Exclusive: Haredi Group To Open Missionary Center And Kollel At Auschwitz

Like the Carmelite nuns before them, a haredi group is opening a kollel (advanced yeshiva) and kiruv (often deceptive outreach, intra-Jewish-community missionary) center across from the Auschwitz death camp. But unlike the nuns, these haredi rabbis will be directly preying on the children of secular and non-Orthodox Jews who come to Auschwitz – a site sanctified through the blood and smoke and ashes of the millions who were murdered there.

Haredi kiruv groups – like, for example, Aish HaTorah, who sent the email posted immediately below to its email list, use often deceptive tactics to manipulate vulnerable non-haredi Jews into becoming haredi.

The group's fundraising email. Please click to enlarge:

The group's website does not use the word  "kiruv." Please click to enlarge:

A Google site search of the Auschwitz kiruv center's website looking for the work "kiruv." It does not appear anywhere on the site. Please click to enlarge:

[Hat Tip: DK.]

Comments

[rebitzman - $101 to read my posts]

Praying - preying....... So what's an "e"?

[Reese]

They are not going to pick up too many converts there. Most of the young people come with escorted groups.

[Yochanan Lavie]

A non-denominational synagogue would be appropriate; equipped with a torah, a moveable mechitza (for those who want it), chumashim, and siddurim from Reform,Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionism.

I have nothing against people saying "Please consider Orthodoxy," but to do it in such a setting is emotional blackmail and totally inappropriate.

[londonjim]

Shmarya, what are the "deceptive" and "manipulative" tactics you attribute to Aish HaTorah? Also what makes Aish HaTorah haredi as such?

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

YL -
Non-denominational synagogue? What have you been drinking and/or smoking, to even consider that a possibility?

[rocky]

My relatives were murdered in September or October of 1942 in Galicia, based on all of the Yad Vashem and other reports I have read, most likely by the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing squads). 1942 was the peak year of Jewish killings and deportations in Nazi occupied Europe. In fact by 1944, the only large Jewish population left in Nazi occupied Europe was in Hungary. The Warsaw ghetto uprising took place in April and May of 1943, when the Jewish population in the ghetto was down to about 70,000.

It is unfortunate that any religious group would use Auschwitz as a fundraiser or to gain adherents. Let the dead rest in peace.

[Steven Wolf]

I can not understand how anyone, could think of building, on that site a structure which promotes any ideology. as far as I am concerned ether the horrors should talk for themselves, or the site should be abandoned and left to decay.

[Abracadabra]

It's actually a brilliant move from a missionary standpoint. Auschwitz leaves people emotionally vulnerable which is a perfect time for Aish or another kiruv organization to jump in and try to push their agenda. Their message is that they - Orthodox, and specifically Hareidi Judaism - can ease that pain, fill that void and give meaning to the death and horror experienced at Auschwitz. For Jews Auschwitz can bring up survivor guilt. So many of us Jews perished, but my relatives did not. What does it mean? Why did our family, our grandparents survive? As a Jew, what does this mean for me in my own life. People are looking for meaning, and Aish is going to jump in and try to give their answers as "the" answer, and try to sell their brand of Judaism as a way to honor those killed for being Jews. It tugs on people's heartstrings, and I would guess that Aish will be highly successful in that place where people are raw, emotional, looking for something to fill the void, and looking for "Jewish meaning."

Auschwitz, Hitler and the Holocaust put the snowballing Jewish exodus from Orthodoxy on hold for almost a century. Before WW2 religious Jews were leaving Orthodoxy en masse. But after the Holocaust, the survivors and most of world Jewery were hell-bent on not just "surviving" but on building Jewish identity. There was meaning and purpose in retaining one's Orthodox lifestyle and even intensifying it after all that Jews went through, after almost being obliterated. Jewish pride soared. And most children of survivors didn't have the heart to even consider leaving Orthodoxy after their parents had suffered so much. There was meaning in building Orthodoxy simply to defy Hitler and the Holocaust. The same applied to grandchildren of survivors who grew up knowing their grandparents and what they went through.

