110 Comments

• YES!

  Yes we are evolving and modernizing, correct!
  but sometimes in the wrong direction…

• I agree 100%

  Very well written!

• Just wrong!!! Chabad principles is not u

  Sorry, but you are wrong.
  This thinking is the product of many years of neglect in the area of authentic Chabad chinuch. It allowed for lots of ignorance in the areas of our identity, history and teachings. It welcomed some ideas to bring evolving and progress. Now we ripe the results.
  This view made its way deep in our circles and it has become reality.
  There is no use in fighting it, it is here to stay.
  A deep rooted effort to repair the initial mistakes due to negligence has to be developed. Maybe that might still be somewhat of a solution.

• AMEN!

  I agree with you 10000% + And anyone that dosent is crazy! G-D made me and you, hence he want each person to live there life make there own choices (bechira chafshis) So no one is in place to judge anyone else like it says in Mishna and I believe the Rambam talks about it as well and more. When you judge someone else you should be judging yourself as what you see bad in them is in you as well. So if you judge or dont accept someone for who they are you are advertising that you have a problem and you to are not doing all the “right” things.

  Some Crown Heights people think they own CH own 770 own lubavitch yet they have no time to “own” them selfs. “B’shvili Nivrah Haolam!” Think about it before you hate on it! I have a right you have a right, I have an opinion you have an opinion, you have a soul I have a soul. So lets just let everyone do there thing. Dont hate on them and send an OP-ED to Ch.info about the fact that you saw someone wearing a short skirt! Get over it!! If you want to make sure you never see an “immodest” person again you may want to consider becoming Amish and moving to a farm in middle of no where!

  Peace!

• REAL ID

  Evolve as you wish but the torah and the shuchan aruch as your guide. And then if you deviate from the path of Lubavitch you should be happy to call yourself something other than Lubavitch!

• tzetumelt

  Unlike Young Israel or NCSY-Lubavitch is a Hassidus not an association or youth movement that is subject to endless reinterpretation and so called“ evolution.” The “Constitution”of Lubavitch is the body of writings and practices of the Rebbeim and the ziknei Hahassidim.The Rebbe started outreach to get assimilated Jews to adopt Lubavitcher practices-not the other way around.The Rebbe used darkei noam to bring the wayward back to the fold. He would,however, never compromise on the central tenets of Chassidus like tznius,beard,learning Hassidus with great seriousness,no college,rejection of luxuries, yearning for the Geulah,etc.The central error in Lubavitch “lite” thinking is not understanding that a Chosid’s job is to influence the less committed Jew. What’s happening is the opposite-the American culture is seriously changing Lubavitch. Did the Rebbe Rayatz not say countless times“Amerike iz nit andersh?”Do those words mean that Lubavitch is now entering a new evolutionary developmental stage where self-actualization supercedes the Shulchan Aruch and the Tanya? I don’t think so.

• ceo

  hmmm. aren’t we at least striving for the Rebbe’s ultimate values? I mean we accept and love each other, but are we accepting to the point of going down with it?

• ceo

  hmmm. aren’t we at least striving for the Rebbe’s ultimate values? I mean we accept and love each other, but are we accepting to the point of going down with it?
  and I want to know why this writer didn’t give a name?
  I’m just getting bored of using this forum really. We may be spending more time on reading controversy than we are doing chessed and other mitzvot……this controversy really does get people reading the website here, doesnt it….

• Chaim Yankel

  Yawn…

• The power of the roaming mind

  wow – this is so brilliant – I almost fell off my seat reading this. Its amazing what a mind could achieve.

• Hit the spot!

  This article points out exactly what is happening in Crown Heights! So true!

• Mendel

  There is only one thing that dictates what a Lubavitcher is, and that is the rebbe, and his directives anything else is not chabad, rather your own branch of judaisim.

• #Occuppy CH

  mamby pamby liberal garbage. the kind of ridiculous “thinking” you find at #OWS

• Chaim Tovim

  Everyone can serve G-d in their own way. Some wave palm branches on Palm Sunday; others on Sukkos. Some eat wafers each week; others eat Matzos on Pesach.

  Torah has defined mitzvos (as taught by our sages) and they are defined; not pick and choose to “serve G-d in their unique way”. What is so beautiful about Judaism is that it is fairly clear (to those who are orthodox and especially those who are Chassidim).

  For example, the Tzemach Tzedek defined halachah as prohibiting tampering with the beard in any way. (And no, the Rebbe did not trim his beard prior to the ne’sius.) If you choose to trim your beard, don’t say that you are serving G-d the ways defined by the rebbe’im as halachah. “Your own unique way” then has nothing to do with (Chabad) Judaism. It might work fine with modern orthodox, but not Chabad.

  So too short skirts or pants for women, and uncovered heads. Shulchan Aruch, especially as defined by Chassidus and the Rebbe’im says a woman must cover her head etc… Women in pants might be acceptable in the modern orthodox community where everyone can “serve G-d in their unique way” but has nothing to do with Chabad chassidus…

• just keep quit

  what a stupid thing to say, yes the world is evolving yes technology is evolving but Judaism is NOT evolving, i myself am am not the best of jews i myself at times do things that are wrong and as a matter of fact most people do things that are wrong some do more some do less but to go blame it on “evolving” that’s the most ridicules thing i have ever heard, and yes crown heights does not belong to anyone it is in fact a free country (probably not for very much longer if Obama get is a second term) however do you know of any Lubavitcher living in borough park or flatbush not that i know of that’s because they don’t feel they are part if the community as a matter of fact if someone that does not leave up to the standards moves in im sure they will be dumped out faster then you can imagine, in crown heights no one is dumping you out but don’t come writing articles that the world is evolving, if you want to leave here no one is stopping you just keep quit and keep your non sense to your self, and don’t make as if its your community if its not

• a Shliach

  the article is written like a true secular person. Oi ve avoi.
  You are missing the entire point of what it means to be a yid and further what it means to be a chossid.
  True Judaism has evolved to be more frum not less frum. We have adapted modern apparatus but the observance if anything has become stricter rather than more lenient.

