Wednesday, March 30, 2011

What is a cult and what is the ChaBaD?

I must say here that I went into this open minded. I was told many years ago that the ChaBaD was a cult of Jewish orthodox jewish believers and in the years since becoming Torah orientated I must say I have indeed had some small experiences with this lcoal and national religious based organization.
Our synagogue in our town is orientated by the ChaBaD. The rabbi is an emissary and his wife also one of their shaliachs. They were open people when we met, though I can not say that either is pleasant to me over all today. This is in my thoughts not my own doing other than I have been seeking a true Torah existence and in some ways, this has compromised their mission as the ChaBaD in their all inslusive religious and all semi permissive approach to bringing new and 'wayward' souls into their canopy of activity.
This is not my intent to disregard or denigrate an organization which seeks to attain greatness in the capacity of Gods real service. In many ways, the ChaBaD has made numerous positive contributions to our social and personal well being and I know that it always will do so.
But that said, I must conclude that ChaBaD is in fact a nuevo era cult that is not entirely inclusive and is very careful and very evasive perhaps in some of its ways.
I was personally asked to leave out religious congregation after I had "collided" with one person about my own use of the internet technology to present my own thoughts and opinions.
The ChaBaD rabbi told me "never come back" and he did not consider any of the circumstances regarding the matter. This was NOT A TORAH DECIISION. This was a method of making sure that the presence of his own emisassary role was not troubled or disrupted.
I must say that I have seen among all of the ChaBaD emissary families a very exact same social and presiding presence among all of the emissaries. I must say that when I look at each emissary wife and husband, I feel that I am looking at the exact same person regardless of the emissary's location, family or personal relationships with the community.
This alone is not evidence of a conpiracy at any length but it is clear that these people all have the exact same conjecture and mood and mind set as all of the other members. This to me makes it more of a cult. To disavow new threads of leadership and to disavow new portions of yearnings is to discriminate between trust in God and trust in a single leader.
This then is NOT TORAH.
I must say here that I in no way wish to be the "heretic" who only lives to slander and inplicate the ChaBaD in mockery and disruption of their true somewhat services to the Jewish community. I personally hope that the future of the ChaBaD is more of the future of the prosperity for all of our people without the exclusion and alienation of subsets of people of our faith or the lack of adherance to true Torah Worship and Values.
I can not say that the purpose of my own day is to denigrate or challenge ChaBaD. But that said, I have personally been denigrated and challenged myself by the ChaBaD. I was mocked for having a mental illness by the Rabbi I contacted at ChaBaD headquarters named Tzvi Freedman. I was told by the local rabbi that I was "unwell" when he told me never to return to the only single Torah observant congregation in my own location.
This speaks of heresy to me and I must add that I have tried a few times to contact others in the ChaBaD structure to discuss my own personal 'troubles' with my onw rabbi. This was met with silence. I have not yet received a return call nor have I been contacted regarding my phone calls that I have made. I must say that I am not sure where this will go and I am adamant that if I believe that Torah is violated, I will stand up and fight for what I see to be Observance and Torah Values. That said, I am always open to personal dialogue with all of the "emisarries" any time.
I have one a few occasions contacted a few other rabbis in other locations and having clearly no knowledge of my own personal experiences they have been forthright and friendly. This is obviously a blessing.
That said, there is no place for hostility and personal attacks by this organization. I have only the intent to live a Jewish Religious Life. I did not ask for the ChaBaD and I did not ask for a single Jewish rabbi to be the sole proprietor of my own Jewish learning and life.
This is a good day and age and I hope that the ChaBaD will indeed consider me a Jew of the best of intentions. I do not wish to be "excommunicated" as I have seen from a fellow who publishes the web site "www.failedmessiah.com". This fellow reports online that the ChaBaD leadership has discouraged all Jewish people from doing business with him and keeping him a contact. He even reports experience of harassment where by his web site was hacked and that his own personal mail box at home was filled with an onslaught of felonious subscriptions to magazines to embarrass him. It was suggested that someone in the ChaBaD organization was the culprit of this crime, but I can not say of course if that is actrually the truth.

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