\ 1 ~'t)? ------_.-. -----_. Charedi Rabbis Rush ToDisavow Anti-Gentile Book Csoln (0 C~,\l'~ g, \UX\ "ADLER Rabbi Aryen Malkiel Kotler. J~wISII thullght
t~j .In!~1 'I Ilvut-:. p\l~JI!'1ih..:d I" l Iebrcw prucucc In p: oviding approbations 10 ex.ilrauon above those who exhibit the basic ethical Charedi Rabbis Disavow Book and moral behavior encapsulated in the "Seven Laws of Noah" -had tha •• LAKEWOOD 1'.16" I "It is a book by someone who has don to Zionism's advocacy of Jewish same access to personal salva non as ,;:tcn,c, Udylon~ ,cramble during national se lf- assertion and se lf- fully observant Jews, This view was ,'uth the: .vnuDefarna non League obviously taken leave of his senses and adopted the kind of racism that defense, which he views as an irnita- summed up in the 12th century by .",,' lhe ch ance llor 01 Yeshiva Uru- 1,,<1Sused against Jews since the tion of "gentile ways," the Torah Moses Maimonides, arguably the ,c: \It J ,(jr.J"r~neu t n e book. arid begiruung oi nrne," said Larnrn, on" mandates that the Jews, while in most important Jewish sage of the ~,..: ..c : o.I! l.d:·i.1 Or:hodox comm nJ.1 oi Modern Orthodoxy's most .prorni- exile, should employ such means as past millennium, when he wrote in 'I)li;....:~m~n t r i e d to cun vm c e t h e n e n t leaders, "I almost feel like appeasement, deception, duplicity 'his code of Jewish law: "Anvone who !' .rw.rt u u o t Lv report ItS CXISlE:I1CL: cf f e rin g a conje'crur e that it was and even "bribery" in their dealing accepts the Seven Laws of Noah and U..r.ng t::e CUW"" vi the t!d), .i pop' with gentiles, so as to avoid their ,is careful to observe them is one of __~: :)uukst'Jrt.: tn the hc.ivilv Ortho- wrirten by an antisemite posing as a rabbi." wrath. the righteous among the nations oi _.J.'- HI-H"J PJ.rk )t:"~t101! or B~ook.lvn Lamm added: "The passages that Grama's full-blown racialist theo- the world and he h:o.s:1 pcrtion in the '.v: :;-,,-, F,.'!',·.:':'j·d :hd,l It had J~st : 1:." C rc.i d rua n a g e d to r,rfer,d ries appear to br eal- ne-v ground, world :0 ccrr;e." ;,.c..:"d the book ul[ or the tables dl everyone - the Torah, the martyrs building on a handlul of hints of Critics complained that Grama's '..-.c" .Jdlhur's request. oj the Holocaust, the Jewish ideals national and racial chauvinism ceca- racial theories also conflicts with inc I".vnt!'U\'CrIiY ()\ ~r Cr~lmaJs of justice and the essential divinity sionally found in the writings of a ancient and medieval rabbinic rules ')1.0)1\. \.OI:h:~ u) tr:e yesi iv.r 1') ...:IU)I: 10 few earlier rabbinic figures, but mandating equa treatment in all "'CL!rl"'; ~500,OOO in f e det ul Iun ds that inheres in every human being regardless of religion, race or ethnic combining them into a racialist doc- realms for converts to Judaism, r It); d CioluCdu:)( libr arv I ~cL' a ccorn- origin." trine with no precedent in rabbinic Grama frequently quotes Biblical :iull~:il5 stcrv un Pa5~ 4). literature. To be sure, a minority verses that advocate terribly harsh L.I:;c!d"ntoil,., In his bo o k , In an effort to back up his argu- ments, Grama draws on an array of scream exists in the rabbinic tradi- rreatment of the pagan inhabitants ;r"::1~ a r gu e s t n at the Hulocaust racist sources ranging from tion - from the l kth- and l Zth-cen- 'of ancient Canaan, implying that the .\.J) o o t h .J d i vrn e p u n i s h m e n t medieval theological tracts to the rury Hebrew romantic poet Yehuda same standards ought to be applied .:..!.'!!!'>! tht: J...:'.\',\ [lit" •.t-i');rnddtlurt dlld Halevy to the 18th century chasidic ,to his nori-j e wi sh neighbors in .; •..