  As the darkness of this golus gets stronger and weakens (challenges) ones attachment to Hakodosh Boruch Hu the need to add more in observance becomes necessary.
  Being Chabad has certain clear principles like being Jewish has certain fundamental principles. Anytime someone comes and desires to weaken, dilute, those practices a big red flag must go up and the danger signs need to be noticed.

  If you care to live a true Chabad lifestyle and not just to the outside but internally, my advice is you find a good mashpia and start learning more chassidus.

  Hatzlocho.

• Sara

  Dear Anonymous Author:

  You say:

  “Everyone chooses their spiritual path for different reasons, and many people who choose to live life a little more modernly do not view themselves as “injured on a battlefield,” “fallen brethren” or on a lower spiritual level. Perhaps, being more open minded than some of you, they just consider it a different level (because who said yours is higher or lower, better or worse?). In fact, many probably view themselves as liberated (something which I’m sure many commenters will claim is because they are suffering from some horrible mental disease).”

  Tor the most part, this is untrue. Most of “our children” do not become OTD, Modern, etc. because of any Spiritual Decision. They have not studied different paths or made an intellectual choice. They are simply lazy and/or have given in to their Yezter Horas.

  Not keeping cholov yisroel or not keeping shabbos or not keeping tsnius – these are not the result of open-mindedness, unless someone’s mind is so open, that their brain has fallen out. Plain and simple, this is less.

  Did you write this just to garner interest or did you actually speak to kids and teens to get the gist of their hanhoga – or lack thereof?

  It doesn’t all stop and start with a university education, or wanting to wear various colors. If you think it does, then you aren’t addresses the real evolution of Chabad. Kids, teens, and twenty-somethings that are mamesh frei. And frei is hardly Lubavitch.

• you-re missing something

  One problem-Chabad has it’s OWN outlooks and rules to follow..and if you don’t follow them you’re simply not Chabad.. I don’t mean it in a rude way..it’s just how it is

  If you wear the uniform of a US soldier but you don’t march in the army and follow their rules..you’re simply not a solider. And if you ARE a in the army, wear the uniform, and are a soldier, but don’t follow the rules..THEY KICK YOU OUT..
  How is this not clear?

• As long as you follow the Torah

  Well and good, as long as you don’t mean that we must all “evolve” and find our own way wherever it leads–without any guidelines. The fact is that we have the Torah, which is applicable today just as it was in former times, regardless of how the goyim dress or what they watch on television. And the Torah is not a secret: anyone willing to put in the hard work can learn it to the point they understand the Torah’s guidelines for us. But those who have not put in that hard work and do not know a lot of Torah should be willing to accept the word of those who have and who do.

• Nobody

  Deterioration is also evolution.

• Feh

  Feh. No reason, just Feh.

• chaim

  unfortunately you are totally wrong. Chabad’s existed with basic chassidshier idea’s. We are not like Satemar or Bobov, but still keep to our roots of being different then the goyim. Wearing a hat doesn’t make you more chasidscher its a way of living, not only on shabbos with the kappota. College is changing chabad look, money, greed, power and politics and will only get worse. So we are going to have the old timers of chabad and new chabad-lite guys who really mean no harm. However, those children would be called in basic english ‘modern orthodox” and not chabad. They can believe in a Rebbe or learn chassidus, but would never be called a chabad chosid.

• joe

  every joe shmo has an opinion

• Your right, but too much of a good thing

  To author: I think the term you meant to use, is“ changing directions” evolving would entail taking something small and making it a greater existence, but what we have been witnessing in the past couple of decades as a society, is evolving to a more accepting civilization,

  but just like everything else in our society of consumption we don’t know when to stop “evolving” and it has gone way to far, where every single thought someone has, becomes a cause, and enlightened individuals start a movement to bring that thought to a new existence.

  In conclusion, in religion evolving is a good thing, but apparently our “big city life” has helped individuals regress in the name of evolvement taken too far

• a mom

  Why cant they make schools that ascribe to this modern way of life? When I had to sign registration papers in my kids school, there was a line, about not having a tv in my house. What a farce!! The parents of the year own tvs, and stuff. If as you say everything is changing, why cant there be an evolved school for the parents who feel they want to evolve, and leave the yeshivas of yesteryear alone? Why dont you evolved people set up your own moisdos, so that my kid can stay in the old shtetle where I was brought up, with the teachings of my Rebbe, who by the way left a legacy for us to live by?

• a mom

  Why cant they make schools that ascribe to this modern way of life? When I had to sign registration papers in my kids school, there was a line, about not having a tv in my house. What a farce!! The parents of the year own tvs, and stuff. If as you say everything is changing, why cant there be an evolved school for the parents who feel they want to evolve, and leave the yeshivas of yesteryear alone? Why dont you evolved people set up your own moisdos, so that my kid can stay in the old shtetle where I was brought up, with the teachings of my Rebbe, who by the way left a legacy for us to live by?

• MM

  “No Rebbe” no Chabad! Look how each year the Kinus is growing. How can one say that there is no active rebbe in Chabad? Look how many new Chabad houses open every month!

• shmulik

  You quote “I don’t think anyone here has the right to dictate who is or isn’t Chabad. Everybody connects with Hashem, Judaism, the Rebbe and Chabad (which really stands for the personal attributes of the mind and soul) in their own unique way.”

  I think the Rebbe has the right to dictate who is and whos not.
  The Rebbe spoke how beards are SO SO important!

  How television is horrible and does not belong in a chossids house!

  Learn chassidus, go to mikva….

  If a person does not do these things even though he knows how important they are to the Rebbe what exactly makes him a Lubavitcher????

  Because he wears a Kapota? davens shacharis at 12 pm? gets drunk Shabbos day?
  And about your “evolving” in America, let me ask what אמעריקא איז נישט אנדערשט means? unless in your reform guidebook you have another “evolved” meaning to that?!

