Biblical War, Chabad style

I’ve been back on my anti-rabbi duties doing research and writing new chapters for Two Pigeons when I came across this…a brief statement by a celebrity Chabad rabbi about his thoughts on the proper way to wage a war in the Jewish style. I wanted to share it with you.

I don’t believe in western morality, i.e. don’t kill civilians or children, don’t destroy holy sites, don’t fight during holiday seasons, don’t bomb cemeteries, don’t shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral.

The only way to fight a moral war is the Jewish way: Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children (and cattle).

The first Israeli prime minister who declares that he will follow the Old Testament will finally bring peace to the Middle East. First, the Arabs will stop using children as shields. Second, they will stop taking hostages knowing that we will not be intimidated. Third, with their holy sites destroyed, they will stop believing that G-d is on their side. Result: no civilian casualties, no children in the line of fire, no false sense of righteousness, in fact, no war.

Zero tolerance for stone throwing, for rockets, for kidnapping will mean that the state has achieved sovereignty. Living by Torah values will make us a light unto the nations who suffer defeat because of a disastrous morality of human invention.

Rabbi Manis Friedman
Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies
St. Paul, MN

Rabbi Manis Friedman is well known in the Jewish world. He was close to Bob Dylan when the singer found his Judaism. He’s been popular author and lecturer on psychology, relationships, and issues of, eh, carnal intimacy. He is also the founder of a school for Jewish girls — which feels creepy when you learn about Friedman’s views on pedophilia and sexual assault and the fact that his own son has been accused of sexually abusing children (and apparently had been sexually abused, too)…not to say anything about Chabad’s institutional history of protecting serial pedophiles within their ranks. Grim stuff. In fact I first came across this guy while writing about the sordid history of the Chabad sect years ago. So I recognized the name…

Anyway, his views on the right way to wage a war on Palestinians were published in 2009 in Moment, a mainstream Jewish magazine that was cofounded by Elie Wiesel. There were other rabbis from other denominations quoted in that article, too. They took positions more nuanced than his and many in the Jewish community condemned his genocidal views. It was a minor scandal then. Now fifteen years later Friedman’s views are basically mainstream in Israel and in Jewish communities around the world. What he described as the only proper, godly way to wage war against the enemies of Israel is in fact what Israel is currently doing in Gaza and beyond…with total support from the United States and the Europeans.

“Hey, kids! I’m rabbi Friedman. Want to learn about uncle Moses?”

---

Not sure what to say…This is the face of mainstream Jewish life now. Slowly annihilating two million people is seen as just what must be done, no matter how (depending on your personal inclinations) unpleasant or grim or exhilarating it might be. And if you’re an IDF soldier traumatized by having to constantly scrape bloody hands and feet off the treads of your tank because you’re crushing Palestinians to death…don’t despair. They’ll send in a rabbi to tell you you’re doing God’s work according to His commandments. It’s all kosher, you see. YHWH approved.

—Yasha

Want to know more?

• Zionists tried to use God. But God used them.

• The weird world of Chabad, an influential Hasidic sect that’s been taking America (and Israel) by storm

• …another my other Chabad rants

• I might write on Chabad a bit more later because of how influential they are in the Jewish world now…and they’re only getting bigger and more powerful.