Forgive the imperfections contained in this column. I am writing it quickly and late at night in order to respond to Chabad feedback I have received the entire day concerning the launch event I staged this past Sunday in Alpine, New Jersey with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor as guest of honor.
Op-Ed: Why Chabad and Jewry Urgently Need an Institute of Jewish Values
Forgive the imperfections contained in this column. I am writing it quickly and late at night in order to respond to Chabad feedback I have received the entire day concerning the launch event I staged this past Sunday in Alpine, New Jersey with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor as guest of honor.
I have long lamented the fact that Chabad, the most important Jewish educational organizational in world history, is successful in every area but one: communication. We are a community of extraordinary Rabbis, activists, builders, and fundraisers. But our reach has little to no penetration in the mainstream media. We are rarely represented on television, radio, film, or leading websites. We are largely unknown beyond the Jewish community and the non-Jewish community of large cities.
And yet Chabad’s goal is a Messianic world, a global society suffused with a knowledge of G-d based on ancient Jewish values and teachings. Can that be achieved without a mastery of the media?
I have therefore long dreamed of creating an institute that would train young Jewish scholars – both from Chabad and elsewhere – in the art of becoming exponents of Judaism in the media. The institute would focus on teaching source materials on Jewish values pertaining to five critical areas:
1. Marriage and Relationships
2. Parenting and Child-rearing
3. Media and the Culture
4. Politics and Foreign Policy
5. Finance and Materialism
These are the areas that America, the world’s most influential nation, requires the most guidance. Divorce continues to hover at fifty percent. A growing generation gap separates parents from children. The media becomes more shallow by the day and the culture more decadent. Politics are polarized between right and left and American foreign policy vacillates between remaining silent on the slaughter in Syria, on the one hand, and taking aggressive action against murderers like Bin Laden on the other. And materialism has so corroded the soul of America that in 2008 we nearly collapsed a $10 trillion economy.
All five areas can use a healthy injection of Jewish values if only we could create the exponents to deliver them. The urgency of bringing Jewish values to the masses is all the more pressing given the shocking lack of happiness in a nation that now consumes three quarters of the world’s anti-depressants.
I was honored that the highest ranking Jewish elected official in American history, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia, accepted my invitation to headline our launch event. Eric is a man of patriotism and vision, a public servant with a steely core, great pride in his Jewish tradition, all coated in a deep layer of humility. I have the privilege of studying with Eric Jewish texts relating to Jewish values in his Congressional office and, as a political leader who loves this nation, he agrees that the United States is great because of its values.
As the event came together, I reached out to a wide spectrum of Jewish personalities to join us. Touro President Dr. Alan Kadish was present as was Rabbi Menachem Genack, the global head of the Orthodox Union’s Kashrut Division and one of America’s greatest orthodox scholars. Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, worldwide head of Chabad, also graciously accepted an invitation I conveyed through his son, my friend Rabbi Shmaya Krinsky, as did other Chabad leaders who are doing outstanding work through its global network. Their participation saluted Congressman Cantor’s tireless efforts on behalf of Americans in general and the State of Israel in particular. It also did honor to my dear friend David Slager, one of the prime backers of the new institution who was my student at Oxford and served as President of my organization, the Oxford L’Chaim Society. At Oxford David deepened his commitment to Judaism and has now emerged as a global philanthropist supporting Chabad activities globally.
It is no secret that amid my incontrovertible Chabad identity I clashed with my superiors at Chabad UK, who taught me so much, over the participation of thousands of non-Jews at our events as we grew to become the second largest student society in Oxford’s history. These well-intentioned and selfless men feared that the huge non-Jewish presence might dilute the Jewish character of the organization. I responded that we were educating thousands of non-Jewish future leaders in Jewish values and raising the profile of Jewish learning and tradition. I saw their passion for our activities as a sign that Jewish wisdom could enrich the lives of all the earth’s inhabitants.
Matters came to a head when a young African-American Christian Rhodes scholar by the name of Cory Booker, with whom I studied Torah nearly every day, became our President. Having a non-Jewish president shook the Chabad establishment and an order went out to rescind the membership of all the non-Jewish students. It was an order I simply could not follow. I explained that Cory was one of the most unique individuals I had ever met, a man of warmth, brilliance, and magnetism whom I knew would emerge as a respected world leader and would be an incomparable friend to the Jewish people. I could not embarrass Cory or any of the other non-Jews who were my students, supporters, and friends. I was supported in this decision by the legions of Jewish student members, many of whom were actually brought to our Chabad House by their non-Jewish friends.