•IJ PfUtJ[ 01 tnl: ·tn.l: 1\.t(U!\,.' ..u rd wr itings of Friedrich Nietzsche to dl~ works of Nazi figures. Among sage Levi Yitzhak of Berditchev - America. By doing so, he appears to '.1 ••.1.. t.: ::11.:" l'll!!·It:\·'"bll \\1JI:11 lhc u'.~~r things, Grama argues: which sees the differences between disregard extensive rabbinic delib- . ,'J,..,") ~:::t.: .....J !d :h.: t : ~ln"\:dtL·d if! Jew and gentile as innate, rather erations dating back to the early 'el e re ! ',,,J,Y>, I"C:uJI115 "T'h e • The differences between Jews ~r;d gentiles are not religious, histor- than merely religious. Perhaps the medieval period whose general con- G,·"nddU' ui brad ,II:U the Issue O[ .cai, cultural or polincal. They are, most e~creme version of t~s view is sensus was that Christianity and Ex.le" ..l:\U " JC:h'1~h Superiorrrv and rather, racial, genetic and sciennfi- foun~ I.n the central text or Chabad Islam are licit, moncrheistic ianhs. :!1<:Quesuou ui Exile." . cally unalterable. The one group is chasidisrn, Tanya, whose author, The net result of these mcdieval rab- Gri!.J:l:Jdid not rerurn oJcall se ek- __Rabbt.Shn eur. Zalman.of .Lyadi~_._hiniLdelibe.tadons was ra link the ,:I~ '~0:·:r':c.'1:0n on .hrs pornt oind a: its very root and by natural con- suruuon "totally evil" while the Chabad's founder, maintained that application of such Biblical laws to ~::t:~\;;,.t=~UIJ:l' :,:"t>UUl rus polemic. ou.er is "rorally good." J ewish and ~entile souls are funda- ancient pagans. and to mandate thaI ~:, :'.;) oouk. Crum . ..1 wrue s "Th e mcu ca ll y d iff er e nt, the former Muslims and Christians could not b~ • J ewish successes in the world are .::I:~r""," berwe en till.: pt:upk O[ ".al~',I~e" an~ the latter "anirnalis- classified together with the idol·wor; comj Ietely contingent upon the fail- lsrael and the narions oj the world IS tiC, [hat vIewpoInt has gaIned shippers of e;!rlier times, , ure of all other peoples. Only when ..!~1Lj~t:n[:a LOne The J~\V by his ground In recent dec~des, particu· When informed of Grama's argu· [he g~ntiles face wtal catastrophe ,u,,' Cl.:..Jnu In h:s v"ry essence is larly amon~ thinkers, , ment:, the ~ociate national direc: do the Jews experience good for· charecll, -) "::l:rel~ gooJ, The !!oy, by his source Rabbi Ylczhak Glnsbur&l:, who IS tor ot the Ann·Defamation League • lune. .•!It! in Ius \'dy ess'::l1ce IS (umpletl.:' conSIdered one of the leading Ideo- Kenneth Jacobson, described them • The Jews themselves brought -:' I.:1'Ii nus:s ,~"t Str:1ply ii mailer of logues of the Israeli Chabad move· as "pure racism," ';:Jo'~t their OWTldestruction during 'l: !~LOuSdlsllncllon, bu t rJther of ment, has wri,tten and spoken widely "It shows that we in our commun~ the Holocaust, since they arrogantly ""v Lorn~li:ll:ly u:r'ii:n,nt speCies." on the s~penonty of Jews and was ty are quite capable of the same kind elide;;. vored to overcome their very Crarna', explanauon O[ the Holo· brIefl~ ImprIsoned in Isr~el for of h~t~ed that exists in ocher cOrTlj essence, dictated by divine law, by ,,,,,st, as weU as his other theories, racIal lncltement. Y,,:c:d Ne eman, mwunes," Jacobson said, "We have l,;aving their ghettoes and crying to Jro::','" harsh C~IIl(!Sr:1 [rom Rabbi an Orthodox weekly in upstate New an obligation to reject hatred In our assimilate into Christian European \or::1<1.' L.L~1!TI,(hanC~l or O[ Yl:shl· York that is affiliated with one of community, just as we do wh"n it ,o(;i~ty, The confrontational ., I_'ru\'l::rslt.' and the rush huy.:shil'u Israel's main charedi dailies, has pub- comes OUt of other conununid~$," "PJlroach of the Zionists, their boy· vi It>aiiiliatl:d Sl:mt!larv Lamm sal(\ Ii shed essays on the question of cutt of Co::nTl :p:n~~'i1~~~~.1:i1~l~ i1,~i!)"1BW' i1~t7~l:\~.1Jl~l:\,1 l 7:] :n~rJ~Dnr}~W}J 7'~ ~~ 1~~~J! ~~ 1?7R~1-, t f r: : W'n~0- l~rJ 11?