Shliach Defends Chabad in Jewish Week
In an article published about two weeks ago, Francine Klagbrun of the Jewish Week published an opinion column where, after complimenting Chabad for their genuine outreach to every Jew, regardless of financial means, offers a laundry list of old complaints about Chabad. Rabbi Tuvia Teldon, Director of Chabad in Long Island, wrote the following letter in response:
Francine Klagbrun’s opinion column (“Synagogues Should Be More Welcoming,” Jan. 13), after complimenting Chabad for our genuine outreach to every Jew, regardless of financial means, offers a laundry list of old complaints about Chabad. I would like to address one of her comments, which I hear repeated in some Jewish circles. Her statement “although my friend missed the more intellectual atmosphere of a Conservative synagogue, he enjoyed the enthusiasm and inclusiveness of the Chabad service,” seems to paint Chabad as intellectually second-class. Nothing could be further from the truth.
I would like to address one of her comments, which I hear repeated in some Jewish circles. Her statement “although my friend missed the more intellectual atmosphere of a Conservative synagogue, he enjoyed the enthusiasm and inclusiveness of the Chabad service,” seems to paint Chabad as intellectually second-class. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The word “Chabad” stands for an intellectual approach to understanding all aspects of Judaism. One hour of studying Chabad text or reading articles on Chabad.org will show the deep intellectual foundation upon which Chabad is based. In Chabad yeshivas, students spend hours each day studying Chabad chasidic philosophy, which includes explanations and discourses on all aspects of Torah and life, with a special emphasis on the complex relationship between intellect and emotions.
A Chabad rabbi may very well deliberately try to create an “enthusiastic and inclusive” spirit as opposed to an “intellectual atmosphere” for a very good reason. His goal is to inspire his audience to action. An intellectually stimulating sermon will perhaps stir the mind to thought and discussion, which is indeed important, but it will not necessarily inspire the heart, hands and feet to move. But don’t conclude from this that the intellectual foundation is not a driving force.
With that said, I think Klagsbrun has touched upon one of the reasons for Chabad’s great success. Most people want inspiration, and they know at Chabad they can get it.
Dovid Herz
So, Francine Klagbrun can do a better job at outreach to fellow Jews as Chabad? Go at it Ms. Klagbrun!!!
chaim36
The problem with many chabad centers is that the rabbis are NOT college educated.It is very hard for them to relate to other people who are educated in a secular manner.
Yosefa
Great response.
I disagree
Just look at the horrendous spelling and primitive logic expressed in the comments section of these chabad websites and you’ll see why she bemoaned the lack of an intellectual atmosphere in chabad
Abba Paltiel
Very true, Rabbi Teldin; It’s hard to believe that someone would comment about Chabad while unaware of the profound intellectual experience a visit to a Chabad House provides.
She-s right
There it is, the proof is in the pudding. #5 couldn’t even spell Rabbi Teldon’s name correctly.
colledge isn-t the end all and be all
#2, well, somehow chabad houses are growning by leaps and bounds while the conservative movement is dwindling.go figure.
Jason yehoshua Goldstein, NH
I second Rabbi Teldon’s remarks!
The Rabbi will not lower himself to arguing point for point w/Mrs Klagbrun & neither will I.
However reform & conservative Judiasm is practically a seperate religion. If any Jew can accept the Torah as divinely inspired & true than there is nothing to ‘reform’ or ‘conserve’ about Judiasm.
The problem as I see it is to be a Jew (& frum if one insists on the labels) is to live a life as close to Torah as possible. To observe all the mitzvots, even if it does not seem easy or conveinent-in short, as is well known “The Torah grants no rights only responsibilites.”
Now her comments about the Rebbe are just absurd.
Why is it that there is such a crisis of faith amongst Jews today? As the Rebbe spoke about this at length I see no point in overdoing it however relaxing on ‘religious’ practice, compromising on kosher, shabbos observance etc leads to DISTANCE from yiddeshkeit, it leads to intermarrigae & so on.
As Lord Sacks said when he addressed the Shluchim only a few months ago “Non Jews respect Jews who respect Judiasm.” Such a powerful statement-I would suggest Mrs Klagburn meditate on this deeply.
I say all this as a Baal Teshuvah who reconnected with Judiasm ONLY because of Chabad. Before I met my Rabbi I engaged with the reform & conservative shuls in my area & though I met nice people I found only stale religious practice-a social event, nothing more-I mean no disrespect.
I could go on, but once there were just Jews. No labels. No qualifiers just Holy Yidden. But we are in golus & ‘the shell’ is thick & Mrs Klegburn need only break through it to eat the fruit inside…and not for nothing Reform & conservative Judiasm, whatever those labels are supposed to mean only wish they had an inspirational Tzadik like The Rebbe to cleave to.