With pressure mounting and a legal battle brewing, my wife and I agreed, on one of the saddest days of our lives, to resign our positions as Shluchim of the Rebbe in Oxford. We both signed the resignation papers with tears that have never fully left us.
It gives me both pride and pain to see how Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, recently voted by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, has been embraced as Chabad’s most sought-after speaker in the United States. Pride, because the Torah that Cory and I continue to study serves to inspire hundreds of thousands of Jews the world over with his eloquence and passion for Jewish teachings, amid his firm devotion to his Christian heritage. Pain, because the unresolved issues created by Cory’s presidency and my alienation from my own community continues to affect me and my family.
I give thanks to G-d that so many former Presidents of the Oxford L’Chaim Society occupy positions of leadership that positively affect world Jewry, from Ron Dermer who is Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s chief advisor, to Cory Booker who is the most beloved speaker in the American Jewish community, to David Slager who supports Jewish institutions the world over.
But when I see good men like Chabad head Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky being criticized for attending events that simply seek to promote Jewish values in the mainstream culture, I question whether the Rebbe’s dream of an all-encompassing Ahavas Yisroel will be fully realized.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is the international best-selling author of 26 books, the London Times Preacher of the Year, and the recipient of the American Jewish Press Association’s Highest Award for Excellence in Commentary. His books on Jewish values, “Renewal: A Guide to the Values-Filled Life,” and “Judaism for Everyone: Renew Your Life Through the Vibrant Lessons of the Jewish Faith”, have both been published by Basic Books. His columns regularly appear in the Wall Street Journal, The Jerusalem Post, and The Huffington Post. Follow him on Twitter @Rabbi Shmuley.
AN OPEN LETTER TO SHMULEY BOTEACH
Dear Shmuley
I admire you for putting out this well written article. At the same time, it is yet another plea for acceptance into the Chabad mainstream. You’re clever and you know how to chip your way through the stone wall that was put up in front of you.
As you mention criticism of you, clearly you are privy to remarks made, mostly on Shluchium Achdus. That said, I can then only presume you will be reading responses posted here as well. So Shmuley perhaps you can also answer some of the following:
1) Was it all about Cory Booker? What about Yitzchak Rabin which was unnecessary and when you were asked to disinvite you refused.
2) Was it all about Cory Booker? What about books such as the Jewish guide to Adultery and Kosher S** which has content no shliach would dare submit to the Rebbe.
3) Was it all about Cory Booker? What about your stance on homosexuality and your book Moses of Oxford, which you admitted thereafter contained serious hashkafic flaws?
There’s more but I respect you enough to not regurgitate some of it in a public forum like this.
Still, perhaps you can answer me this as well: I never did believe it till I was actually shown you hugging women in your Sholom in the Home program. Is that with the Rebbe’s blessing? Does that make you representative of Chabad? Wouldn’t any shliach seen doing the same on national television, be asked to leave his position? Granted that happened after you left the UK but perhaps the leaders of Chabad UK saw the slippery slope your pursuit of self-aggrandizement was leading you down, and got in ahead of it, lest they be tarred with the same brush.
You’re a self-made man and kudos to you for what you made of yourself and how well you impact your surrounds. But your methodology is not in conformity with basic Chabad principles. I have no qualms in stating that some of your actions would be a source of displeasure to the Rebbe, and on that basis, the good (great?) work you do is lost in those compromises.
I truly admire that you still have your beard and kapoteh which is so much more than many others can say for themselves. But I do wonder whether your purporting a Chabad image, posing with Chabad elite, preaching to Chabad shluchim, while making all those compromises along the way, is not a case of “immersion with the rodent in your hand.”
Wishing you immense success in all your endeavors, and praying that you see the light obscured only by your sense of self-importance, and truly find your way home.
An old friend, who still loves you with all your faults.
