Chabad god is Idolatry

A primary concern now among many non-Chabad rabbinic authorities is the promotion of idolatrous beliefs regarding the deceased Chabad rebbe among certain Chabad elements.

This site is NOT accusing all Chabad Chassidim of being idolators.

However, for those celebrating the rise of the Chabad movement, please open your eyes to the very problematic reality of the current Chabad movement.

The great rise and influence of certain radical messianic elements in Chabad threatens the destruction of classical Judaism as we knew it.

Using an extensive network of highly developed Internet sites, radical Chabad clergy are teaching a new form of Christianity to naive Jews who seek knowledge of authentic Torah principles.

In the Rambam’s comprehensive Jewish law code, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Teshuvah, Chapter Three, the Rambam lists five types of Jewish “minim”:

“(1) he who says that there is no God and no Omnipotence;

(2) he who says that there is an Omnipotence but that there are two or more such;

(3) he who says that there is One Lord; but that He is corporeal and has a form;

(4)Likewise one who says that He alone is not the First Cause and Creator of all;

(5) likewise he who worships a star, or planet, or any other as a mediator between him and the Lord of the universe; every one of these five is a min.”

Chabad “Meshichistin” are claiming that the deceased Chabad rebbe IS Moshiach now. The dispute with Chabad is certainly NOT about whether or not Moshiach MIGHT come from the dead. This claim is a “red herring” diversion.

Moshiach is not a god in human form. The authentic Moshiach is a living, human Jewish king in Israel, as the prophets of Israel, the Talmud, and the Rambam explained.

We have been seeing more and more books, websites, and Chabad missionaries that promote the deceased Chabad rebbe as a god-like messiah with supernatural qualities, and/or sites that portray him as an intermediary between Man and God.

This video is associating the deceased Chabad rebbe with the essence of God. This false belief is a rehash of another religion that appeared 2000 years ago.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe Is Atzmus U’Mehus

A few months ago I spoke with a prominent Torah scholar in Israel who told me that the Chabad movement is where Xtianity was 2000 yrs. ago!

In a video linked below, a Chabad rabbi teaches that the deceased Chabad rebbe is God (l’havdil) encased in a human body. Can anyone guess where have we heard this doctrine before? The claims of this Chabad Apostle are nothing less than idolatry IMHO.

“the rebbe is beyond our comprehension, the rebbe is Ein Sof…the rebbe is Elokus…”

Should a Lubavitcher chassid read biographies written about the Rebbe?

The death of the Chabad rebbe in 1994 has forced the extreme Chabad “Meshichistim” to invent utterly nonsensical and irrational claims, such as the notion that the deceased Chabad rebbe is a “Nasi HaDor” (leader of the generation) who cannot be seen. The Nasi in authentic Judaism can only be a living rabbi who is head of the Sanhedrin. There is no Sanhedrin today.

Was there ever a generation in history led by a Nasi who was not physically seen in this world?

The Rambam specifically states that Jews who believe God has a body have no share in the world to come.

By attributing supernatural powers to the deceased Chabad rebbe, the rebbe has been elevated to the status of a deity.

Certain Chabadniks are teaching doctrines that very much mirror the doctrines of the early “Jewish” Christians, who also had long beards and davened in “frum” synagogues while believing in a false “messiah” who appears, then dies, then reappears.

Not every Chabadnik believes that the Chabad Rebbe is the messiah or a supernatural being. However, a non-Chabad Jew who attends any particular Chabad house must carefully examine the doctrines being taught in that Chabad house to make sure a new form of Christianity is not being taught there.

There is no such belief in traditional Judaism of a “Moshiach” who appears, begins his mission, then he passes away, then he is resurrected and he completes his mission.

This false notion must be rejected by all Torah observant Jews.

Debunking Chabad Fake Halacha

Chabad has every right to practice their own minhagim (customs).

