Chabad, 'Infallibility' Of Its Rebbes, And The Holocaust

An obituary on Chabad's official website again shows that Chabad has not come to grips with the bad behavior of its rebbe during WW2.

The 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn

Chabad.org writes about the recent death of 94-year-old Rabbi Mordechai Fisher, one of the first students of a Chabad yeshiva in America:

Mordechai Hakohen (or Mottel, as he was known) Fisher was born Nov. 7, 1919, in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn to Chaim and Taibel Fisher. His father, a tailor, was a religious Jew, though not a Chassid.

A spiritually sensitive young man, Fisher was influenced by Rabbi Yisroel Jacobson, a Chabad Chassid who had attracted a cadre of Jewish American-raised youngsters who were drawn to the Chabad Chassidic teachings and lifestyle.…

In the summer of 1939, Fisher and five other students sailed across the Atlantic to the Chabad-Lubavitch yeshivah in Otwock, Poland. There, they could be close to their spiritual leader, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe—Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, of righteous memory—and would be able to take part in listening to his scholarly discourses on Chabad philosophy, something they had heard much about from Jacobson.

But their time in Poland was short-lived; the Germans invaded the nation on Sept. 1. With the help of a representative of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, the students made their way to Riga, Latvia, and from there to Sweden and then to the United States.…

What Chabad does not tell you is that the parents of those five boys wrote the 6th Lubavitcher Rebbe Yop\sef Yitzchok Schneersohn with their fears that war was about to break out in Europe. Schneersohn responded by promising these parents that there would be no war.

Only days after their sons arrived in Ottwack, Poland (a suburb of Warsaw) to Chabad's international headquarters and yeshiva, the German's attacked. The yeshiva students watched in horror as the Jewish orphanage across the street suffered a direct hit from a German bomb. They say bodies and body parts of little Jewish children fly through the air.

Schneersohn abandoned his students and went into hiding.

Some students escaped with Fisher's group, some went to Shanghai with the Mir Yeshiva, and others were killed in Europe.

Jacobson, whose missionary activity lured Fisher to Chabad, chair the US Chabad-Lubavitch effort to rescue Schneersohn from the Nazis. He would appeal to an ex-Lubavitcher attorney for help. That attorney insisted Jacobson hire a Washington, DC attorney named Rhode. Rhode took the job and negotiated a deal with the US Government to save Schneersohn.

When resuced, Schneersohn asked the US to go into Poland and get his silver, his household goods and his books – but he never asked then to save another Jew, even though he already knew of Nazi anti-Jewish massacres and war crimes.

His two remaining daughters in Europe were both no longer fully observant and their husbands were either no longer hasidic or barely so.

His daughter Sheina and her husband Mendel died in a Nazi death camp.

His daughter Chaya Mushka and her husband Menachem Mendel eventually took one of the last passenger ships out of Europe. He later became the 7th Lubavitcher Rebbe; his wife Chaya Mushka remained only moderately observant at best.

Yosef Yitzhak Schneersohn, the 6th Rebbe, saved by the US wrote president Roosevelt several times during the war but never asked him to save Jews, or bomb rail lines to Auschwitz, or anything at all to specifically help Jews or other targeted people.

Jacobson and his Chabad-Lubavitch committee owed Rhode, who stopped almost all of his other work to arrange Schneersohn's rescue, $5,000 – just over $83,000 in today's money.

Rhode at one point wrote Jacobson telling him that it was getting cold, his wife was pregnant and he really needed the money Jacobson and Chabad owed to keep the heat and lights on.

Jacobson and Chabad didn't pay.

But they had the money.

Instead of paying Rhode with it they used it to build up the infastructure around Schneersohn.

Schneersohn – who left the Va'ad Hatzolah Orthododx and haredi rescue committee when it refused to give him and his proposed rescues special treatment – opened his own rescue committee but basically saved almost no one, in large part because no Lubavitcher hasidim knew how to arrange these rescues and no one could go to Rhode for help because Chabad-Lubavitch had essentially stolen $5,000 from him.