PS: For whatever your supposed intentions, no one can blame you for Rabbi Krinsky being there. He knows why he was there and we know why he was there. Ki hashoichad yiaver ainai pikchim… At least, he doesn’t look too comfortable in the picture.
look at the messenger
What shocks me is not the message, but the messenger. Shmuly Boteach thinks HE is the one to talk about family values? Look at his “lecture tours”. When he spoke in my parents’ shul they refused to go because the topic was so outrageous. I still can’t understand how Rabbi Krinsky is willing to be associated with a man who was stripped of his Shlichus.
Pini
Shmuley,
Although I have often disagreed or not seen eye to eye with your outlook on certain topics, I feel that at worst this is a “harmless” initiative, and at best, something which will achieve the goals you are seeking, and infuse and arm our up and coming Rabbi’s with the ability to communicate our message in a way that is more “relevant” and effective; while carrying the message of Rebbe and Torah, thereby penetrating the hearts and minds of those being spoken to by these Rabbis and causing the sought after impact and results. This leads me to believe that those “opposing” here having nothing legitimate to “hang their hat on” from a Lubavitch perspective, but rather these are the type of people who seem to find fault and criticize anything that anyone with initiative is undertaking. Usually, these people have not and are not achieving anything themselves, and they become the arm-chair critics for all those who do. So while your editorial sought to clarify what this particular initiative is, perhaps sometimes, when the opposition is not a real or legitimate opposition, but merely one seeking to counter for the sake of countering, you give them legitimacy when there should be none. It’s best to save the responses when the inquirers or critics are sincere and have a legitimate argument and concern. Best of luck to you.
Danny
If your intentions are to help chabad students, why not go throw the proper channels like 770, not touro a collage a place where someone you admire the Lubavitcher rebbe did not approve
Boteach
Shmuli Boteach has finally arrived to fix Lubavitch and to take it to the next step. Wow, finally! Where have you been all this time in our miserable failures?
A concerned citizen
The problem is that despite the fact that Rabbi Boteach does great work he has also written many books that are very questionable and had a tv program that was not following the laws of modesty, so how can he be suprised when chabad is upset that HE wants to educate the future leaders of Chabad
Botach tactical
Well said Rabbi Shmuley. the people who criticize are inbred illiterate degenerates who are complete failures in life.
A fan
Rabbi Shmuley – Keep up your holy work and ignore the naysayers. You are an inspiration. Chazak Chazak.
Clarity needed
Can someone tell me why Rabbi Boteach’s new institute is any less Shlichus the Friendship Circle?
Friendship circle is a great cause but no one can say that’s its good old traditional Shlichus (Torah & Mitzvot) as it always was, yet it is accepted as a Shlichus of the Rebbe.
Is it because Rabbi Boteach’s new institute will impact non Jewish people? Go to any Friendship Circle and you will see that they service non Jewish people quite largely.
Is there a double standard here?
Either Shlichus remains the old traditional way as it was before Gimmol Tammoz, or if we accept there are different forms of Shlichus then why should an institute like Rabbi Boteach’s be any less Shlichus the a Friendship circle and the like and there should be Chabad representation at Rabbi Boteach’s event?
Mottel
Rabbi Boteach speak for yourself – as a shaliach myself I find your article condescending and patronizing. I regularly feature in local media and consider myself an eloquent spokesman for yiddishkeit.
1234567890
so is this a new chabad organization, or a boeach org.? i thought you said it was markowitz’s organization?
can someone explain?
thanks
well said
YP
Great Job SHMULEY !!!
I am not one of you staunch supporters. but this articles is true and warm, and brings out your side of a half-known story
It hurts to see the same people who are now running after the people you educated were the ones who pushed you out.
Just a Chossid
Lubavitch as a whole and Shluchim in particular do not need to hear Shmuly whining. How many times does he mention himself in the article? I am glad it was written quickly and late at night, this way we can really hear what is in his heart. And words from the heart enter the heart. Unfortunately, he fails to attribute the success he enjoyed at Oxford to the one who sent him, the Rebbe. Where is his success since he left? Michael Jackson? Obviously, the Rebbe’s emissaries in England made the correct decision to remove him from his position. Although I find it somewhat frustrating, I would love to hear their perspective. But, truth be told, they are only responsible to the Rebbe for their decisions, not me or any one else.
