OTBKB got a lot of great comments on her post about the Lubavitch guys on Seventh Avenue, who ask: "Are you Jewish?"
Back in the early ’70s, the Lubavitchers would have their
mitzvahmobile outside Hillel Gate at Brooklyn College every afternoon.
Those of us walking on or off campus used to try to come up with more
creative ways to deny our religious heritage when asked the "Are
you…" question than just doing the thing Nancy Reagan would later
advise.Some of the responses I remember best:
"Certainly not!"
"Are you making fun of my looks?"
"G-d forbid."
–posted by Richard
My friend (who shall remain unnamed,) who is Jewish and has no love
for the Lubavitchers, responds to the question "Are you Jewish?" with
"Yes, I am, but you’re not!"Posted by: chandru
Now Rabbi Bachman, the new rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim, weighs in on the debate on his own blog at Brooklyn Jews.
It’s
not every day you get to talk theology with your kids, but the usual
Festival nuisance of having Chabad missionize outside your home
provides just the right framework to talk about who is God and who
isn’t.Flatbush Avenue is enough of a cacaphony without
phoney Jewish music and the quick, alienating, shame-inducing question
“Excuse me, are you Jewish?” being added to the din of Central Brooklyn
aural ecology.“Yes, and no thanks,” is what my kids decided to
say when encountered by the Happy Warriors for the Resurrection of
Their Bearded Idol. A very polite response, and one to be proud of. I
on the other hand, stew at their presence. The whole premise makes me
nuts.There’s the theological affront: you shake lulav (if
you’re Jewish) you bring Messiah (who converts the rest of the world.)
It’s every bit as disdainful and reactionary as the Rightest of the
Christian Right, yet somehow, dressed as Tevye (which is an insult to
Sholem Aleichem) our hearts sing like a violin at the encounter. “How
nice that they’re getting Jews to perform mitzvot,” we blather on.
Yeah, yeah.Somehow it escapes us that they are allied with the
most intransigent settler forces in contemporary Israel; that
politically in the States they advocate not a broad Jewish communal
agenda but strictly their own; and in our own neighborhood, don’t play
ball with the whole team but field their own brand–even fighting among
themselves (right now, it’s the Prospect Heights Chabad v. the Park
Slope Chabad–more Jewish infighting, boys, well done! I guess Moshiach
isn’t here yet). So what’s a mensch to do: Chase down every last
unaffiliated Jew in order to bring a False Messiah. It is NOT to get
Jews to do more Mitzvot. It’s to bring their dead rabbi back to life
because he’s God. The greatest heresy there is.It would be
easy to ignore if, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, they quietly went about
their business. But they don’t. And it points to a great achilles heel
of the Jewish condition: we’re so alienated from Torah on our own terms
that we accept such agents on our behalf, even if there is at the very
core a heresy so great that none other than Moses’ burial place is not
known to this day.At a grave in Queens, the hopefuls daven
away for his return while the world burns. And the sentimental sounds
of a clarinet blare in my ear on my street corner, or maybe we’ll say
someone plays the fiddle while not just Rome but the whole world is in
flames.As Sukkot draws to a close, let me offer a prayer for a
Sane Judaism; for a Responsible Judaism; for a Humble Judaism; for a
Judaism concerned with humanity’s well-being; for a Judaism that
doesn’t ask, “Excuse me, are you Jewish?” but asks, “How can we work
together to bring peace to the world–you believing your God, me
believing my God–with both of us admitting that ultimately there is One
God–and he is not rising from a grave in Queens.
I once responded that I am not but that my husband is Jewish. The hunched man squinted his eyes, looked up at me from under the brim of his hat and said, “May I have your father-in-law’s phone number?”
Anyone who says “the fact that your ignorance” and “the nuance you emit” in consecutive sentences should be sent to a reform school for ignoramuses.
Oh, one more thing. “Tevye” was a character based on the real way Russian Jews dressed. The fact that your ignorant and obnoxious, is underlined by the nuance you emit, that you yourself imitate Western Christian mores and dress and worship. Throw it in already, install the pews, the stained glass, (you probably have it already) and deny Israel its right to be Jewish.
Dressed like Tevya????????? Talk about a self hating Jew. Do yourself a favor and close down your “synagogue.”
Too bad Rabbi Bachman generalizes chabad. yes indeed there are reactionary forces in chabad, but there are some incredibly progressive elements within chabad as well.
Yep, nice going, Rabbi Bachman, and unfortunately you play into the hands of the other movements –“just what one might expect from a PARK SLOPE RABBI.” A little more decorum and humility in your reply might not hurt. Or was this too “taken out of context” ?
While I am a non-Jew who through marriage identifies as reform and tries to live under the Noachide laws, I respect the faith of the Lubavitch and the power of their belief even though it is difficult for me to understand their anticipation of the return of the Rebbe…
I can understand that the Lubavitch would challenge the reform belief but for reform to publicly strike the first blow seems very bad form. Reform Jews need to be strong in their own faith without being panicked by the Lubavitch or Orthodox way.. This seems to be the public washing of too much linen.. And once again, we see that Blogging is not without risk…
Was this too “taken out of context”
“The Prospect heights Chabad v. the Park Slope Chabad…more Jewish infighting boys well done!”. This is just what Jews should not indulge in…thank you Rabbi Bachman for perpetuating more strife and hatred in the Jewish world…I think you can safely walk past the Chabad Lulav shakers… I personally know of people who have and survived. The hostility, lack of respect for Jewish diversity and negativity in you post is astounding.
Hey, how’s it goin everybody?
I was just coming across this blog, and as a Lubavitcher myself who, yes does the exact precedure you described, am very offended by this nonsense that this new-age so called rabbi writes about lubavitch, forget about Lubavitch, he is so ignorant just about Judaism, his words represent another religion, in fact, just the name of his “temple”, goes against Jewish law, and every time he says that name he goes against one of the foundations of Judaism (undeniably connected with the 3rd of the ten commandments) obviously him and people like him have their own version of judaism the artificial new age type where they just pick and chose what they like and what they dont and one of the sects which simply dont last (as proven throughout generations-the only ones who keep on the tradition are the observant)and according to the great sage Maimonidies (the Rambam) these people are heretics.
I can go on and on, but i dont have the time and patients and the moment to address all the isssues that this man brought up, i can hopefully do that at another opportunity, but it just irked me and hurt me so, when i came accross this that i just had to respond, so he should think that he will go unanswered and yes many Lubavitchers are very avid bloggers!!!
P.S.If “Rabbi” Bachman would like the fulfill one of G-d’s commandments AKA Mitzva’s eg;Tefilin, i (not a “Rabbi”) can/would gladly assist him!
May the merit of all the work that is done by the followers of the Rebbe, bring Moshiach (whomever he may be) NOW!
Thank you for letting me (if you will) voice my opinion!
finally. An explanation of why those people are asking us all that question that often makes us uncomfortable. So we don’t have to feel guilty for walking past them. And to think it has nothing to do with being jewish anyway. Thank you Rabbi for the explanation.