Posted to Chabad News on

Readers Respond to Attack on Chabad

Readers of the Riverdale Press responded with disgust and indignation over the newspaper’s publication of a letter written by Patty Goldstein, in which she launches a false and malicious attack against Chabad, calling the movement “a vile, racist, Jewish supremacist organization.”

Amid the ensuing backlash, the Riverdale Press published these two responses:

Attack on Chabad Was False
by Yaacov Cohen

If your purpose was to get some publicity, albeit negative, then you have succeeded.

I refer to a letter you published on your site from Patty Goldstein.

She refers to Chabad as a “vile, racist Jewish supremacist organization.” Nothing can be more outrageous of a lie.

I am not sure with whom to be more disappointed; the misguided and uninformed writer of the letter, or you the staff at The Riverdale Press for allowing this manure to be published.

I am a member of Chabad and while I will not even dignify these vile accusations and mistaken beliefs with a response, I will tell you that all you need to do is log onto www.chabad.org to learn about this organization.

This organization is more than 250 years old and its main ethos is goodness and kindness.

Please be responsible in your journalism and know that it is unprofessional to allow lies from a reader. I expect that in the interest of objectivity you will do your due research and perhaps issue an apology on your site.

Chabad Promotes Love for All
by William Henig

I just happened to read a recent letter to the editor by Patty Goldstein, and, quite frankly, I am shocked, outraged, and appalled that your newspaper would publish such an offensive diatribe.

Ms. Goldstein provided false and libelous quotes culled from anti-Semitic and anti-Orthodox sources that were never, ever contained in any of the sermons and writings of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh. Sadly, truth and reality were turned upside down in this letter.

Did Ms. Goldstein ever meet one of the rabbis of Chabad Lubavitch or actually read some of its core philosophical texts such as the Tanya by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi? I doubt it, because if she did, she would very quickly learn that no group in Judaism promotes loving your fellow man, Jews and Gentiles alike, more than Chabad Lubavitch.

Related Articles

14 Comments

  • SD

    I WOULD SUGGEST THAT CROWN HEIGHTS INFO PUBLISH THE ADDRESS OR E-MAIL OF THIS NEWSPAPER SO THAT PEOPLE MAY FORWARD COMMENTS TO THE PAPER.

  • Again, Don-t be afraid of the truth!

    Indeed, as is well known, the Tanya does say that only a Jew has a G-dly soul, whereas, a Goy does not. So what does that mean, is a Goy on a higher, equal, or lower level then a Jew? Doesn’t take Gaoness to know that, not implicitly, but obviously the Tanya is saying that a Goy is on a Lower level. What do we say about the best Goy vs. the worst Jew?
    But we should not worry about that creating a negative public relations image for us. Look, the King, Queen, President and other Government leaders are held by Goyim to be on a higher level then the general populace; an ordinary citizen does not have people willing to jump in front of a bullet for them. So what’s the big deal if G-d’s chosen people assert their distinct advantage.
    There is no comparison, whatsoever, between this and white supremacy. White supremacy simply wants to get rid of or dominate non-whites. A Jew, who has a G-dly soul, has a responsibility to bring a Goy(regardless of their race), in their way, closer to G-d and doing G-d’s will. So, if establishing courts of law, not eating a limb directly from a living animal, etc. is racist, this sounds very vile, obscene and ignorant.

  • America, the land of the ignorant!

    Well, this writer is plagiarizing…she has said nothing more than what Gd said about these people:

    vile: miserably poor; wretched — that is what sin does to a person–jewish or non-jewish. That is what Gd says about the people who break his laws!

    racist: The notion that one’s ethnic stock is superior….well, that is what Gd has said to anyone that will bow to Him….they will be His people. They will succeed over others without a fight/effort! He will take care of them. By reason of who their Father/Gd is, they are superior because their Gd is superior! Well, duh!

    supremacist: one believing that a certain group is or should be supreme. Gd said those who serve Him would be supreme as He is the Gd of all gods.

    You don’t have to be jewish to understand these concepts, just educated.

    Patty has just said to the world that she has chosen not to serve Gd and she is angry with Gd because of the blessings she has forfeited as a result. Gentiles are more than welcome to serve the Gd of the jews and receive His blessings!