The model that the Rebbe gave us is what we ought to committed to. Working with individuals and applying our concern to their personal lives.
Values R Us
I applaud your attempt at trying to do what the Abishter wants us to do- make this world a place that is fitting for His shechina.
Yes, you are correct that we need to do more, we must never stop striving to make this world a better place for all human beings.
And I, am proud that Rabbi Krinsky made an attempt at doing somethng positive and that he is lending his support.
Its important to stress that it is not just Jews that have a value system, there are many Non Jews amongst the nations of the world that believe deeply in Living according to values – most of which we share in common with them.
This world is a place for both Jews and Non Jews and when Jews promote a value system and live according to that way – it brings great nachas to the Abishter and sets an example for all.
The media is unfortunately filled with all sorts of reports r”l of the opposite – they report on it with a glee that shames the Jews that try hard to live a value filled life. And leaves many disillusioned,a great many of the younger crowd.
Yes, this is important.
We are weakened by these reports and it chas vesholom causes many to loose their faith in religion.
As a frum Jew- I realize that it shakes ones faith in our leaders when we see narishkeit going on – those we look up too have a very special job- They don’t realize how many peoples faith and devotion will be shaken if they see them act less then they should.
Your actions speak louder than your words is something that we often say. But, fail to actually realize the intensity that others examine our actions, now more than ever.
Children today will be the Adults of tommorrow,
What kind of message or future will our great grandchildren have if we don’t give a proper boost to our Value system and start taking serious inventory where we’ve been slacking.
I thank you Shmulie your heart is good, as well as your intentions.
A Shliach
Very confusing!
1. Is the purpose of this to teach Shluchim how to reach the media? We already have very capable institutions doing that and by-and-large Shluchim do a great job of local coverage. We usually headline any news article associated with Judaism or Jewish topics.
2. Is the purpose to teach Shluchim “Jewish values”? If so, then the insinuation here is that a lifetime spent studying Chassidus, Gemoro, Shluchan Oruch etc. does not do the job. Only Rabbi Shmuley Boteach can do it right. That is downright wrong and offensive!
Bottom line: Our Rebbe who instituted Shlichus as we know it and set up the most powerful Jewish institution in the world today knew exactly what he was doing when he necessitated limud HaTorah and kabolas ol as a perquisite to Shlichus. Adding this dimension under a new organization and not under the auspices of Merkos — the organization the Rebbe tasked with all Shlichus-related issues — is not only counter to the wishes of the Rebbe but can be very damaging to the holy institutions he set up.
Not All of Us
Rabbi Boteach, you have so much foresight, intelligence,and success, it is a pity that our Chabad Shluchim and leaders don’t use it to their advantage. I am sorry that your family is being affected so negatively. I salute you, your wife, and children for all that you do. Please understand that there are some of us Lubavitchers who do have the “all-encomppasing” Ahavas Yisroel. I continue to follow your success and look forward to the time that your Institute of Jewish Values becomes a reality.
Avraham
Boteach is correct that the Lubavitcher Rebbe did have a vision and mission for every human being, not just Jews, and that this job has yet to be taken seriously, but if Boteach’s agenda is to fulfill the Rebbe’s mission to the world, then why does he ignore the one major agenda that the Rebbe spoke about EVERY SINGLE TIME he spoke about non- Jews: The 7 laws of Noach?
The job is clear: to spread the awareness of One G-d and His laws for humanity. A goy must accept them because they were given to Moshe at Sinai. (as the known diyuk in the Rambam)
Instead its all about HIS own ideas for humanity, and for marriages, and for parenting. His PR, HIS fame and influence, HIS proteges, and HIS reputation.
Response to Rabbi Boteach
Dear Rabbi Boteach,
Your tale is very moving and I believe every word. I also think you made the right decision in handing in your shlichus card. I also commend you for your global vision. Your early books on Chasidus and especially Moshiach are the best around.
And…here comes the but. Your manner is at times very un-Chabad like. I refer to certain aspects of your personal style, which you have admitted to and sometimes take pride in, as well as the occasionally crass manner in which you speak or write especially regarding matters of intimacy, celebrities etc. Interviews to certain publications that you gave and appearances on certain radio shows were also very un-frum like, and certainly un-Chabad like.
