Rabbonim Come Out in Support of the Rosh

In an effort to uphold and strengthen our standards of yiddishkeit and chassidishkeit, a group of Chabad Rabbonim have come out with a Kol Koreh (public announcement) supporting a recent statement by Rabbi Ezra Schochet.

Last month, Rabbi Ezra Schochet of Los Angeles, known to many as ‘the Rosh,’ came out with a letter – which was published here on CrownHeights.info – expressing his opinion that it is prohibited to hear S. Boteach speak. The letter was released after Boteach was invited to speak in a number of synagogues headed by Chabad Shluchim in South Africa.

Boteach then came out with a vile and vicious response, which was published in numerous news outlets, in which he made false accusations against his former mentor, the Rosh, and called his Yeshiva a ‘Taliban madrassa.’ He also claimed Chabad was “being taken over by ignorant, radical, fundamentalists.”

Now, a group of sixteen Lubavitcher Rabbonim have signed a strongly worded Kol Koreh expressing their “shock at the occurrence of frightful things.”

The announcement goes on and affirms the signatories’ support of Rabbi Schochet and his statement, and says that those who have “brought this problem about are obligated to go and seek the advice of a Beis Din and follow their remedy.”

Among those who signed the letter are Rabbonim from all over the world: Rabbi Avrohom Osdoba (Crown Heights), Rabbi Mordechai Shmuel Ashkenazi (Kfar Chabad, Israel), Rabbi Moshe Bogomilsky (Crown Heights), Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Gurary (Montreal, Canada), Rabbi Mordechai Gurary Rabbi Mordechai Gurary (Crown Heights), Rabbi Yitzchok Meir Hertz (London, UK), Rabbi Yitzchok Yehudah Yeroslavsky (Kiryat Malachi, Israel), Rabbi Yoel Kahn (Crown Heights), Rabbi Moshe Landau (B’nei Brak, Israel), Rabbi Nissim Mangel (Crown Heights), Rabbi Sholom Ber Mochkin (Montreal, Canada), Rabbi Yisroel Friedman (Crown Heights), Rabbi Elimelech Zwibel (Morristown, NJ), Rabbi Pinchas Korf (Crown Heights), Rabbi Yitzchok Raitport (Crown Heights) and Rabbi Dovid Schochet (Toronto, Canada).

These Rabbonim represent just the first wave of signatories, and more Rabbonim from all over the world are expected to add their signatures to the Kol Koreh in the coming days.

KolKore