Chabad does not have a right to invent their own new “halachot” and then attack non-Chabad religious Jews for violating those alleged “halachot”.

Many uninformed but well meaning Jews have no idea that many of Chabad’s “halachic” practices have no sources in normative Jewish law or else contradict normative Jewish law.

The Chabad book

https://www.koshershaver.info/publications/files/theBeard.pdf

attempts to impose Chabad’s radical Kabbalistic practices onto non-Chassidim in the name of a falsified “halacha”.

The bizarre pamphlet linked above claims that “the beard represents the essential image of man”. However, some animals can have beards, such as goats, dogs and monkeys, so IMHO the claim in the pamphlet about beards is absurd!

In the Talmud, Hagiga 16a it mentions 3 characteristics of humans that resemble angels: humans have understanding, they walk erect, and they can speak.

The book attempts to claim that trimming one’s beard with scissors is an “issur gomur” (absolutely prohibited).

In fact the book is blatantly dishonest as it does not seem to cite anywhere the normative halachic viewpoint of the Shulchan Aruch, based on multiple statements from the Talmud.

The Jewish law code clearly states that a man is allowed to trim his beard with scissors:

“אינו חייב על השחתת פאת הזקן אלא בתער אבל במספרים מותר אפילו כעין תער:” (Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah 181:10)

Chabad propaganda may often claim that Chabad is “non-judgemental”.

But in fact Chabad is impugning many non-Chassidim as alleged transgressors for simply following the Shulchan Aruch instead of adopting radical Kabbalistic practices.

The Torah scholar Rav David Bar-Hayim, whom I believe is a greater Torah scholar than the Chabad rebbes, stated in the video linked below:

“this claim that one should not trim his beard at all, that the beard should be allowed to grow wild forever, is not based on any halachic source whatever…”

The Connection Between Trimming One’s Beard & Rosh HaShannah

How Man Serves God

Man created in the image of God enables Man to serve God by imitating God’s ethical behavior in this world.

Many of the ideas about God revealed in the Jewish Bible were considered radical ideas by much of ancient Man. The Jewish Bible emphasizes how God created the species Man, and He is not a capricious and irrational God. He is concerned with the well-being of Man, He is concerned that Man adhere to His moral principles, and God judges the world according to His moral code. In Genesis 18:20-21, we read that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah has been “very grave”, and God will “descend” to see if those cities are acting in accordance with the outcry they are making. Such ideas about God as taught in the Book of Genesis radically conflicted with many of the ancient pagan cults whose false gods in their behaviors tended to represent the absolute worst aspects of human flaws.

Maimonides in his book Guide for the Perplexed 1:54 explained a profound principle, which is that the greatest virtue of man is for man to imitate to the extent possible God’s actions.

“For the utmost virtue of man is to become like unto Him, may He be exalted, as far as he is able, which means that we should make our actions like unto his…”

Man’s purpose must be to serve the Creator, and NOT serve any of the Creations. Man’s purpose is certainly not to serve the totalitarian regimes and ideologies that attempt to replace worship of God with worship of dictators and tyrants.

A corollary to the concept of Man serving God is the concept that Man must not serve any objects in the Creation, whether natural or Man-made. Man does not exist to serve the all-powerful utopian “progressive” state.

For the West to survive without conquest by Islam or Marxist, it must seek purpose in embracing Biblical values. Man is not an animal. Animals cannot serve God, they can only exist the way God created them. Man has free will to serve God by imitating Him in doing good in the world as stated by the Biblical prophet Jeremiah:

“But only in this should one glory: In his earnest devotion to Me. For I the LORD act with kindness, Justice, and equity in the world; For in these I delight —declares the LORD.” (Jeremiah 9:23)

Classical Torah on Defeating Enemies

Since the terrible disaster of the October 7, 2023 terrorist invasion in Israel, we have observed various statements and lectures by Hareidi rabbis who characterize the Hamas savages as some type of shluchim (agents) sent by Hashem, or else claims by the rabbis that somehow the Hamas terrorists are performing the will

Classical Torah vs. Chareidi Torah: Defeating Enemies

Since the terrible disaster of the October 7, 2023 terrorist invasion in Israel, we have observed various statements and lectures by Hareidi rabbis who characterize the Hamas savages as some type of “shluchim” (agents) sent by Hashem, or else claims by the rabbis that somehow the Hamas terrorists are performing the will of Hashem.