  And before you open your ignorant mouth about the Rebbe and university, Let me ask you, Did you finish Shas, Poskim, Rishonim, Acharonim… That you are ready for the secular world?
  You Quote
  “And I doubt that the Alter Rebbe’s chassidim would think you were more chassidish for wearing a white shirt and Fedora as opposed to a striped shirt and a kasket.

  Do you know that the Jews in Egypt were redeemed because שלא שינו את שמם, לבושם,שפתם
  They did not change their names, Clothes or language?
  or you did not learn that in yeshiva?
  (for more info on this topic see http://www.chabad.org/kabba… )

  You quote
  ”We don’t all have to dress exactly the same way and think exactly the same things. We just have to be accepting and understanding.“

  You are absolutely 100 percent right! we dont all have to dress, Act, observe the torah the same, BUT DONT FOOL YOURSELVES INTO THINKING ”I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT, AND STILL BE A LUBAVITCHER“,
  Read some Kuntres Umaayon (Overcoming Folly) the Yetzer Haras most powerful weapon is ”Do this and that Aveira and dont worry, You are still connected to Hashem“

  JUDAISM IS FROM BIRTH, YOU ARE BORN JEWISH WETHER YOU CHOOSE OR NOT, BEING A LUBAVITCHER CHOSSID IS BY CHOICE, YOU EITHER FOLLOW WHAT THE REBBE SAYS OR YOU DONT!!!!!

  And dont tell me, ”well the Rebbe never spoke to much about Tznius,We are not Meah Shearim“ The Rebbe spoke about mivtsoim, Mashiach…?
  Thats Because being a Chossid means goes way beyond the basic tenets of Shulchan Aruch!, it means not having a skirt that just barely covers,,, לפנים משורת הדין

  And about ”accepting and understanding everyone“
  Thats Bogus garbage!
  we dont ”understand“ or accept the ”evolving“ Conservative, Reform, Renewal, WE UNDERSTAND AND ACCEPT THAT THEY ARE אפיקורסים, כופרים and so on, And let our children clearly know that they are absolutely on the wrong path!

  What we do ”understand and accept is, That (some of them)
  were born Jewish, therefore we have a responsibility towards them כל ישראל ערבים זה לזה and therefore we love them and treat them like fellow Jews!

  Ant the same can be said about your “evolved” friends,
  Your not Chabad or chassidim, you are far from the Rebbes vision of what a Chossid should be, But we still love you and Respect you!

  Anyhow סוף ישראל לעשות תשובה
  May we merit to be real chassidim of the Rebbe.

• evolving is ok..BUT..

  wearing mini skirts and shorts in the street is not

• issue

  so The Rebbe may have changed and evolved Lubavitch/Chassidish lifestyle when he came here..but WE are NOT The Rebbe..we do not have this authority..

• Yosy C.

  This is perhaps the most nonsensical editorial I have read on this topic. Levi A., do you not realize that halacha & torah remain the same and do not evolve? Going from a streimel to hat hat is one thing. Trimming and/or shaving is another. The former has no basis in halacha. The latter is in clear violation of torah and halacha. Even more so if one considers themselves a chabad or lubavitcher. The same can be said about tznius.

  Is crown heights.info short of material that it needs to allow every seemingly controversial op-ed to be posted??

• E.M.

  To MM:What does opening a Chabad house have to do with being a serious Lubavitcher chosid? In Bayis Sheni there were many kohanim gedolim who were tziddukim and they were in the holiest place on earth.What does quantity have to do with quality?How many Dunkin Donuts open every month?What does it mean?Nothing.

• yosy

  Having a beard is emulating a philosophy which was established from the earliest known, documented fact otherwise referred to as the Torah.
  All the Avos had beards. All the prophets had beards. All the Rabbeiyim had beards. You, who chooses NOT to follow in the ways of our forefathers – cannot possibly say that; “There was no Rebbe before this one who went to university, worked a regular day job, changed from a long bekeshe and shtreimel to a modern suit and hat and who for some time had a very nicely groomed beard.” The Rebbe NEVER EVER trimmed or “groomed” his beard! His going to a “day-job” was because he was drafted into the Army, and served in the U.S. NAvy!? Not because he wanted to pursue a “career”!?
  You idiots call rebellion “to evolve”?! The only thing that seems to evoke a response, is when you’re called by your real and true names: OIS VORF & SHTICK DRECK!

• NO!

  to YES!

  You clearly didn’t understand this article at all.

• frustrated of imature adults

  Thank you foor putting all my feelings in one artical

• Moshe

  To Levi A, I love the way how people find excuses to modernize themselves and call themselves Chabad. In the end of the day the Torah is the same as Moshe received it on Har Sini. Halacha is the same, exactly how the alter rebbe wrote it some 250 years ago. Instead of looking for excuses, look for Halacha.

• Can-t have your cake, and eat it to!

  You are living a life of a well intentioned jew, which is fine and I’m sure hashem loves you and the rebbe loves,

  But the rebbe loves you so much he would send shluchim to bring you closer to hashem from your evolved life

  Because your mindset has you taking a detour off the chabad old beaten path

• to levi a..the author..

  how old are you? i sense you have some maturing to do..

• Rodney B,

  What a waste of time and space.

• The author is right and wrong

  You are right that nobody can dictate to you what spiritual level you should be on, that is between you and G-d. I do feel however that if you are not on a spiritual level that the Rebbe would approve of, you should not be parading your spiritual level in Crown Heights. It is wrong for those of us who are trying to be on a higher spiritual level.

• berel

  #12 you hit the spot.
  “lubavitch is evolving” sound like a statement used by the reform movement when it was invented

• Reform anyone?!

  Lets save 50 years and just join reform, after all CH is “evolving” that way.

• BCH

  To all those who are presumptuous enough to “speak for the Rebbe” here in deciding who is and who isn’t “Chabad”, did you ever look in the mirror and ask the person you see in there, “are YOU Chabad”? Do you learn and daven like a real chosid? Do YOU work on being “meshane es teva midosecho” (the entire point of chasidus) like a real chosid? Are YOU a penimi like a real chosid? Do YOU give tzedoka begashmius uveruchnius like a real chosid?“ . . .