    I wonder if Gd was an admitted feminist saying these things, if Patty was sing the praises of the feminist god! After all, women are supreme, better workers/managers/parents than men, etc.

    note: definitions from Websters

  • see

    cant see where she is wrong…we are racist, we are a supremacist org. just look how we carry our day to day lives.

    furthermore, who cares???!!! trash will always be spoken about us, and guess what?! it makes us stronger!!

  • PR Specialist

    There is a much loved Lubavitcher saying: K af mir P af mir abi af mir. Let’s face it, there’s no such thing as bad publicity. We LOVE seeing Lubavitch in the news. We’re addicted to publicity. There’s nothing worse than being ignored. Who cares what they say. As long as they’re talking about us.

  • Shliach

    Who taught her Tanya? She’s a good student, but mixed up her sources. Why don’t we just give her that same smile that the Alter rebbe gave during his interrogation?

  • slbz

    she does not really know what racist and all those terms mean in a real way, as compared to the world at large.
    however, we are also not supposed to not work on ourselves (ie how we treat our kids in yeshivas and our connections with our children etc)and we expect that the world will be impressed?

  • Milhouse

    It’s not Tanya, and it’s not chassidus; the Kuzari, who was hardly a Lubavitcher, says the same thing. Just as there are four kingdoms in nature: mineral, vegetable, animal, and human, Am Yisroel constitutes a fifth kingdom, as much higher than the human as the human is higher than the animal. Of course Ms Goldstein believes there are only three kingdoms; she believes that humans are part of the animal kingdom. So what exactly is her complaint? We are the ones who say that goyim are higher than animals, and she is the one who says they are not! But somehow we are the ones denigrating goyim, because it’s better for them to be on the same level as animals, so long as nobody is higher than them?! Sounds like communism!

  • techichally the jewish pepole do think

    of themselfs as supermacist we just dont expose that to the world like she did

  • A concerned citizen

    Clarification:

    We are Bnai Yaacov, we are the big brother. Our job is to bring all of the nations to the table and show them they have a place too. We do this by teaching them the Sheva Mitzvot b’nai Noach with their numerous ramifications and in the light of chassidus. When our brothers follow this lifestyle, they will start to love us and recognize the truth we have brought to them. These truths are what will improve their lives.

    Many of us have misunderstood the role of the Jew in the world. We our G-d’s chosen, but for what. to be a light unto the nations and that through this light we would all be able to welcome Moshiach together in a world transformed.

  • Rebecca

    Is a Cohen superior to a Levi or Israel?
    Is a man superior to a woman?
    No, they have more or different obligations.
    Anyone who thinks a Jew is superior to anyone else has a very childish view.
    But I can see how a non-Jew can get this impression; in an effort to make our children proud to do mitzvahs some teachers [by this I also include some parents] give the kids the idea that they are somehow superior to people who don’t do mitzvahs.
    This idea is for children, but they should be put right about the real reason we do mitzvahs.
    This attitude follows them into adulthood and can cause problems with their behaviour and emunah.

  • Objectivity is sometimes subjective

    “A leader serves his subjects.” (-The Rebbe?!)

    The Children of Israel are a leader, who serve Hashem, and in so doing also serve their subjects, humanity.

    Recognizing one’s talents and/or responsibility is not putting another person down, but raising one’s own expectations of them self.

    If Jews have a higher calling, while this may give them more value, it does not G-d forbid detract from the very intrinsic value of every other human being, on the contrary, if one loves others as much as himself, the more one values himself, the more he will value others, compared to those who undervalue themselves.

    I might remind Ms Goldstein of the words of John Adams, one of the founding fathers of the USA: “The Hebrews contributed more to the civilizing of humanity than any other people.”

    Those Hebrews valued others more than many of those others valued themselves.

    Ve’ahavta lereacha kamocha (Love your neighbor like yourself)
    V’Chol Odom Yihiye Godol Mimcha Bi’einecha (and every person should be greater than you in your eyes)

    and seeing them as greater one ough to love them as one would love themself were one themself on their level.

    I hope that balances out the selective quoting by Ms Goldstein.