\u201d<\/p>\n

And in two weeks, Americans will be officially called on to observe a day that honors Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and the Lubavitcher movement.<\/p>\n

That is, unless masses of people\u00a0contact<\/a>\u00a0their Congressional representatives to demand a whole new direction: a \u201cNational Education and Sharing Day\u201d that honors an individual who values education, and who believes that all people \u2014 in the words of the\u00a0Declaration of Independence<\/a><\/i>\u00a0\u2014 are created equal.<\/p>\n

Alison Weir<\/strong>\u00a0is executive director of\u00a0If Americans Knew<\/a>\u00a0and president of the\u00a0Council for the National Interest<\/a>. Her book,\u00a0Against Our Better Judgment: How the U.S. was used to create Israel<\/a>, contains additional information on Rabbi Kook\u2019s family connection to American front groups for Israeli terrorists. (Kook was unusual in his support for political Zionism; most Jewish religious leaders at the time considered the movement heretical). Weir is\u00a0NOT the British historian<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alison Weir RINF Alternative News If things proceed normally, President Barak Obama will soon\u00a0proclaimApril 11, 2014 \u201cEducation and Sharing Day, U.S.A.\u201d Despite the innocuous name, this day honors the memory of a religious leader whose lesser-known teachings help fuel some of the most violent attacks against Palestinians by extremist Israeli settlers and soldiers. The leader […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-111616","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111616"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111616\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}