  And, above all, have YOU ever wondered, ”if I was the way a real chosid should be, would’t this woman / man be embarrassed to be dressed this way in front of me? And if she isn’t, doesn’t it call first and formost call for real introspection on MY part?

  In the past, we were all were embarrassed to be seen by the Rebbe if we felt that we somehow didn’t measure up (be it outwardly or inwardly). What is the real lesson from that today? To point your fingers at those you think don’t measure up or to work on YOURSELF and as result be able to have that Rebbe-like effect (if only in some small measure) on others?

  If people don’t respect you if will do you no good to DEMAND their respect. The only thing you can do is WORK ON YOURSELF that that you will deserve that respect.

• groomed beard

  the rebbe groomed his beard? are you nuts?

• JLL

  The Rebbe never groomed his beard, as a non lubavitcher i appreciate the fact that my shliach is a beacon for what a jew should and i strive to be like him, falling short…i dont want to see this diamond of judaism fall, i want to be like not the other way around

• I agree with # 40

  You said it!

• very uneducated

  chabad stands for not evolving and modernizing; u got some learning to do here, or you can join reform- thats what they are all about. DO NOT BRING DOWN THE CHABAD NAME WITH THIS NONSENSE.

• Don-t make a shito out of this...

  You want to be fry, be fry. But don’t make a shito out of it. Chabad philosophy doesn’t evolve, and it never has. It’s gone through external changes, true. Like the way we dress, for instance. But never has a Chabad chossid been walking the walk of the modern orthodox, or even the non-observant, Jew.

• GROOMED BEARD?

  ok ur “open-ed” just lost all accountability.
  goodbye.

• oysh

  i feel bad for these youngins who are struggling with these mixed ideas and views..may Hashem help them through this and bring Moshiach NOW
  the older chassidim understand how it is supposed to be and how it used to be..if only we could go back in time and show them how special life was when the Rebbe was around and people followed his teachings thoroughly..

• C. Gurevich

  I say “whatever”. Life is so varied. Let it be. That’s how it is….varied. We are all on this planet together, and not all of us walk the same path. Omeyn. That’s it. That’s how it’s always been, so let’s move on. Bless us all, Hashem; and help us to be tolerant, compassionate, supportive to our fellow human beings, deepening in our own spirituality, and accepting of those whose choices do not exactly mirror ours. Anything less is, in my opinion, lacking the most basic of respectful and intelligent behavior. We can espouse our own beliefs for ourselves, but how can we ever be so arrogant as to feel the next person with a different choice is less close to Hashem. It just doesn’t seem appropriate. Sorry, it just doesn’t. Life is so vast.

• HT

  we can thank our education system for the kind of nonsense that Levi A. publishes here.

• secrets

  I’ll tell you what hasn’t changed: Lubavitchers are a secretive bunch. They think they are all still in Russia afraid of the KGB, their neighborss, their relatives. Everything with them is a secret. Where did you go for Shabbos? A friend’s house. What are you serving at the upsherin? We haven’t decided. Who babysat for you last night? A girl down the street. Okay, these are not such big deal secrets, but why not just answer? No one is asking to see your tax returns. I just don’t get it.

• Dear Author

  Evolving connotes growth. Not detoriation.

• wron wrong wrong

  Chabad is staying the same it’s just some people choosing to opt out of it and chabad’s way but still call themselfs chabad.

• disgusted wth this stupid article

  What a horrible, stupid article. The Torah is holy. Chabad is holy.You want to be modern go ahead but do not call yourself chabad. we have standards. the torah did not change in over 3,000 years. nothing “evolved” anywhere. NO you want to walk around naked go to a nudist colony. People like this author are very young and immature kids. You will learn that life is real. When you grow up and get married, move to Flatbush. NO you can not be modern here by us. Too many people like you are ruining our kids and our neighborhood. Get out!!!!!!!!!!!! If you follow teachings of Chabad you are chabad if not you can be a jew but not one of us.

• Evolution, not dissolution

  Evolving is using technology like Facebook and the Internet and portable devices to spread Chassidus.

  Dissolving is lowering those standards because you’d prefer an easy ride but you want to remain a member of the club

• To number 18

  The rebbe pleaded with everyone not to smoke does that mean if you smoke cigarettes your not chabad? Dont start making up your own shtick whats really a Lubavitcher because who are you to judge other Jews. There are no specific “rules” you have to go by to be a Lubavitcher.

• to 48

  I must say, I did a double take when I saw your title. Very clever.

• some of my observations

  “don’t think anyone here has the right to dictate who is or isn’t Chabad. Everybody connects with Hashem, Judaism, the Rebbe and Chabad (which really stands for the personal attributes of the mind and soul) in their own unique way. Just because one person’s outlook does not conform to your own does not mean it is wrong or that s/he is not Chabad.”

  just like be a jew in your hearts and home, not on the street just in this case its “be a lubavitcher chassid(meaning going lifnim meshurat hadin) in your heart”

  you sound just like a member of “the enlightment”
  “There was no Rebbe before this one who went to university,”

  and no rebbe who spoke against university as much either.
  “And now, with NO REBBE to actively lead and guide the masses, it will evolve even more.” This isnt reality, this is your confusion.
  Anyway, when people would say such a thing about the F”R (He’s not here) after 10 shvat 5710, it would get the rebbe really really really upset. so if you can say such a thing, then you are either NOT a lubavitcher chassid or you are a poor confused soul

  IN any case – Dont put me together with your change because as far as im concerned, me and my family are going michoyil el choyil :P

  If you dont take the rebbes words sereously what gives you the right to call your self a chabad lubavitcher?( even though the rebbe will will be shlepped with you into all your shmutz)

  dont call me judgemental, IM asking some very valid questions here

• concerned in MA

  To #51……
  Thank you. Nicely stated.