Other statements by Hareidi rabbis seem to claim that ONLY learning Torah and Tefillah can defeat the enemies of the Jews.

As I see it, the preceding types of statements by certain Hareidi rabbis represent extreme distortions of classical Torah beliefs:

War of Gog and Magog Ignored: In two Haftorahs during Succot we read about the War of Gog and Magog and the destruction of the evil Gog and his allies predicted by the Jewish prophets. Hareidi spokesmen seem to ignore any discussion of the subject of the War of Gog and Magog. Instead the wars and terrorism being inflicted on Israel are viewed within a lens of some kind of “musar shmooz”.
Pereh Adam Ignored: Hareidi spokesmen ignore any discussion of the evils of Islam and the savage nature of Yishmael, the “pereh adam”. The Rambam in Iggeret Teiman described how Islam claimed that the Torah is false, and that never had such an enemy ever arisen against the Jews. So at the present time Hashem are we to believe that bloodthirsty savages who seek to destroy the Torah are the agents of Hashem sent to punish the Jews?
Laws of War Ignored: Chareidi claims that ONLY Torah and Tefillah will defeat our enemies are blatant denials of Chazal’s words in Sotah 44b and the Rambam:

בְּמִלְחֲמוֹת מִצְוָה — הַכֹּל יוֹצְאִין, אֲפִילּוּ חָתָן מֵחֶדְרוֹ וְכַלָּה מֵחוּפָּתָהּ

“In a milchemet mitzvah, the entire nation must go out to war, even a groom from his chamber, and a bride from her pavilion.”

(Mishneh Torah, Kings and Wars 7:4)

The Rambam counts as positive mitzvah no. 188 the mitzvah of erasing Amalek. We cannot simply sweep this mitzvah under the rug and replace it with learning Torah and tefillah.
The Torah portion we just read described how the world became full of “Hamas” so Hashem decided to destroy the world. So at the present time Hashem is sending more Hamas savages as His agents, after which the world is deserving of destruction due to the Hamas agents sent by Hashem?

Classical Torah on the Natural Order

In a recent edition of a NYC area English language Chareidi newspaper, an article on the subject of bitachon (faith) claims there is no teva (natural order), no natural cause/effect relationship, involved in our success whatsoever…the very outward actions one is forced to perform are in exact contradiction to one’s s

Classical Torah vs. Chareidi Torah: the Natural Order

In a recent edition of a NYC area English language Chareidi newspaper, an article on the subject of “bitachon” (faith) claims “there is no teva (natural order), no natural cause/effect relationship, involved in our success whatsoever…the very outward actions one is forced to perform are in exact contradiction to one’s spiritual goal…tefillah is the only reliable and potent hishtadlus“.

We can rely on several medieval Torah authorities to help the author of that article escape the artificial intellectual conundrums that Hareidi/Chassidic philosophy has created in the author’s mind.

In Derashos HaRan Derush 8, the Ran explains that “it is the will and desire of Hashem, blessed be He, to maintain the natural order of the world to the extent possible, and because nature is precious in His eyes, He does not alter it save for circumstances of pressing need.”

On the Torah verse “by the sweat of your brow shall you eat bread” (Genesis 3:19), the great medieval commentator Radak wrote:

“Man will have to be fatigued by a variety of strenuous activities before finally being able to consume bread. He has to plough, to sow, to remove weeds, to cut the grain, to thresh the kernels in their husks, to winnow, to grind the kernels into flour, to knead the dough and to bake it.”