~ ""OrVY1}) ~il' - J•••• ;-< ...•nirJIDl ~.:~li"<. 1 O'liJ~ J :J~rJrJ 1T:11 il orix: :Y::-<0-i~ 1, 'J'i17K, 1?-1W~ 7i-1~ '1~-'}J 'J. :i1;T.i?Ji1~iJ '11iJ1rJJ} 1 .,~ "}Jl:1'~~1)~~ir7~::;llJ'67~ i11i1\~ "?'t< D'1"'P n 1')1IliJ 7JJ 0i?'1¥ O'~~o/~l o'j?n 1?-1\v~ S'rtl II f···"T" ~:t:pn~~ilFP? il1)~ 'Vi1i? tJ~ '~ :iV~~ 11~"'JWn 1 tJ'I~JJW'~'J~ il?~9 tJ~7 'i, ni~i;t7~pry"~ i11il'lI i6~ PiP-1J tJ'r;JJJ\r~Jl;l tJ~:;r:n~X" :il~1l' / ""w i"T~"W~ , ~.M~ ",n 'Q'~Q"'~n~M pO M"~~M.,~, ~ ili •'l:'~ ""'n 'Ml:' .MNt:''''N:1J"~Y jnVp , 'Ii1iV i"TN"~ N'~'Nt:' 1i'~'~ '?'JJ iY 'Y iYU~i1?' 071Yi1 ?::> 017iV ?:s7??~ni17 01N7 TJ)"'J) ?"i 1"JYi1 "jN1 (1' i1, O"i1n) i1":s7 1'" i~NT,V ,~::> O"P"'~ 7iV 1::>1' p' .O"inN -- •.••••."'t.. ,...,..,~t., ,..."•.._ . _ .._... __"..•••.. L __ .1 'imilarlv It ap"'p.ear..-. -~~t"--·~!.h . eQard to respect and honor and also, in - . , some at 10 r '" b h ld .esard to charity a resid t li . to be treated as a Jew for eo, we are '" 'en a ien IS . "[Y commanded to SUstain them as [Deuteronomy 14:211 states. . ou may n~t eat .ny a~irnal that has not been ro erly slaughtered ... ] give It to the resident alien in your gates that he ma/eaf it."78 Though our Sages counseled against repeating a greeting to them that statement applies to idolaters and not resident aliens.tv ' [However,] our Sages commanded us to visit the gentiles when ill, to bury their dead80 in addition to the Jewish dead,8) and support their poor In addition to the Jewish poor for the sake of peace.v Behold, [~salrns 1,~5:9] states: "God is good to all and His rpercies extend over all HIS wo~ks and [Proverbs 3: 17] states: "[The Torah's] ways are pleasant ways ~nd all ItS paths are peace."83 ~ Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits Yes, I do believe that the chosen people concept as affirmed by Judaism in its holy writ, its prayers, and its millennial tradition. In fact, I believe that every people-and indeed, in a more limited way, every individual-is "chosen" or destined for some distinct purpose in advancing the designs of Providence. Only, some fulfill their mission and others do not. Maybe the Greeks were chosen for their unique contributions to art and philosophy, the Romans for their pioneering services in law and government, the British for bringing parliamentary rule into the world, and the Americans for piloting democracy in a pluralistic society. The Jews were chosen by God to be 'peculiar unto Me' as the pioneers of religion and morality; that was and is their national purpose. ~i Dr. Norman Lamm The chosenness of Israel relates exclusively to its spiritual vocation embodied in the Torah; the doctrine, indeed, was announced at Sinai. Whenever it is mentioned in our liturgy-such as the blessing immediately preceding the Shema ....it is always related to Torah or Mitzvot (commandments). This spiritual vocation consists of two complementary functions, described as "Goy Kadosh", that of a holy nation, and "Mamlekhet Kohanim", that of a kingdom of priests. The first term denotes the development of communal separateness or differences in order to achieve a collective self-transcendence [...] The second term implies the Obligation of this brotherhood of the spiritual elite toward the rest of mankind; priesthood is defined by the prophets as fundamentally a teaching vocation.I"