• America Gonif

  Do you wear payos like the alter Rebbe? No.
  Do you wear the levush of the Tzemach Tzedek? No.
  Are you fluent in the language of the Rebbe Rashab? Most of you no.
  Do you wear a Spudik likethe Freierdike Rebbe? No.

  Did the Rebbe wear an American-style Fedora? Yes.

  Your Zeide ate vegetables when he could get them. You don’t

  Things change. Everything changes. Ce La Vie. Azoy geit ess. America gonif.

• someone from C.H.

  i heared that someone once asked the REBBE if he can go to the university& the REBBE toled him NO.so he said to the REBBE how come you went .The REBBE answerwd him when you will also know the whole SHASS by hard i will let you go.

• Does anyone learn history anymore?

  In the years following the destruction of the Bais Sheini, many Jews became Christains. In fact, all of the early Christians were actually Jewish not Roman. Positive evolution? The Haskala movement trouted “enlightment” as the next positive step for Judaism. The result- The reform movement. Positive evolution?
  Nevertheless, Torah true Judaism has survived and yes, evolved but only because of a desire to move closer to G-d by working on oneself, not farther away from Him. Chassidus as a movement, was created to bring Jews closer to Hashem.
  Trying to rationalize why moving away from Torah and HALACHA (not chassidishe behaviour) is not positive evolution.
  Those who do not learn from History are doomed to repeat it.

• How old are you?

  this is such a babyish way to inflate the amount of modernism in CH. By the way, there are many,many people inch who are baalei mesiras nefesh to go by what the rebbe, your rebbe, says.
  Justbecause you have an inferiority complex when it comes to chassidishkeit ( which really is a good thing) it doesnt mean that you should say that most of lubavitch is like that. most teenagers are like that, true, but usually as people grow up and see who runs the world, they will become more frum and chassidish

• Yet another Op-ed

  Since everyone else has weighed in I may as well get in my 2 sense.
  How should a Chossid act? A Chossid should say Chitas & Rambam every day. A Chossid should go to mikva every day. The only Chossid who should be davening shachris at 10 or 12 is one who got up at 6 to go to the mikva, then learnt chassidus until 10-12, and then is ready to start davening.If not then there is no excuse to daven so late. A Chossid spends his time doing what the Rebbe wants of him. A chossid looks for every oppurtunity to do Mivtzoyim. And this is just a start.

  So to all of you who have a problem with “Chabad lite” I say first look in the mirror, do you do all this? At all times? If so then you would not be gaavadik enough to feel you have the right to judge and affix labels to others. Since obviously you do not keep all this what makes you a Chossid? And since you are not a Chossid, what gives you the right to make that determination on others?

  Back when I was in yeshiva I struggled with this. I was questioning how are all these people who do not follow everything the Rebbe says considered Lubavitchers? After all in all honestly True Chassidim are few and far between. As I became disenchanted I went off the Derech, I wont say it was strictly due to this but a huge part of it was disenchantment with the teachers in our education system. Many of whom I did not feel lived up to the standards of Lubavitch. Just to give one example a person in one of the Yeshivas was well known for A) Scamming the government & B) using vulgar language by Farbrengens. After spending some time on the other side I came to the realization that Yiddishkeit is the true Derech, & came back to being frum. It was not easy but you know what I credit for my return? An Family in Crown Heights who was accepting of me being my own person. I used to come to them Friday night for the meal, In black jeans & a white shirt, gong from the shabbos meal straight to the village to party. But they always made me feel welcome.

  Today I am Frum I do not trim my beard, I wear a kapote and a black hat. I do not say chitas or rambam. I am not a true Chossid as I do not do everything the Rebbe wants of me. I dont go to the Mikva every day, I dont go on mivtzoim on friday. However I try to follow the Lubavitch Derech, My tefillin have the lubavitch knot. I put on Rabbeinu tam Teffillin. I wear a gartel, kapote, hat & lubavitch tzitzis. And most importantly I know where I am in life and where I need to grow. I dont identify as a Litvak, Carlebachnik , Satmer or Breslov. To me the DERECH I identify with is Lubavitch.

  I urge you, Stop looking for more ways to cause Machlokes in Lubavitch, we have enough of that already. Instead recognize that each person is an individual. You do not know their story. And as the Rebbe always said, if they do one mitzva, learn one shiur, etc… it brings Moshiach closer.

  With wishes for Moshiach now.

• sum guy

  You are SO FULL OF IT!! It’s pathetic!
  If, as you would like us to believe, that you shamelessly banter the name and reputation of our holy Rebbe through your sewer of logic which is 1000% COMPLETELY AND TOTALLY UNTRUE!
  The Rebbe came out against Satmar for CUTTING OFF & GROOMING Pinny Korf’s beard in 1977..WHY??..because???? He only approved “trimming & grooming” done by “Chabad”? Not Satmar? That’s why he was screaming about how they DESTROYED THE TZELEM ELOKIM of a yid’s face – but, if a “chabad lite”, or an evolved-chabadpostate-Jew were to do the same and even more – he would say, “it’s OK, if that’s who you are – hey, it’s 2011 not 1811!”
  The real humor in this whole crazy thing – is that you morons really think that Hashem rules above, but you, sickos, “rule” here below?!

• MYOB

  Kudos to the author.

  Just because you don’t agree with his article doesn’t make him wrong. I did’t agree with all the other CH.info op-eds that leaned in the other direction, but I didn’t think they were “wrong”: just different.

  You don’t like the way I dress? Well, I don’t like your chutzpah when you think it is your business to approach me about it. Who’s to decide what’s more important: tznius or ahavas yisrael?

  I think everyone needs to mind their own business.

• chassidisher yungerman

  well said

• Chaim

  kudos to the author although you aint that bright.

  Well written piece, i’ll give you that but do you really think there is no line, no wrong.
  Vi full ashir.
  Are we all to evolve? I can just picture it now an image of “evolution” 5 pictures.
  1. A woman covered head to toe, tznius as can be.
  2. Long skirt and shirt and a long sheitel
  3. Tight long skirt very fitted top still in a sheitel
  4. Short skin tight skirt short sleeve shirt and a tichel an inch higher than her hair.
  5. Bikini

  Change could be fine but change must be an improvement not the opposite. Obama made many changes in this country does that mean he has been a great president?