Schneersohn soon gave up on the idea of rescue, doubled down on rhetoric blaming non-Orthodox and insufficiently Orthodox Jews for the war and the Holocaust, and used the rescue money he collected to build the Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue and yeshiva in the basement of 770 Eastern Parkway.

Schneersohn was a vehement anti-Zionist who also opposed Jews leaving Europe no matter where they went.

He repeatedly urged Jews to stay in Poland.

Most of those Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

Comments

[Question]

What are your sources?

[Shmarya]

I've written about this many times before, mostly early in the last decade.

There are interviews with Bryan Mark Rigg, who wrote rescued From The Reich for Yale University Press, Rigg's book itself, and bits of information uncovered by other scholars.

On top of that Kfar Chabad magazine one did a story on the American students who came to Poland after the 6th rebbe promised their parents there would not be a war.

It tried to spin the story as some magical proof of Schneersohn's holiness because so many escaped. Even so, the negative comments from the Chabad hierarchy stopped it from exploring the issue any further.

[RWisler]

The more I learn about the last Mrs. Schneersohn, the more I admire her intelligence and sense of logic. She would have been an interesting person to speak to.

[Allan]

I believe that being a true leader means you don’t abandon your followers to their fate when things get very bad (like the Costa Concordia captain). It means you stick with them and do your best for them even at the cost of your life (like the Titanic captain). This is especially true for rabbis like the Shneersons who claim leadership not only of Chabad but of the entire Jewish nation. Instead, these guys took to the lifeboats at the first opportunity.

[Yosef ben Matitya]

minim.
infaillible in their minoos.

[Max]

This is a joke!

1) even if the Rebbe didn't think there would be a war, was he any different then most Jews at the time who didn't anticipate a war - against Jews- in Poland?

2)There was a documented campaign to collect money for the down payment of "770" there was a mortgage for 10 years, there was NO money lying around, the previous Rebbe lived in hotel for 6 months.

3) you write: "Schneersohn soon gave up on the idea of rescue, doubled down on rhetoric blaming non-Orthodox and insufficiently Orthodox Jews for the war and the Holocaust, and used the rescue money he collected to build the Chabad-Lubavitch synagogue and yeshiva in the basement of 770 Eastern Parkway."

What are you talking about? The Rebbe spent hours and hours screaming against those who said that.

4) Where do you take this phony narrative that the The Rebbes wife was "moderately observant at best"? its simply a lie, many people knew her.

This is such B.S I will cease to even try to answer this non sense, simply un worthy.

[Shmarya]

'Max' –

It isn't a joke. You just don't know what you're talking about. all of it is documented, peer reviewed and published.

The Frierdiker Rebbe was not holy or a hero or even kind.

He was vindictive, selfish, petty man who cared more about his book collection that he did about the lives of Jews – including members of his own family.

The money from his pidyon shvuyim fund did go to build 770, as well.

As for the Rebbe's sister-in-law Sheina (and his brother Leibel, for that matter), she was non-observant.

His wife Chaya Mushka was situationally observant – at best.

You're living in a cult and choosing to believe its lies.

[jonathan]

JUst a hatchet job
Theprevious rebbe was ill and weak and did not handle the finances

[Jeff]

"The previous rebbe was ill and weak and did not handle the finances"

THEN HE HAD NO FUCKING BUSINESS BEING REBBE.

I am so sick to death of you people and your brainwashing. Just grow the fuck up already.

[Alter Kocker]

So chabad is built upon Schneersohn's legacy. A legacy of cowardice, stupidity and superstition. Yet our bearded brethren swallow the fallacy, hook line and sinker, that these men were infallible and paragons of jewish virtue. They were nothing of the sort. Schneersohn wanted his silver? Better he should have suffered the fate of his followers. When I see little pictures of his son-in-law in the homes of chabadniks, I can't help but feel creeped out by this disingenous engineer who was lionized by these ignoramuses, and made into a quasi-messiah. These people were nothing of the sort. Idiots, fools, shamans, thieves, and in Schneersohn's case, murderers.