But all that is fading now. There are very few survivors left. The new generations don't have memories of their relatives who were survivors. The new generations are now going "Off the Derech" in very large percentages, and I believe that is partly due to the lack of the weight of the Holocaust on their shoulders. And make no mistake - it was a big weight. Ask any psychologist who is familiar with it.

Aish will probably be successful at attracting a large number of people in this location. But there is something very "low" about their doing this. Swooping in when people are at a weak point, to push their agenda and sell their wares. Even if Aish believes they are doing God's work - there is still something very unsettling about it. They are preying on those who are at a low point and who are emotionally weakened by the experience of visiting Auschwitz.

Perhaps some people will see that they are being preyed upon. But more than likely people will welcome the opportunity to ease the pain and fill the void with Aish's pre-packaged brand of "Jewish meaning."

[Abracadabra]

And if nothing else, it will be a great fundraiser for Aish. They solicit funds at Auschwitz in memory of a family member who may have been one of the 6-million. They are going to use this location to raise funds and will be very successful at fundraising in this location for the reasons mentioned above.

Here is some of their text on getting Auschwitz-inspired donations:

"The memory of your loved one can be perpetuated and can live on through prayer and study sessions that may be held on your family’s behalf."

Here is their Auschwitz fundraising page:

http://www.ajmemorial.com/dedication/

[Yochanan Lavie]

YL -
Non-denominational synagogue? What have you been drinking and/or smoking, to even consider that a possibility?

Posted by: Office of the Chief Rabbi | January 28, 2014 at 08:13 PM

There used to be one at JFK airport. They exist on college campuses and other places that are quasi-public and serve a mixed Jewish population, such as military bases and some hospitals. As Herzl wrote: "If you will it, it need not be a dream."

[js36]

I see nothing wrong with this as long as it is not shoved upon the visitor. Aish has a lot of very interesting programming that can give meaning to people grappling with the holocaust. Giving out a flyer inviting a visitor to attend some courses on Judaism is very appropriate. This is because Jewish continuity depends on Torah learning amongst other things and this would be a great way to counter what Hitler had tried to do. This does not exclude any other Jewish group from trying the same thing.

[Allan]

Manny - Shneerson was a delusional false messiah - a FAILED MESSIAH. Perhaps you hadn't noticed the name of this blog ? You picked the wrong site to peddle your chabad messianic BS - we're not buying here. Furthermore, your false messiah is dead, dead, dead - and not coming back.

[FlatEarth]

Manny - kind of like sitting in the pumpkin patch waiting for the Great Pumpkin?

[jay613]

the project is not aish. aish sent it to a mailing list as they send many initiatives.

Chassidim are trying to build kollelim, mikvaos and other aspects of kedusha in places where kedoshim died.

[Allan]

Don’t you just love the chabad version of bringing evidence in a debate ?
Rabbi Chaim Vital says… Rashi says… Rabbi Chaim Medini says… The Ben Ish Chai says… The Zohar says…Abarbanel says…the Rebbe says…The Talmud teaches…

Who cares what they say or teach ? This is a called an “Argument from authority” and it is worthless outside the yeshiva world. You cannot mekarev educated Jews by such arguments. The world outside your yeshiva doors does not automatically accept the “greatness” or infallibility of your rabbis and their text. The fact that they agreed on something, proves nothing except that they all could have been equally wrong. Wasn’t Rabbi Akiva proven wrong in identifying Bar Kochba as the messiah ?

I respect your right to believe that moshiach will come and he will come from the dead, but this is a belief based on emunah – faith – and nothing more.

[dapper danny]

Hey Manny. Try thinking for yourself and give up believing in fairy tales. Moshiach ain't coming.

[BeenThereDoneThat]

Hi Manny, if what you say it correct, then why are you not following Jesus?

He fits your criteria to a T.

[JekyllJacobson]

Allan
Why all the anger?