  That said some change is good, another shul a better school thats fine. but this modernizing thing you mention I can tell you as an indisputable FACT is defiantly not a good thing.

• Pesach

  Lubavitch is Rebbe. Take the Rebbe out of Lubavitch and we have crown heights today. The further away from gimmel tammuz we get, the more distance Chabad, Chasidischer, Minhagim it gets from most of the new generation. Why learn gemara if my father never did or my grandfather used to, we have created monsters. These monsters are the new generation of former lubavitch chassidim. what chance does the new generation have on going on shlichus, being successful? very little, that is sad about chabad today.

• El Presidente

  Wow #65 is WORTH a READ !

• Litmus Test

  Here’s a question to ask yourselves:
  If any of these so-called “chabad-lite” youngsters went out and made names for themselves — as entrepreneurs, philanthropists, doctors, lawyers, artists, musicians — how quickly would this site, Chabad.org and others jump to claim them as their own? Would they treat them as any other Jewish success story (i.e., not at all), or would they take pride in and credit for their fellow “Chabadnik’s” success?

  Yeah.

• To#68MyOb from Gedaliah Goodman

  Ahavas Yisrael is for sure more important, so much more so, that one who has Ahavas Yisrael will be, and try to help others to be, very, very, tznius, modest in all ways, dress, thought, speech, action, etc. Kol Yisrael Areviim Zeh B’Zeh, every Jew is a guarantor, one to the other. I feel that it is very kind of one to approach your fellow Jew. It is true tzedakah and chessed. Don’t we all do mivtzoim? I don’t think that one would consider mivtzoim to be chutzpah. Hatzlachah Rabbah.

• Thanks #66

  Thank you #66. you made my day reading your post.

• anon

  re: tznius.
  once i saw a girl walking down the street, with a dress on that looked like it was sprayed on. yet, she had an innocence about her, and i also sensed she was doing it for attention (which she was getting), although she was oblivious to it while it was happening.
  this is how i saw it.
  funnily, bc of my concern for her innocence that was being effected unbeknownst to her, i approached her in a loving way. it took a few minutes till she got that i truly cared. she accepted what i had to say. i hope i had a positive effect.
  let’s face it, some dress the way they do bc they are more comfortable that way perhaps, but others it is a result of psychological stuff. everyone is different.

• getting stupid

  there is no point in these op eds anymore. everyone is just trying to valadate thier point. we are not going to convince anyone like this and all the other op eds.
  but hay, thanks for your post, i do belive what you are saying is the path i am taking but i must also understand that thouse who hate my path have a right to hate it.

• zees

  there are so many comments here, alot of great thoughts, and alot of revealing of feelings and opinions. One thing I’ll say is that #65 has very good points. Alot of good points made here.
  My feeling is that alot of the “chabad-lite” came from:
  teachers who did not respect their students (that is the girls as well as the boys)
  parents who need to do some tikkun in their marriages, own up to their responsibility as a Jew and a human being
  and more.
  Chabad-lite is not just some brilliant philisophical way of thinking. To me it shows kids who love Torah and the Rebbe, but have unresolved thoughts and feelings and they are taking it out on their halachas.
  For better or for worse, thats what it is.
  I don’t want my kids being Chabad-lite, however, I feel that they do care but have some confusion and this is how it manifests.
  yes we have to love them.
  no, we don’t have to water down yiddishkeit for them.
  there is more to come, there is alot of change happening, and it is evolving as some people say. But do people really know the definition of evolving?
  There is a message in “acting out”. We can learn to hear what this is saying to us (as I said, the teachers have some responsibility in this), what its saying is yet to come.
  But hold on, the shluchim are here to give US chizuk, to hold on the Rebbe’s ways and we will try to learn the art of loving others and loving the Rebbe’s derech l’Torah.

• dddbbb

  #66: You sound like a very evolved person. True to your own thoughts. You are an honest person who works on yourself.
  Very heartfelt words
  thankyou for sharing your thoughts which I am sure you worked hard to come up with. Honesty & truth always come with alot of insight and thought

• get a life or a psychologist

  This has got to be the dumbest article I have read yet. This person obviously has no understand of a kesher to hasheh means. Judaism is not a pick and choice method; rather Hashems ratzon is clear. People like this get me really upset because not only dont they confine to what Judaism stand for they try justifying themselves.
  ADMIT YOUR NOT AT THE RIGHT LEVEL+ YOUR DOING THINGS THAT ARE WRONG+ YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT RIGHT
  THERE IS NO SUCH THIS AS MODERN

• Tom89

  Wow AWESOME BTW this picture is over a year old Iremeber being there with my friend very funny that you would choose it! Yo SITO WE MADE IT TO THE BIG TIMES.

• to 58

  ur actually wrong..Lubavitchers have minhagim we follow..it’s one thing to admit ur struggeling and want to grow..but another to say I’m modern, not keeping this or that, take it or leave it!
  the latter is NOT a true chossid.

• To #74 From: MYOB

  It is quite obvious when I walk past Kingston Avenue that I am a Shomer Shabbos/ Kashrus keeping Jew. I know there are people who don’t approve of the way I dress and that’s fine. But to the people who kid themselves and think that I don’t know how I look, think again. And by approaching me, it just shows that you really think you are better then everyone else (ie: parents, teachers, mashpias) to think that your very inappropriate comments to me on the length of my skirt or amount of collar bone I show might make a “difference”. You call it Mivtzoim. I call it Chutzpah. Especially when it is from a teenage boy (true story). Everyone thinks they have a right to tell others how to behave, dress, look, etc. Everyone has a right to their opinion. But they should keep it to themselves….

• LaAniyas Dayti

  A little in-depth study of Reishis Chochmah (a sefer recommended for ‘pre-chassidus’ by all Rebbeim) would answer the issues of “Who is to say who is closer…” (Beware if you reach for the sefer, and you suffer from allergies. It is covered in dust.)