Ran’s Torah philosophy opposes the popular notions we have been fed of Chassidic rebbes and other “miracle workers” constantly performing some kind of miracles. Instead we are taught by Ran that Hashem avoids performing miracles whenever possible.

Once one accepts that a natural order (including cause and effect) exists by the will of Hashem, the Chareidi/Chassidic conundrum disappears. Hashem has created a natural order that is precious to Him. Man is allowed by Hashem to utilize that natural order to produce Man’s needs. There is no contradiction at all in the fact that Man must exert himself, within the natural order, to produce Man’s needs.

Tefillah serves as method to thank Hashem for creating the natural order that allows Man to continue to exist, without miracles being required.

But Man’s continued existence does require him to perform the necessary exertion ( hishtadlus ) within the natural order.

Revitalizing Torah Theology

Revitalizing Classical (nonKabbalistic) Torah Theology. In the last few hundred years, it appears there has occurred an increasing emphasis on esoteric Kabbalistic theologies, theologies that most intelligent Jews cannot effectively comprehend. During this time certain classical (non-Kabbalistic) Torah theologies seem

Revitalizing Classical (non-Kabbalistic) Torah Theology

In the last few hundred years, it appears there has occurred an increasing emphasis on esoteric Kabbalistic theologies, theologies that most intelligent Jews cannot effectively comprehend. During this time certain classical (non-Kabbalistic) Torah theologies seem to have become neglected or sometimes even suppressed.

The Daf Yomi review website contains English translations with commentaries of all the “shaarim” (Gates) of the Torah classic Chovos HaLevavos (Duties of the Heart), written by Rabeinu Bahya ibn Paquda in the 11th century C.E.

The first gate of Chovos HaLevavos, known as Shaar HaYichud, contains a very clear and rational explanation of classical Torah theology. The English translation of Shaar HaYichud posted on the dafyomireview site also contains very useful translations of some of the major rabbinic commentaries written on Shaar HaYichud.

Shaar HaYichud

In my opinion the concepts explained in ShaarHaYichud are essential to understanding Torah theology and have not been superceded by later Kabbalistic writings.

Messianic Process According to Rambam

The link below is a brilliant, indepth video explanation of the Rambam’s views on the messianic process, which are in turn derived from Rabbi Akiva and Bar Kochba.The messianic process must begin with a living Jewish king who arises in Israel, but when a king arises, he is NOT the Moshiach at that point. He only become

The Rambam’s Explanation of the Messianic Process

The link below (“Why Moshiach is Not Coming”) is a brilliant, in-depth video explanation of the Rambam’s views on the messianic process, which are in turn derived from Rabbi Akiva and Bar Kochba.

The messianic process must begin with a living Jewish king who arises in Israel, but even when a king arises, he is NOT yet the Moshiach at that point. He can only become recognized as Moshiach later, IF he successfully accomplishes a number of critical tasks after he arises as a Jewish king.

We have no living king in Israel today so we do not have the start of any process yet that leads to any authentic Moshiach.

For any Moshiach to eventually arise, Jews would need to first appoint a living king in Israel.

Those who would claim that a certain rabbi outside of Israel is Moshiach now make a gross mockery of the Rambam’s writings, especially if the alleged Moshiach is not even alive!

This excellent video by Rav David Bar Hayim completely debunks any false claims today, allegedly based on the Rambam, that we have a Moshiach today.

Why Moshiach is Not Coming

Was the COVID Pandemic Sent by God?

Can we know whether or not the COVID pandemic was sent by God.
Evil in the world is caused by man, not by God.

Was the COVID Pandemic Sent by God?

With their advanced weaponry and massive army, the Chinese Communist Party may possibly be the most powerful atheist enemy of Hashem and the Torah in history. The evidence seems to strongly indicate that they are the cause of the COVID-19 bio-weapon now terrorizing the world.