[Rocky]

Unlike the 6th Rebbe, Rabbi Leo Baeck, the spiritual leader of Germany's Reform Jewish Community had numerous job offers to come to the US and offers of help to obtain a visa in the late 1930's but refused to leave his followers, many of whom had no where else to go. In early 1943, he was deported to Theresienstadt where he was made head of the Jewish council and as such was spared deportation to Auschwitz. After the war, he moved to London, where he died in 1956.

[Alter Kocker]

Jeff
They will never admit that the people they have deified did dirt to them during the holocaust. No, their rebbes did not throw them under the bus, it was the zionists. After all, why would the Nazis hate Jews? No the entire holocaust was a zionist plot. Do these people even listen to themselves? Complete and total ignorance. These men that abandoned their followers to the cattle cars, death camps and zyklon D, these were the true murderers in the holocaust. Schneersohn wanted his silver and his books. Better he should have stood in front of his followers and told them to leave Europe, but no he told them to stay. He told them that they would be safe. It was for their own good. May he roast in hell while giving Hitler anal. Yet these people revere him? Brain dead, or just a cult in search of a figure head. Any way you slice it, these delusional creatures must be weaned off the teat of this convenient messiah. They must be told that their Torah lifestyle that they believe Schneersohn and the like encouraged is smoke and mirrors.

[D]

Dude, this was like 70 plus years ago, what difference does it make? Most of you are lefties and tolerate the lies and cover ups of Obama, Clinton, Pelosi, et al. Yet, that is ok because they are on your team. Stand up for the truth all the time or just shut the hell up. itchiemayer

[joshua]

People defending the 6th Rebbe. Don't waste your time. This is how history works. There isn't a Jewish leader at the time of the holocaust that doesn't have a thesis written about their "mistakes". Not one. From Rebbe's to politicians to zionists and everything else. If you like the people they were heroes if you don't like them they werent. The holocaust was a tragedy that no one "stopped". This is an excessive in stupidity. If your an objective person you'll understand this reality.

[Moshe]

Shmarya,

"all of it is documented, peer reviewed and published."

Why don't you provide the sources so that we can read up and decide for ourselves? Especially for the following statements:

"He was vindictive, selfish, petty man"

The money from his pidyon shvuyim fund did go to build 770, as well.

As for the Rebbe's sister-in-law Sheina (and his brother Leibel, for that matter), she was non-observant.

His wife Chaya Mushka was situationally observant – at best."

Where are the interviews with Mark Rigg published?

BTW, I don't put much faith in what Mark Rigg writes. His book is full of contradictions. For one, he has a different story about what happened when the Germans met the Rabbi in the beginning of the book than the one in middle of the book.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

The Rebbe, and the one before him, were infallible. Every word they ever said came straight from God. That is what all Chabadniks believe. To say otherwise is heresy.
So if the previous Rebbe said there would be no Holocaust, he was right. There was no Holocaust. Pat Buchanan is right. The Frierdiker Rebbe said there would be no Holocaust. It is impossible that he would be wrong. Therefore, there was no Holocaust. Only the secular and those who don't believe in the Rebbe think there was a Holocaust.
And that is the difference between the Chabad rebbe and all other Jewish leaders in the 1930's. At least other Jewish leaders were not considered as getting the Word straight from God. Tragically, they made mistakes and could not believe there would be a Holocaust. But I forgive them because they never claimed to be infallible. So what is Chabad's excuse for the Rebbe's mistakes? There were no mistakes by the a Rebbe, so there must not have been a Holocaust.

[Eli r]

Yes the orthodox and their Rabbis were the cause of the Holocaust. That's why the protagonist was of all nations the home of the ultra reforms and their rabbis ...-Germany. Hmm I wonder why.

[joshua]

Yes and assigning specific blame for the holocaust no matter who is silly. Everyone has someone that thinks they are a hero and everyone has someone that thinks they are the opposite. That's just the reality of jewish leadership at that time. Heck I think this blogger was making a case for kastner being a hero not too long ago. Case in point.

[Shmarya]

Moshe –

Try an experiment. Click the link under the post that says Chabad and the Holocaust and the other one that says Chabad History. Read the articles from the bottom of the index upward.