  Oh, and the Mishnah that counts the levels of kedusha (geographically but also in kedushah intensity.)

  Yes, I know, the word kedushah is not sustained as an operative Lubavitcher goal, in a real sense. (Yes every time we do a mitzva we increase the kedusha here. But that is in the books, and not in any internal [pnimiyus-dikeh] experiential way.) Tahara does slip in as in ‘Chinuch al taharas hakodesh’, and mikveh.

  There is so much to be said here, but minds are locked in the box of opinion. So it’s ‘more of the same’ (MOTS); or less of the same.

  Let it be said that it is not Torah, Chassidus, (and the unmentionable Kedusha word) that is changing. They are static (although they currently beg for a fine-tuned application, rather than clinging to MOTS.)

  It is the cultural trend of ego-centricity in a society that is free. Freedom used to mean ‘free from religious persecution’. Today it means ‘freedom from religious restrictions’ each in his/her own way. (How many times have we read in these blogs “This is a free country we can…”)

  In my personal experience, I find that the concept of ‘one person one vote’ ushers in a non-kedusha sense of empowerment. “Just vote him out.” “Fire him.” How much more is it so, in the American legacy of legal litigation. “How dare he. I’m going to sue him…”, Admittedly it is difficult to keep in an appropriate perspective.

• do what we want

  And thats exactly how reform started… “its a free country, we can do and act how we want”.

• Emotions unleashed

  to those defending the issue of tzanua:
  you must be hurting to need to defend going out of the borders of halacha, and what was so important to the Rebbe. School could have let you down, I know plenty of people who didnt get what the Rebbe wanted you to have. However, why take it out on the outside? Children of a regal nation, Am Yisroel, which we Jews are, never take it out on the outside.
  You may be hurting, but don’t show it. Deal with it. Use your minds to deal with it, not your outer beings.
  As I heard from a friend: its just not dignified.
  Then I see other issues. How do our kids take Yddishkeit seriously if we have the various opinions on what posukim we say or do not say three times, or any way we /they say it. The kids don’t want it, and all the emotions put into what the next guy’s beliefs are, really create cracks and questions and more. WE have to grow up and stop living by our emotions, because the kids are taking to the streets with what they see from US. We all have to grow up and take responsiblity.

• TO tzetumelt

  ,however, never compromise on the central tenets of Chassidus like
  1)tznius=(I think chabad has compromised a long time ago on tznius even while the rebbe was alive),
  2)beard – If we consider what that acutally means it includes having payis too which chabad has not done in over 80 years.,
  3)learning Hassidus with great seriousness- If we considerthe fact chabad gives out smicha with less than a year of learning how is this really possible.
  4)no college,rejection of luxuries- This really sounds like an excuse to take governemnet subsidies and rip off the people that actually are working.

• McLaiden Bonzay

  Yo Tonti next is the big screens lol we’re gonna have to do mivtzoyim in hollywood with jechnun

• Reform! Reform!

  To all those that are screaming “reform, reform”, the more right wing you go in Orthodoxy, the more the group looks similar to the tzidokim of bayis sheini.

  Learn a little bit and you’ll see the Tzidokim tried to keep the old system in place where Kohanim and Liviim were the true leaders and everything was ruled out of their corrupted beis hamikdosh including parliment and the military. The Chachomim represented the mavericks who pushed yahodus away from priestly leadership into scholarly leadership.

  The aibershter firt di velt and the Rabonim were BH able to bring yiddishkeit into (ancient) modernism. Lihavdil the tzidokim were wiped out because they stuck with dogma and battled Yoshke and the Romans. The Rabonim were the “reformers” of their time.

  Yehi ratzon that today’s Rabonim can lead us into modernity instead of leaving it into the hands of the “Occupy CH, I’ve got the munchies” crowd.

• 29

  i couldnt agree with youmore i jsut hope i had the word to express myself as well as you did.

• A.S ISRAELI proud jewish women

  I was reading each and every one of you comments to this Op-Ed and all I want to know is, what happened to “LOVE YOUR FELLOW JEW” ? V’ahavta L’rayacha Kamocha you’re all hypocrites and arrogance so before you call other people sinners or whatever look at yourself a thousand time, look beyond who you are, hear the words of your mouth before you voice them, don’t use Sham Hashem the torah or the rebbe to attack others ,cause I know my G-d doesn’t attack anyone! Hashem love everyone Hashem made them that way ( Tikkun Ha’nefesh) for a good reason NOT FOR YOU TO JUDGE ! goodness and kindness ! Instead of helping you’ll do just the opposite! and the one who wrote this article hazak ve’ematz Hashem loves you and so do i :)

• To 82.

  Obviously there are minhagim your should- suppose to keep by. All I’m saying is there many things the rebbe said to do, and I highly doubt that everyone follows exactly what the rebbe said. Does that mean they Are not a Lubavitcher? That’s all I’m Saying. I know people have struggles but we can’t judge them simply because we will most probably judge them for the worse.

• to # 80

  u are such a “ Tzaddik ” such a beautiful words wash your mouth out !

• Ya know,....

  Ya know, some of you seem to think that if it’s not YOUR way it’s the REFORM way. That just seems like a very odd response. There are in-betweens! What happened to them. I’m not championing ANY compartments of Judaism. I grew up within the Reform tradition, which didn’t really reach me at a meaningful level. I don’t consider myself “Reform”. But leave them alone. I never heard one person there demean you, say “if you don’t do it our way go to Lubavitch”, etc. I never heard one diminishing comment or disrespectful reference. Think about it. So although I’m not “Reform”,Conservative, Orthodox, etc., etc., I would choose respect above rudeness and condescending attitudes any day. This way of communicating with sarcasm and negativity insults Chabad, Lubavitch, the Rebbe, Judaism, Hashem, and you, in my opinion. And yes, I do feel I have the right to my opinion, as do you; however, I’m not devaluing of another’s way of life or choice of religious practice.

• To # 61

  You are welcome! Who are you? Seriously, I’d be interested in knowing.