Erroneous, fatalistic beliefs that “everything is caused by God” serve to deflect any blame being attributed to monstrous evils such as the rabidly atheist and very powerful Chinese Communist Party. It is a function of the Jews to be a “light to the nations” and to teach ethical monotheism to the world while aggressively opposing atheist evil such as the Chinese Communist Party.

The current coronavirus pandemic has produced a number of simplistic or erroneous claims that IMHO are not normative Torah viewpoints. I would like to present here some classical Torah sources (CTS) that I believe are more representative of normative Torah viewpoints.

The term “CLAIM” below refers to various claims that I have heard during the Coronavirus pandemic that I consider to be erroneous or simplistic.

CLAIM: “The coronavirus pandemic was caused by God.”
RESPONSE: We could only know that the pandemic was caused by God (and not by man) through a prophet who reveals that information to us. Present day rabbis, Torah scholars, and Kabbalists do not qualify as prophets.
The Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim II:36 explains – “prophecy was taken away during the time of the exile…prophecy has ceased to function.”.
The Rambam cites Amos 8:12: “Men shall wander from sea to sea and from north to east to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it.”.
CLAIM: “God has inflicted the coronavirus on the world as a punishment.”
RESPONSE: A more correct viewpoint, based on Rambam, Ramchal, Sforno, and other sources, is that “hester panim”, (i.e. the hiding of God’s face, see Deut. 31:17), means that God allows man’s evil to grow powerful and Jews suffer as a result, but God is not causing that evil Himself. Rather man’s sins cause God to withdraw his protection from the good people in the world.
In Moreh Nevuchim 3:10, the Rambam cites a Midrash:

“Nothing that is evil descends from above”.

In Moreh Nevuchim 1:23, the Rambam explains that “I will hide my face from them…”(Deut. 31:17) results in “a privation of providence that leaves one abandoned and a target to all that may happen.”

The Biblical commentator Sforno is a great source for authentic classical Torah beliefs, such as the Sforno’s commentary on Leviticus 13:47 where he teaches that most Jews are subject to the natural order.

Since early 2020, the worldwide disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to dominate the news. Without a prophet, we do not have a right to claim Hashem caused the bio-terrorism of COVID-19. A Torah concept that seems to have been abandoned is the correct understanding of Hashem hiding His face. The great Biblical commentator Sforno explains that Davarim 31:18 (“I will hide my face”) means that Hashem will refrain from saving the Jews from evil nations who abuse and oppress the Jews, it does NOT mean that Hashem causes evil nations to commit evil.

In various sections of his brilliant sefer Daat Tevunot, Ramchal explains that when there is no merit in the world and wickedness abounds, Hashem says “I will hide My presence on that day” (Devarim 32:20). Thus, Hashem is allowing man’s evil to reach its maximum strength but Hashem is not causing man to do evil. Hashem must do this to avoid destroying the world. If Hashem’s intention were strict judgment, man’s sins would already have caused the world to be destroyed. When there is “hester panim”, even good people must endure the suffering that evil causes and the merit of the righteous will not save them from evil. (See Ramchal, Daat Tevunot sections 142, 166 and elsewhere).

If COVID-19 was truly a punishment from God, it would not be possible for many people to have been saved using medicines (such as hydroxychloroquine), masks, distancing, etc.
We can conclude from the sources above that man’s sins do cause evil to grow in the world, but the evil is not produced by God, it is produced by man. The “yeshua” (rescue) of decent people who suffer from these evils then depends on God’s actions in the world to rescue the oppressed.

CLAIM: “The Chinese Communists who produced the coronavirus are only the agents or puppets of God in carrying out His will.”
RESPONSE:
Such a belief is a very dangerous denial of the fundamental Torah belief that all men have free will to do good or evil. Without man having free will, the Torah becomes meaningless.