Also, and I know this might be a stretch, try reading my comment near the top that cites Rigg's book.

[Shmarya]

Joshua –

Again, you have a lot of difficulty dealing with actual facts and with truth.

Kasztner saved more Jews during the Holocaust than any other Jew did.

Oskar Schindler called Kastner the bravest man he ever knew.

Kasztner saved more Jews than all Hungarian, Polish and Russian hasidic rebbes, including Lubavitch, did combined – many times over.

The rabbis you come here to lie for and to protect were failures in this regard (and, quite frankly, in many other regards, as well).

That the Yoel Teitelbaum hated the ZIONIST Kasztner doesn't change the fact that Kasztner saved him and it doesn't change the fact that Teitelbaum was an awful man and liar.

Now haul your dishonest ass out of here.

[Nachum]

-Is this Jacobson related to Simon Jacobson?

-To those who say everyone made these mistakes: OK, fair enough. Let's say you're right. Then at the minimum, the charedim should stop claiming their leaders are infallible. No one else claims that.

-Remind me why the frummer couple didn't become rebbe after this?

-For those wondering about frumkeit: There was the famous phone call on Shabbat, made and answered.

[Jeff]

"Yes the orthodox and their Rabbis were the cause of the Holocaust. That's why the protagonist was of all nations the home of the ultra reforms and their rabbis ...-Germany. Hmm I wonder why."

Yes, that's right. The fact that a small segment of Jewish men stopped learning "Toyreh" so enraged Hashem that he allowed millions of pious, ehrlich yidden to be tortured to death. Oy, nebach!

The Orthodoxy and their evangelical buddies have convinced me that humanity has no future. It is simply too stupid to survive.

[SkepticalYid]

Posted by: Eli r | May 05, 2014 at 10:34 PM

Hitler stated that he became an anti-Semite after the first time he encountered a "Jew wearing a caftan," in Vienna. Does that make Hassidim responsible for the Holocaust?

[joshua]

SR. That's exactly my point. If you like a person or a group of people you will go to whatever lengths you must go to protect them. That was the essence of my point. Then backhanded statements from oskar swindler becoming more convincing to you then actual verdicts in court proceedings and facts. It's all very chassidic sounding.
In truth I have no issue with it. Everyone does it to save their man.

Pretending that Reb Yoel and Satmar are the sole haters of kastner is too intellectually dishonest even for you.
He wasn't tried in kiryas yoel and didn't show up to testify on behalf of webbermans victim. It was the freakin nuremburg trials and a court case in israel. Try to stay somewhat objective.

[joshua]

Schindler not swindler

[seymour]

Pretending that Reb Yoel and Satmar are the sole haters of kastner is too intellectually dishonest even for you.
He wasn't tried in kiryas yoel and didn't show up to testify on behalf of webbermans victim. It was the freakin nuremburg trials and a court case in israel. Try to stay somewhat objective.

Posted by: joshua | May 06, 2014 at 06:44 AM

the Israel verdict was overturned BTY

[Shmarya]

Joshua –

Again, you lie.

1. An honest person concerned with accuracy and truth would acknowledge the following, all of which are FACTS:

a. The court case against Kasztner was a political endeavor led by the extreme right wing fringe of the Herut Party, what would today be the Likud Party.

b. The attorney leading the case against Kasztner openly did so to try to take over Herut and marginalize Begin.

c. He hoped that the trial would also weaken the ruling coalition government (what today would be the left of center Labor Party) and topple it.

d. The judge allowed that attorney a wide range of behaviors that were not legal and which would never be allowed today.

e. The judge also ruled very broadly on evidence in ways that would never be allowed today.

(I should add that what that attorney did would not be allowed in federal court in the US, in British courts or in the courts of any western nation I'm aware of.)

f. Israel made heroes out of Jews who fought the Nazis with guns, even though almost all of those died, but did not make heroes out of Jews who negotiated with the Nazis to save other Jews or survived by going into hiding. That narrative played a large role in the trial and in its aftermath and is considered to be foolish and wrong by scholars who study such things today.

g. The judge's ruling against Kasztner was overturned on appeal.