Spelling etcetera
You cannot judge CHABAD by ‘horrendous spelling and primitive logic’ portrayed by the posts in this COMMENTS section. (That in itself is primitive logic!) We need to remember that the AGE of the poster is unknown. Most ‘professional’ sites have comments with an education level rating way BELOW ours.
Go Chabad!
no one special
#6. This spelling error might be the only fault that you could find with this very special intellectual Chosid.
Milhouse
$6, and you couldn’t even get a common saying right. It’s “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, not “the proof is in the pudding”. What does that even mean?
Ilana S.
Chabad in its CURRENT incarnation is anti-intellectual. That’s a fact. There isn’t an intellectual atmosphere because most Chabadniks are not capable or willing to provide one. Shluchim rarely analyze intellectually the Rebbe’s works; they regurgitate them, and in poor English at that. Intelligent people can discern an anti-intellectual environment. So she was right on the mark with this.
People, criticism of Chabad can be a good thing, if you let it. If it’s getting to you, let it be a catalyst to make the ideology stand up to reality.
YOU-VE GOT IT ALL WRONG !
To #2 CHAIM36
As a University professor for 32 years, I’ll tell you that college students are well known to the professoriat to have horrendous spelling, and poor grammar. I often have difficulty deciphering a three sentence answer on a quiz.
On the other hand, my son–who went through Oholei Torah– teaches MDs, psychiatrists, lawyers, and other college educated professionals…& they gasp at the profundity of Chabad’s teachings.
O kniw how ti spell
Spelling ability is not a sign of anything other than – ability to spell. And “Teldin” in place of “Teldon” ciuld just be a case if hotting the wring key because the i and the o are next to each other last tome O checked.
Educated
To #2
Rabbi Teldon did not say chabad shluchim are educated in Limudey Chol or other kefira! he said they are educated in torah and pnimiyus hatorah. that is our flag. secular education in this case makes it worse not better! The secular jews are not coming to chabad to hear some science or math, they are coming to be educated in torah and mitzvos. and yes we are very educated.
Chaya Nesha Stoll
# 2 You are so very wrong. When was the last time you spent any amount of time with a Chabad Rabbi,especially one on Shluchus out of the Crown Heights community ? The Rabbis I know are very intelligent and can hold their own with any Mr. College Graduate with not one bit of College but with many years learning in a Yeshiva. Thank you Rabbi Teldon.
my thoughts
Rabbi Teldon’s name was in the article for #5 to copy. How lazy can one get, not to go back & check?? Add to that the basic rudeness of spelling someone’s name incorrectly & you have someone who couldn’t care less about his own “intellectualism” or even good manners!
As for Chabad’s intellectualism or basic lack thereof: any campus Shliach has to appeal to students who, despite their lack of skills, enjoy mental stimulation & philosophical thought. Without great intelligence, an awareness of world events & articulation of thought, the Shliach wouldn’t last 5 minutes on campus.
Lastly, who takes Ms. Klagbrun seriously? Having read her “articles” in the past I doubt her own “intellectualism” is based on anything other than an inflated ego. New York Times caliber she ain’t.
John Galt
As I was taught there are two aspects of Torah (not getting into the shivim ponim) the Nigleh and Chassidus. Chassidus is the “hidden” part of the torah, not based on logic but rather on mysticism, the antithesis of intellectualism. You can hardly debate a maamar using pure logic because it’s principles are far beyond that (lemala m’daas – I’m not talking about explaining it or rationalizing it)
Thank You
Thank you #14.
Your comment provided me with a heartfelt laugh.
To Chaim 36 @ no. 2
If you are a doctor no one expects you to know law. If you are a lawyer no one expects you to know medicine. If you are a political scientist they don’t expect you to know computer programming. etc. etc. and etc.
The same is with a Chabad Shliach. When they come to Chabad they want Yiddishkeit. No one is concerned about whether the Chabad Shliach is more versed in secular studies than they are.
That is the success of Chabad. They are who they are without shame. Chabad is their anchor to Judaism and that is what they respect and appreciate.
SettheRecordStraight
the intellectual differences are real. My wife and I do to financial hardships did not renew our membership in our local Conservative shul for one year – we spent part of the yomim tovim at Chabad instead (we like the shaliach, ideology aside – we made a donation to chabad but it was less than our dues would have been) Not only was the dvar torah pedestrian, the entire service was shvach (including some pathetic english readings) Last year when we rejoined our Cons shul, we enjoyed the intellectually stimulating dvar torah from our rabbi (which drew us closer to Torah) the ruach of the services, and the chance to spend time with fellow congregants. Chabad does NOT inspire us to keep more mitzvos nearly as much as our Conservative shul does (leaving aside the mitzvohs we actually perform AT chabad – for which opportunity I am of course grateful to Chabad)
Chabad has grown largely by taking those with little knowledge, or with troubled lives (and of course it also gets lots of people who were already Orthodox) or eager to daven on the cheap. There are lots of all those in the Jewish community. It may be reaching saturation in many areas (though high birth rates, as with other haredi groups, will keep it growing). Conservative numbers are declining – the legacy of our aging pop, low birth rates, and our loss of staam yidden who have never been knowledgeable, observant, or filled with ruach. However among the small number of committed young people, in the C movement, and in the similar unaffiliated groups like the independent minyanim, there is vibrancy and a growing embrace of Torah, totally apart from Chabad. The numbers are small, but Jewish survival has never been about numbers.