“Every man was endowed with a free will; if he desires to bend himself toward the good path and to be just it is within the power of his hand to reach out for it, and if he desires to bend himself to a bad path and to be wicked it is within the power of his hand to reach out for it.” (Rambam, Hilchot Teshuvah 5:1)

Blame Evil Men Not Hashem

There is by now abundant evidence that the evil Chinese Communist regime created the Covid19 bio-weapon in one of their laboratories and allowed it to infect millions of people in the world.Senior experts on Communist China claim China intentionally spread the deadly bio-weapon:. https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-don

Blame Evil Men Not Hashem

There is by now abundant evidence that the evil Chinese Communist regime created the Covid-19 bio-weapon in one of their laboratories and allowed it to infect millions of people in the world.

Senior experts on Communist China claim China intentionally spread the deadly bio-weapon:
https://www.foxnews.com/media/msnbc-donny-deutsch-trump-hitler https://www.foxnews.com/world/chinese-virologist-coronavirus-cover-up-flee-hong-kong-whistleblower

Documentary on creation of the bio-weapon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bXWGxhd7ic

The ancient rabbis who composed the Pesach Hagaddah invoked curses on evil nations instead of claiming those nations were agents of God. The rabbis cited Tehillim 69:25 in the Pesach Hagaddah: “Pour out your wrath upon those nations who do not know you…pour out your wrath upon them and may your rage overtake them.”

The People’s Republic of China (PRC), with its nuclear warheads and massive armies, represents one of the most powerful atheist & totalitarian regimes in world history. All Chinese Communist Party (CCP) members are required to be Marxist atheists. The CCP ruthlessly suppresses any worship of God because, like ancient Pharaoh, the CCP demands we replace God with themselves.

“All (Chinese Communist) Party members should firmly obey the Party Constitution and be Marxist atheists, observe their commitment to not believe in any religion in order to maintain the purity and progressive nature of Party membership, prefecture Party chief Yang Yuanzhong said at the meeting.”
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1086205.shtml

If we consider that much of the world has enabled and empowered that fanatically atheist regime, it doesn’t require a leap of faith to believe that man has caused a condition now of “hester panim” (ie Hashem hiding his face).

Is there a better example of “a nation that does not know Hashem” than the PRC? It would seem that the correct Torah hashkafah (viewpoint) is to pray that God should save us from wicked regimes such as the Chinese Communist regime.
“שְׁפָךְ־עֲלֵיהֶ֥ם זַעְמֶ֑ךָ וַחֲר֥וֹן אַ֝פְּךָ֗ יַשִּׂיגֵֽם׃ ”.

Modern Intellectual Prisons

Has the contemporary religious Jewish world forced itself into two intellectual prisons (frameworks) that were unknown to the medieval philosopher rabbis?. The intellectual frameworks I’m referring to are: . . . ScientismDarwinism, ie attempting to explain the intrinsic nature of reality and existence solely by use of

Modern Intellectual Prisons

Has the contemporary religious Jewish world forced itself into two “intellectual prisons” (frameworks) that were unknown to the medieval philosopher rabbis?

The intellectual frameworks I’m referring to are:

Scientism-Darwinism, ie attempting to explain the intrinsic nature of reality and existence solely by use of natural, scientific causes without any metaphysical concepts, and
A rejection of any scientific intelligibility to the world based on certain Kabbalistic concepts like “shevira“, such as expressed in the eighth chapter of Chabad’s Tanya.

Some concepts of medieval metaphysics, as taught in seforim like the Rambam’s Moreh Nevuchim, not only do not conflict with modern science, but they actually provide a better perspective on the world than the first two intellectual frameworks I mentioned above.

Modern science has basically eviscerated the former concepts of Metaphysics that were used to explain the Universe and promote monotheism, despite that fact that these concepts remain as implicit in many modern scientific theories. Unfortunately medieval metaphysics concepts like “formal cause”, “efficient cause”, and “final cause”, have regrettably been gutted from much of modern science to the detriment of monotheistic religious thought.