2. Even though Kasztner was exonerated, he had already been assassinated by hard right extremists – probably because everyone knew the lower court's ruling would be overturned and because after that happened, Kasztner was very likely to speak publicly about bad the behavior of certain anti-government figures during the Holocaust (including the Satmar Rebbe).

3. To call Oskar Shindler's open praise of Kasztner "backhanded statements" is not only factually incorrect, it is sick. Shindler saved more Jews that almost anyone else did during the Holocaust and, as the film Shindler's List shows, those people were grateful to him ever after.

For Oskar Shindler to say that Kasztner – who was then reviled because of the smears and lies of scum like you – was the bravest man he had ever known (because of the risks he took in his negotiations with Eichmann to save Jews) is extremely high praise.

3. Research done after the Iron Curtain fell shows clearly that Kasztner was not the evil man extreme rightists and anti-Zionist Satmar hasidim tried to paint him as.

4. As for you, you have repeatedly proved yourself to be a dishonest, unethical, lying piece of dirt. Rot in hell.

[joshua]

SR.
You are only continuing to prove my point. I have not said anything personal about kastner (I.e. vile, liar, sick man.... As you do about others). I am merely stating the facts. He was convicted of collaboration with the nazis. It was MOSTLY overturned after his assasination. Notice how you never say mostly even though that is the FACT. You then confuse interpertation with fact. The whole right wing in israel says the overturning was also politically motivated to cover for others so there you have my point again. I have no interest in debating kastner. I am merely proving (WIth your help I may add) that people see their heroes differently then others do.

As you understood my comment about schindler statement wrong I'll explain. Schindler saying he's a brave man means nothing if in reality he wasnt. By your logic Becher was a great man too. Schindler Said kastner was great thus making him great and kastner said becher was great so....... I hope that's understandable to even you.

Seymour,
Mostly.

[Shmarya]

Joshua –

Stop lying.

1. You wrote that Oskar Schindler's praise of Kasztner was "backhanded statements" – which is absolute, clearly and unimpeachablely a false characterization by you that defames both Schindler and Kasztner.

2, Schindler knew a lot more about what Kasztner did than you ever will, largely because he knew Eichmann and was there on the ground dealing with him when Kasztner was.

3. Kasztner's trial and its aftermath was a political hit job. As I clearly noted above, what his trial judge did would never be allowed in a modern day Israeli court of law or in federal courts in the US or any other western country.

4. The only part of that verdict not overturned by the Supreme Court after Kaszter was assassinated has been overturned by history. The evidence uncovered since the fall of the Iron Curtain supports Kasztner as does almost all of the scholarly work done in the past 25 years.

5. Even Kasztner's assassin says Kasztner was framed and set up. He says the assassination was wrong and apologized to Kasztner's daughter.

As for you, you are a sick, dishonest, lying piece of dirt.

Go rot in the hell you believe in.

[joshua]

1. I clarified the term backhanded already it was meant to mean that it has little relevance to the facts. Schindler may have had no clue about the real goings on.
2. Kastner said becher is a great man too..
3. Both sides claim it was a political hit job. Including the assasination. No one besides kastner kids profess his incense with the sureness that you do.
4. Once again it supports it only if om you want it too. It isn't even remotely evidence.
5.and some say they were set up by the govt. Yippee do they had 0 involvement in knowing Wether kastner was or wasn't wrong.

Here's the bottom line. Wether kastner is or isn't GUILTY is one issue Wether he was morally bankrupt is a much larger debate. You are completely in kastners camp on that despite the obvious questions to the morality of his decision based on his own words.

I have no skin in the game I'm merely pointing out that you are a kastner chossid and act towards him like u accuse everyone else of acting towards their hero's. Why? Because you have your agenda. Your just too self righteous to see your own inner chossid.

[Mefoar]

To clear up a few things with some known facts:

A:The Satmar rebbe with all his writings and speeches against Zionism from what i know never said a bad word on Kasztner.

b.Kastner,it was proven in court that he collaborated with the Nazis.

c.Kastner after the war testified on behalf of a Nazi butcher Kurt Becher ym's.
Becher was a butcher who killed thousands of Jews and the reason supposedly given why a Jew named Kastner testified becuase Becher saved Jews.

