Poland's ruling Law and Justice Party co-founder Jaroslaw Kaczynski, center, with Artur Hofman, left, Jonny Daniels, right, and Head of Chabad Poland Rabbi Shalom Stembler, far left, and Rabbi Eliezer Gurary of Chabad Krakow.

Polish Jewish Leader Calls Chabad Rabbis ‘Court Jews’

From The JTA:

In an escalation of a feud among Polish Jews over a perceived increase in anti-Semitic rhetoric and the government’s role in stopping it, a communal leader called Jews who met with a ruling party politician his “court Jews.”

Last week, Artur Hofman, president of the TSKZ cultural group of Polish Jews, along with two Chabad rabbis –  Rabbi Shalom Dov Ber Stambler and Rabbi Eliezer Gurary, met with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a founder of the ruling Law and Justice Party. Hofman dismissed claims about  rising anti-Semitism as part of “a political war” against Law and Justice.

On Monday Sergiusz Kowalski, who had alerted the government about anti-Semitism as the president of the Polish branch of the B’nai B’rith Jewish group, blasted the group who met with Kaczynski.

The meeting sent a “message that went into the world: ‘We very much have our Jews who love Law and Justice and we have anti-Semitism problem,’” Kowalski told the NaTemat news site. “Such court Jews were long used” by the authorities.

After the meeting with Kaczynski, 14 Polish groups and individuals  — including Michael Schudrich, the chief rabbi of Poland — co-signed a statement Sunday stating that the Chabad rabbis, Shalom Dov Ber Stambler and Eliezer Gurary, along with Daniels and Hofman, do not represent the Jewish community of Poland but at most “themselves or their own organizations.”

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4 Comments

  • Unbeleivable

    It still BAFFLES me that there are shluchim there, when the rebbe specifically said there should NOT be.

    • Menachem

      The Rebbe never said that. It’s a myth.
      All the Rebbe said is that we shouldn’t try to help the community in Poland grow.
      But we should help the Jews that are there currently.

  • Moishe pipek

    I’m sure that Chabad shlichim there know what the Rebbes opinion is and that they would not act contrary to it. Rabbis should not be involved in politics since ultimatly they do harm Politics is the art of sophisticated deception and tmimim are not good at it.