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Newspaper Publishes Hateful Diatribe Against Chabad

A letter overflowing with hate and venom against the Chabad community was published by the Riverdale Press yesterday. Written by Patty Goldstein, the letter questioned the decision of a local councilman to give a $5,000 grant to a Chabad Center. The writer objects to this grant because Chabad is “a vile, racist, Jewish supremacist organization.”

To read the letter click here.

While there may be legitimate concerns regarding taxpayer funding for any private institution, Ms. Goldstein seems to have no problem with the concept, merely pointing out that Chabad shouldn’t be receiving it and making patently false and hurtful statements in the process.

A call to the Riverdale Press put CrownHeights.info in touch with the editor, who was mostly unapologetic. She pointed out that the Riverdale Press posts many unpopular opinions, and maintains that the best way to deal with bad speech is to counter it with good speech – not censor it.

Fair enough. “But,” we countered, “Would you publish a false accusation against someone and wait for a response to clarify it?”

She countered that she did a Google search and the “racist” quotes came up, which apparently passes for “research” at the Riverdale Press.

Of course anyone with access to Google would find out very quickly that Chabad is known worldwide to be a non-discriminatory organization, which helps people of all races and creeds in times of need. Whether the homeless on the streets of Los Angeles or the victims of an earthquake in New Zealand, Chabad can be found giving a helping hand to people in distresses.

As for the ‘racist quotes’ which the writer attributes to Chabad’s leaders: One was lifted straight out of a chapter of ‘Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel,’ an anti-religious manifesto, in which verses from ancient Kabbalistic works not exclusive to the Chabad movement are skewed in translation and attributed to the Lubavitcher Rebbe for maximum effect (e.g. the term ‘Satanic,’ which would more effectively offend Christians, is used falsely). The second one is attributed to a Rabbi in Israel with absolutely no connection to Chabad leadership.

Despite the obvious ludicrousness of the idea that Chabad is racist, the Riverdale Press thought it would be a good idea to publish a hateful and incendiary diatribe against an entire community without the slightest bit of fact-checking.

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28 Comments

  • golus

    anti semitism at work, she isnt the first and wont be the last, oh well….

  • good point

    don’t worry i took care of it and sent them in the last few lines of tanya chapter 1

  • disappointed

    We see worse then that many a days her & Other chabad sites about meshichist & the Kevutza Bachurim etc! so why all of a sudden does this scare you? When the Ny times spews its hatred everyday everyone is quiet & you’re outraged over a local newspaper with no circulation with an agenda?? can you say hypocrite! phony! selective outrage??? look in the mirror & follow R’ Mendel Futerfas’ advice don’t be a journalist!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Miriam

    Seriously? It’s a newspaper, people! They can print whatever the heck they want. It’s in the letters section!

  • Thrax

    It’s a letter to the editor. You realize that’s not the opinion of the newspaper being printed there, right?

  • Andrea Schonberger

    It appears that Ms. Goldstein copied Nazi anti-semitic propaganda and is passing it off as her own handywork. At the very least she could have been more original in her protests and not relied on old libels against Jews.

  • Yossi

    Before the vigilantes reading this website fire off some nasty email to the editors, perhaps you should consult the local shliah whom it was written about and see what he thinks. Perhaps he has a relationship with someone at the newspaper, or perhaps one of his baalei batim is planning a response.

  • For Shame!

    Such nachas for her ancestors. Hope her parents (if she has any) are proud of their little girl. And how many of her kinfolk died Al Kiddish Hashem at the hands of Hitler Yemach Sh’mo. I’m sure they too look down on her with pride.

  • SEREL MANESS

    perhaps she’s not jewish,it happens all the time,with the fake converts by the reform and conservative jews,then we see what they do to kal yisrael,sharon’s mother was a cinvert from reform,so he’s not jewish either

  • Chana

    I am so upset right now !!! Chabad of riverdale is an absolutely amazing place, the devotion the shluchim have to that community is so deep and they are just so deficated. just I cannot believe someone, let alone a Jew would write that. I will write a complaint.

