I am not necessarily a big fan of Chabad. Many things they do and believe are most definitely not in my line of thinking. Nor are they in most mainstream Orthodox circles. But let’s face it: No one comes close to the international care for Jews as they do. No one spreads the joy and pride of being Jewish like they do.
This past Motza’ei Shabbos, Chabad somehow gathered thousands of young Jews in Times Square to express their pride at being Jewish and their solidarity with Israel at this critical time, with an “Am Yisrael Chai” banner draping down in the background.
What is their secret? How do they produce where nobody else does? The answer is three words: devotion, energy, and mission. Our enemies in the streets of America and world over have shown the energy, the devotion, and a sense of mission for their perverse cause. Unfortunately, we Jews have not.
Yes, we had a huge and successful mission in Washington a few months ago on a beautiful, summery day. Unfortunately, it was “one and done.” The enthusiasm has waned. Organizations put that successful day in their pocket, and they rode the crest since. The one major Orthodox organization that refused to participate carries its shame to this day. I give them an A for their effort in trying to show that they really do care. But until their administration reshapes its rabbinic leadership, it will be same old same old.
With Chabad, things are different. Their hashkafah, their belief system, may be radically different from ours, but they do possess those three key ingredients. With Messianic fervor, they are the ever-ready bunny, full of energy to help Jews in Brooklyn or Bangladesh.
By now, you know well that I am always on the case of the established Jewish organizations to do something besides issuing self-serving press releases. Why has there not been a massive rally in front of the United Nations, the very source for international hatred against Jews? And we can add to the list the ban of kosher slaughter in parts of Europe.
Very nice that we receive weekly emailed sermons and solicitations for favorite projects of these organizations. But why can’t they flex a little muscle and get synagogues, schools, and working people to send tens of thousands to rally at the UN? In the 1970s and ’80s, when Jews, especially Orthodox Jews, were a much smaller community, rallies in the tens of thousands for Soviet Jewry and Israel were almost routine.
Have we become too uppity that we cannot organize unless it’s intellectually or socially highbrow? Are street rallies too blue-collar for us? We spend millions on fancy Passover destinations with noted lecturers and entertainers from around the world. Yet we cannot get into a subway or chartered bus to rally for our people in the center of New York?!
Has the plight of the hostages come off our list of priorities? Are we going to tolerate a shechitah ban in Belgium and elsewhere? Are we accepting the silence of the world regarding our Jewish sisters who have been ravaged at the hands of barbaric Jew-haters?
Commercial break: a minute to plug the Coalition for Jewish Values. We are still a fledgling but growing rabbinic organization, joined by a board of male and female laypeople, whose mission it is to spread the fact that there are Jews whose Bible is not liberalism. As part of that, we give Israel our full-throttled and unwavering support. On Tuesday, February 13, we had an all-day meeting in Washington with the Israeli Ambassador to the US and with the House of Representatives Majority Whip (Cong. Tom Emmer of Minnesota), and we hosted a dinner for many Congressional aides. We do the utmost with what we have and what we can.
Hey, Chabad! Maybe it’s time to show the rest of the Jewish world how to do it.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi Emeritus of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