The hypocrisy of this site is beyond hypocrisy.
When any frum Jew is arrested and on trial for fraud,pedophilia or whatever and people within the community are supporting that person or do things so not to throw under the bus the frum criminal this blog will have post after post how corrupt and supporting the community is of criminals. The fact that the frum criminal did favors for some people doesn't matter to this blog.
But when it comes to Kastners testifying on behalf of a butcher who killed Jews when he could of told Becher "screw you you murderer" na thats not nice to do he needed to show he is mentch keeping his word for Becher ym's.

[jancsibacsi]

Mefoar--You are truly menatlly ill ,you talk like you are from the planet stupido relevant to kastner,you have no inkling about the evil of the natzis you minimize their evil you are one deranged dude.

[RWisler]

One thing that MM Schneersohn was -- a fantastic orator. He could blabber on for 6 hours at a time and speak meaningless kabbalistic nonsense (especially those idiotic "mai'mor'im" that he kind of chanted) and keep his listeners enthralled.

While I was studying in yeshiva, I went to a couple of these "farbrengens" and was amazed by the quantity of oratory that MM Schneersohn could produce. Of course, 90% of it was meaningless blabbering, but I admired his ability to blabber on for hours and hours. Fidel Castro quite often did the same, but at least his speeches were more meaningful and had much better content.

[SkepticalYid]

The hypocrisy of this site is beyond hypocrisy.
When any frum Jew is arrested and on trial for fraud,pedophilia or whatever and people within the community are supporting that person or do things so not to throw under the bus the frum criminal this blog will have post after post how corrupt and supporting the community is of criminals. The fact that the frum criminal did favors for some people doesn't matter to this blog.

Posted by: Mefoar | May 06, 2014 at 12:30 PM

Hitler was. nice to his dog and to Eva Braun. Does that mean those who criticize him are hypocrites too?

Yoilish was a Talmudic genius who was a gutless immoral opportunist. May he burn forever .

[Max]

SR,

The previous Lubavitcher Rebbe had great self sacrifice for Jewish education, he was almost killed my the Russians for it, He gathered 10 people and they all swore to do everything for the Jews till their last drop of blood, he suffered b/c of this. badly. Even after he was released from jail he continued the underground network of cheder's. everything i said is well known! the 10 people I can name! And the hundreds of kids who went to these Cheder told the stories.

After he came to the USA all his talks are full of worry about the Jews left in ww2, they are all printed!!

You make up facts as you go along! the only thing i can think of is you suffer from a very serious undiagnosed disease that you need to hurt any person/org. that helped you in life..

This site makes me laugh so hard, while you laugh at the poor frum, this is the only "news" site with a HUGE Shnurring angle to it!

This is the last I will ever comment, this blog does not deserve it.

t

[Shmarya]

Max –

Writing lies told by Chabad does not change the truth.

Schneersohn was a dishonest unethical man who blamed Modern Orthodox and non-Orthodox Jews for the Holocaust, who stole Holocaust rescue money to build his new yeshiva, and who misused money given to him by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The Joint's money was earmarked for all traditional/Orthodox Jews/religious Jews and specifically not for Lubavitchers only. He was told not to start Chabad outposts in areas that already had an Orthodox presence and to make sure to fund those existing non-Chabad rabbis and activists.

But instead, Schneersohn used the money to build Chabad's network in the Soviet Union, opening Lubavitch outposts in areas that already had a non-Chabad Orthodox presence and trying to drive those non-Chabad rabbis and activists out of the Soviet Union or, at least, out of business.

He was thief, a liar and a scoundrel.

[disappointed]

No offense dude but while I applaud your efforts in the whistle blowing department, making all sorts of facts available to the public, there is undoubtedly a massive bias evident in your articles - especially those on chabad - and it feels like a boiling rage is entrenched in your reporting, which I dear say really hurts your journalism. Pity.