  • Milhouse

    Nu, s’iz takeh emes. Mir haltn takeh az a id is hecher b’ein areich fun a nit-id, punkt vi er is hecher fun a chai, un a chai fun a tzemeiach, un a tzemeiach fun a deimem. Dos heist bela’az “supremacist”.

  • Mendel

    Dear fellow Chassidim: it is our fault.

    We have to realize that we live in a non-Jewish society and our very life depends on our relations with our hosts. Please look in Chazal as to how one should relate himself with Akum to avoid confrontation.

    Perhaps it is time to realize that much of what we write, especially on the internet, but also in print could easily be taken out of context and used against us by our enemies the way it has been done for thousands of years. Let’s not make our enemies work easier! Watch what you write and how you write it!

  • jkl

    about comment # 14:From the book “The Shepherd” (Ha’Roeh), published in 2005 in Israel. The authors are Gadi Rosenblum and Nir Hefetz. Its’ a biography of Ariel Sharon. On pages 35 and 36 his parents’ story appears as follows. His father, Samuel (Shmuel) Sheinerman, studied agronomy at the University of Tiflis (Tbilisi). He there met Deborah (Vera) Schneorov, who came from a wealthy Belarus family and who was in the 4th year of her medical studies. Her family lived in a small village named Mohilev.“Her large family, which included 8 brothers, was the only Jewish family in the village, but observed Judaism scrupulously, and made sure the children received the appropriate education.”
    A lot of people do not understand what the Tanya says about non-Jewish souls.

  • Shaina

    This letter could in no way be written about the shluchim there because the shluchim are SO incredibly devoted and dedicated to their community, and they have a great relationship with the community and work well and in conjunction with the other Jewish institutions there.
    The author clearly has some hang up, perhaps with Chabad in general, sadly as many not-yet frum people do. IYH she will find her way without bashing people and standing in their way. Much continued success!!!

  • Amusing but also Pitiful

    Her language sounds extreme and emotionally driven, not objective. The article sounds like the rantings of an unstable mind overloaded with issues, as I’m guessing would turn out to be the case if someone were interested enough to investigate her background. The paper itself does not appear to be of the best quality, just another low budget media source used as a channel to vent and air emotional diatribes. I doubt any intelligent person will take it seriously or change their views based on the unsubstantiated rantings of this writer. I think your publishing this article on your website gave her more attention than she’s likely to get anywhere else.

  • Milhouse

    #17, yes, takeh look in Chazal. See what they wrote about einom yehudim. They were much more vulnerable than we are today, and they were not afraid to write the truth openly.

  • Mendel

    #22, I fully agree with #21!

    In times of Chazal, they did not have print, media or internet in addition to the language barrier. Go get an education.

  • Mendy Hecht

    People!

    This woman and those like her need to be completely ignored.

    Adults do not talk like that–even ones with profound emotional or intellectual objections to Chabad in particular and religion in general.

    By her language, this person is clearly a person with issues, as most people who say completely wild and research-less things are.

    I dealt with one such nut years ago from Montreal, who made similar claims based on Tanya. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guy was 50-something and still living in his parents’ house and had more than a few personality problems, not to mention prescriptions.

    This is not a normal person we’re dealing with here. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s a teenager who doesn’t yet understand the world.

    Just ignore it. And don’t worry about it giving people the wrong idea about Chabad. Any level-headed person will look at it and see that the writer is rather unhinged.

  • banmillhouse

    CrownHeights.info,
    Please,please, can you ban Millhouse already?
    He is a pure Chilul Hashem and a right wing fanatic who puts us to shame (and he also puts on a fake Chabad accent, that I can assure you he did not learn in Yeshiva College in Melbourne)

    Proud Yeshiva grad,Melbourne

  • Sarah

    Did you send the article you wrote to the Riverdale Press? If not you should, it is a supremely good example of the kind of refutation needed.