• For # 80

  No such thing as modern? What is the internet? What is a car? What is homogenizing, a sewing machine, a 770 jet, a computer, a light bulb, a telephone?

• Can-t imagine....

  I can’t imagine who the person is (singular or collective) that says there is the one “true” Judaism. There are those who feel grounded and whole as a Jew, who are not Lubavitch, Chabad, etc. They feel grounded, and whole, and fully Jewish. Are you going to say that is not possible? Are you going to say that they don’t “make it ” as a Jew? YOU are a Jew who believes your way is THE way. I say, “That is true for YOU.” FOR YOU. And, that other Jew has the way that totally offers them a fully spiritual experience for them. It is not lesser. It is not inferior. It is not less Jewish. And if you think it is, then check yourself to see if there is an air of arrogance, rigidity, stubbornness, ignorance, immaturity, unresolved anger, misplaced negativity, unconscious self doubt, or just plain distasteful disdain for anyone who differs from your beliefs. Other ways ARE o.k. for others, just as your way is o.k. for you. Please! Please honor all humans who honor Hashem. Who is to say that Hashem does not equally honor all? You? Me? I can’t even fathom that; and I think no one can say that with any assuredness, so why don’t we all live together in human dignity and sacred mutual respect.

• CR

  And, once again, our erstwile author ignores the elephant in the room. 25 year ago we would never even think of having such a conversation about “what it means to be a Lubavitcher”. It simply meant you were answerable to the Rebbe. Period. Full. Stop! All questions of hashkafah, hadrachah, etc. rolled up to him and his instructions were the final say on the matter. None of this is true today. We can theorize all we want about what the Rebbe might say in current circumstances based on certain sichos, letters, conversations, what-have-you. Still, back then his answers to different people asking the same questions could have been very different (and I know of several such outcomes). So it is an utter chutzpah to claim to speak in his name today and say “The Rebbe would tell you….”.

  A chassid needs a Rebbe; a living, talking Rebbe. Such a figure provides the regular day-to-day hashpa’ah that the chassid requires. In his absence the chassid is much like a limb or organ of a body that has no head. A body can continue to “live” in such a state for a limited period of time but clearly will not be able to accomplish very much. So too by us. It is the current state of affairs in which there is no living Rebbe and no emes’dika leadership that individuals engage in behaviors that some of us find distasteful. And why not? There is nobody with that level of authoritative leadership to say “No!”. Until this changes the dichotomy described/elucidated/lambasted in these articles will remain.

• Almost but not quite

  Nicely written, sounds convincing, but the truth is, Halacha, and The Rebbes Hashkafa both are not things to play with. Evolving is one thing, not following the hashkafa and hanagos that the Rabbeim taught us as Chabad Lubavitcher Chassidim, is SOMETHING ELSE.

• to mcladien bonzay

  hey CLAID!!!! we have to Mivtzoim it up all over starting from the picture of us i mean really roll up your beard CLAID!!!

• To maclaiden

  Omg whatsup tommer

• Aaron

  As many have pointed out, evolution goes in two general directions and change for the sake of change is meaningless. It’s not true that every spiritual path is equal; some are based on immature, selfish motivation and become increasingly shallow and narcissistic, others create a deeper connection between Hashem and humanity.

  You have to ask “What are the reasons for the change.” And if the reasons are largely based on self interest, popular though they may be, you have a destructive form of evolution.

• To Aaron

  Are you able to cite specific examples of “immature, shallow”, etc. I think they are up to personal interpretation,so I’m not sure “destructive evolution” is as definable as you seem to suggest. For example, one person might experience more opportunity to vary a ritual as more meaningful, while another might view it as a threat to their feeling of security. Neither one is wrong, just different. What do you define as “self interest”? That too, in my opinion, is subject to interpretation.

• end of story

  men who trim their beards or women who do not dress tznyus should not be dignified with the name chabad, no matter where they come from or how they were raised. period.

• satmar lite

  anyone heard of viznitz lite? what about bobov lite? karliner lite? skver lite? oh, theres another new one, satmar lite?

  why are all these chassidim different? well the above is bobamysis because their is no other chassidish lite. why should lubavitch be any different?

• Nobody

  #105 – yes, there definitely is Satmar lite (and the others as well), and they probably believe in Torah and Mitzvos less than Chabad-lite. The difference is that they aren’t externally visible. Maybe you will see a woman wearing a full sheitel uncovered, but that is about it. In private, the women may not shave their head, they may not bother much with eating Kosher outside the home, and everything in between.

  But the social pressure is to keep the outside fully consistent. If they fail to do that (if they start cutting off their payous, trimming their beard, etc.) they are basically kicked out, so there becomes no visible contingent, unlike in Chabad.

  It is a phenomena much older than Chabad-Lite, but I suspect the flood gates will be opening on it soon in those communities.

• blame the other guy....

  It’s this ones’ fault, it’s that ones’ fault – It’s the Rebbe’s fault, it’s the voter’s fault, it’s a fault of the times….DALOI S**T, DALOI DRECK!!!
  IT’S YOUR FAULT!!!
  IT’S NOT ANYONE ELSE’S PROBLEM, that your elevator does not reach the top floor! It’s easy to blame somebody else for YOUR shortcomings, but, sorry to say – YOU, AND ONLY YOU carry the sin of your behavior.

• To 105 and 106

  Hello…I think the author’s point was that there isn’t any lite…everybody is Chabad. Deal with it.

• Nisht a tuna beigel

  “Tuna beigel” is the term for “chassidish lite” in Boro Park and Monsey, where they are very commonly seen. They come from any and all kreizen originally, although most don’t follow one rebbe anymore.

  They do trim their beards, even if they still keep their payes.

• Hypocrisy or lack of depth?

  Trim beards, keep payes, mikva every day, tzinus…..and expressions of intolerance or worse! I smell bad apples. How would you like it if I suggested getting rid of the bad apples? I’m sure they would not appreciate that. Yet, they want others to improve their ways or get out. Something is weird here.