I love your articles about Israel and other subjects, but many in Chabad find your public criticisms of Chabad unfair and don’t understand why you publish them in the JPost, instead of this forum or others which are actually read but your intended audience.
Because of the above, I think there is a healthy skepticism about you and anything you launch, no matter how noble. Chasidim have a chush ha-reiach and you are not passing the smell, apparently. I would encourage you to publicly denounce your past ways — i refer to the crassness and public attacks on Chabad — and I can assure you that you will be embraced wholeheartedly by the Chabad community. Nobody holds the Oxford incident against you, so clearing that up is not really the issue.
May G-d bless you, you are clearly a very talented and brilliant person. Clean it up a little, and your light will shine forth one thousand fold and we’ll get in line behind you to support you.
With humility and all due respect,
I remain,
Anonymous
Hershel
I love you Rabbi Boteach
Crown Height-s Shmendrick
Boteach – Chabad is doing a pretty fine job in its foray into the public eye, though it doesn’t necessarily go into the areas you might.
You resigned from being a Chabad rep and thus freed yourself from Chabad’s self-imposed restrictions.
There are many references to the “me” in your piece. You certainly are charismatic, well-spoken and wield a finely-tuned pen.
So let’s call a spade a spade. You want a larger audience, clientele for yourself, wearing the zeidene djupitze of chabad outereach. No can do.
You chose your calling and it is Outreach Boteach Style. And good for you; you’ve done rather well for yourself. Don’t use RYKrinsky (the face man for today’s corporate Lubavitch – which and who topped the mainstream list of influential leaders – so much for poor PR) as a shield. He’ll take care of criticism himslef well enough. And the Rebbe’s dream of Ahavas Yisrael will be actualized in spite of your questions. Of course that will take some work on my your and RYK’s parts.
I wish you well in your effort. Just keep it clear that its oibjective is NOT aligned necessarily with the Rebbe’s or his representatives.
Please..
Next time think before you act.
to number 9
To number9,
Please be careful not to speak for “any friendship circle out there” as not all of them service non Jewish clientele. This is an endless debate among Friendship Circle shluchim and the vaad. Thank you …
Blueprint Gheula
I read the numerous comments and feel that most of you have missed the point. What Rabbi Boteach is trying to do is to educate Jews to be able to reach the rest of the world with our values, teachings, knowledge and love. I don’t blame those of you that resist. Over the centures, many families were lost, loved ones killed and Jews persecuted, and sadly, this is still happening today. This is the reality of the world in which we live. But we have a choice, either continue on the way we have been, which is to be an insular group of people, that believes that Torah, gheulah and Moshiach is only for us, the Jewish people…..or finally, take what is to the Nations, which are the sheva mitzvot Bnai Noach with their numerous ramifications and the part of the Torah that applies to the non-Jewish world at large. So, what Rabbi Boteach is trying to do is to set up an institute where we can learn to teach our values to the world, learn how to be on the stage and around non Jews and take the message of the Torah in a way that is appealing, knowledgeable and truthful. This is indeed the only way in which the world will be fulfilled with the knowledge of G-d. We have the market cornered on truth, because we the Jewish people are the keepers of the Torah on this earth and the only ones qualified to teach to the world what applies to them. The monks can’t do it, the imams can’t do it and neither can the priests. So, its time for this institute to take center stage and be a forum and place where rabbis and non rabbis can prepare to fill in this gap and do it in the best and most effective way possible.
I applaud Rabbi Boteach for taking this courageous step and wish him hatzlacha. I don’t know what happened in the past, but I also don’t live in the past. Go forward Rabbi Boteach, follow the path of Chassidus without compromise and be a part of the fulfillment of the prophecy…..“And therefore we hope to You, Lord our G-d, that We may speedily behold the splendor of Your might, to banish idolatry from the earth, and perfect the world under the sovereignty of the Almighty….all inhabitants of the world will recognize and know that every knee should bend to you and every tongue should swear by your name..
Yes, this is the mission of all Jews, that is why our Chabad Houses should not only bringing our brothers and sisters back to the fold, but also teaching the rest of the world what they need to know to make this world a dira betach’tonim. Our Rebbe said, ”I have done all that I can, now its up to you”.
Rabbi Boteach, go forward with humility, courage and blessing. Shavua Tov everyone!