SettingTheRecordStraight
“On the other hand, my son–who went through Oholei Torah– teaches MDs, psychiatrists, lawyers, and other college educated professionals…& they gasp at the profundity of Chabad’s teachings.”
How many of them have spent time learning at Fuchsberg, JTS, Yeshivat Hadar, or Limmud? There is profundity in close study of Jewish texts, period. People who only get that through Chabad will gasp at the profundity of Chabad.
SettingTheRecordStraight
“due to” not “do to” Even us intellectuals aren’t always good typists ;:
Milhouse
#22, The question is whether you’re getting the profundity of kedusha or of tum’ah. In Mitzrayim we plumbed the profundity of tum’ah — 49 gates! Why would you refer to places of tum’ah? What they teach at the places you name is not Torah. As the Frierdiker Rebbe said, sending people to such schools is like trying to put out a fire with gasoline. A Jewish neshoma is better off remaining ignorant than learning at such places.
CHI editor, were you aware what kind of places SettingTheRecordCrooked was referring to?
Grammar Teacher
QUOTE “due to” not “do to” Even us intellectuals aren’t always good typists ;:
You are also grammatically incorrect. Your use of the pronoun ”us“ is wrong: remove the noun that follows and you have ”us aren’t always…“
Try replacing ”us“ with ”we” and you will be correct.
Next lesson: punctuation, namely end marks. I will be happy to teach you English grammar at a reduced charge. The lesson on humility and respect for others is thrown in for free.
12 and 22 are Shmuely Boteach
Shmuely, is that a direct quote from one of your anti-Chabad articles a year or two ago? i remember the “regurgitating” line well, because it is so offensive, condescending, slanderous, and yet typical of your style.
As in every group, there are different types of rabbis. A conservative synagogue recently replaced their intellectual rabbi with a more people person type guy. Perhaps Klagsburn once attended a Chabad shul where the rabbi was not an intellectual or did not give an intellectual speech. Or maybe what she meant by intellectual was “skeptical”…. If you’re looking for rabbis who are skeptical about whether every word of Torah and Talmud is true, then you probably won’t find that at Chabad.
As to Shmuely’s comment that Chabad used to be “Intellectual” in the sense of skeptical–that is balogna. The Tanya does not deal with questions of faith, as does Moreh Nevuchim, for example. It takes faith for granted and the intellectualism is within the rubric of Torah thought.
Milhouse
#21 A conservative temple is not a shul; it’s no better than a church. Even such a “liberal” as Rav Soloveichik ruled that if the only place one can hear shofar is in conservative place of worship, one must forgo the mitzvah rather than set foot there. A “rabbi” who doesn’t believe that the Torah is literally Hashem’s words, dictated to Moshe Rabbenu, can’t possibly give a “dvar torah”; whatever he teaches is by definition not Torah but heresy and poison for the soul. One may just as well hear a lecture on the “old testament” from a Jesuit priest or a secular professor. The “inspiration” one may feel from such a lecture is from tum’ah, not from kedusha, and one is better off without it.
Ilana S.
To 26 – no, I am not Shmuley Boteach. I wrote my name in the subject line?
Once again, I’m sure it struck a nerve for a reason, otherwise you would be more interested in clarification than in taking offence. There is a mighty truth behind that concept. We are not taught to THINK, we are taught to OBEY. That’s what seems to be the cost for most people when the focus strays from ChaBaD and is more towards Malchus/maaseh. It should have been a balance, but for some reason I don’t understand (maybe you can enlighten) it is most certainly NOT. Regurgitate is an accurate word because true analysis means challenging the information, making it relevant, doing hisbonenus. This is manifestly not what most shluchim do, unfortunately.
I don’t think intellectual means skeptical. It means articulate, challenging, has a sense for the audience, is analytical, organizes and presents the information in an original way, etc etc etc.
KN
Thank you, Chaim36. Although Rabbi Teldon is right to point out that the name “Chabad” represents intellectualism, the fact is that for many people who ARE college educated, the shluchim who are not CAN seem non-intellectual.
I went to a sort of “shuir” that a shliach gave a few months ago where he was seeking to inspire the audience but gave no evidence to back up his arguments. Some people still found it inspiring, but for those of us who have gone to college and were taught critical thinking skills, it’s much more difficult to swallow.