POLITICS DECEMBER 4, 2008
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Jerusalem, Israel
Gavriel and Rivkie Holtzberg, the young Israeli couple who ran the Chabad House in Mumbai and were murdered there by jihadists, died bound and helpless, like those Jewish martyrs disparaged for their quietism by the Zionist ethos. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, the Holtzbergs never served in the Israeli army--yet when they were buried on Tuesday, Israeli society mourned as though they were fallen soldiers. When their coffins arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport, they were draped in the national flag. Israeli leaders, including President Shimon Peres, who doesn't usually attend the funerals of terror victims, came to the Holtzbergs' funeral. When I came into work that morning, I found the young woman in the room beside mine weeping.
The devastating scene of the Holtzbergs' surviving two-year-old son, Moishe, calling out for his mother during a memorial service, was repeatedly shown on TV. But Israelis weren't only mourning the destruction of the Holtzberg family; they were mourning the loss of national heroes. Newspaper accounts recalled how Gavriel bribed prison guards in India to smuggle in wine for Shabbat to an Israeli inmate held on drug charges. Even after they lost a child to Tay-Sachs disease, the Holtzbergs insisted on remaining at their post--to continue, as Gavriel explained, "to do mitzvas," fulfill the commandment to help their fellow Jews.
In embracing the Holtzbergs, Israelis were restoring to the national ethos the old concept of kiddush hashem, religious martrydom--confirming a process that began with the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The iconic image of that war was a photograph of a religious soldier being led into Egyptian activity as he carried a Torah scroll. That image was so jarring precisely because it cast an Israeli soldier in the role of a pre-Zionist model of heroism. Since then, all our wars have ended inconclusively, expressions of the limitations of power. The more nuanced Israeli attitudes toward heroism are reflected in Jerusalem's renovated Yad Vashem Holocaust museum, which now not only extols the secular heroes, like partisans and ghetto fighters, but also those who responded to dehumanization by maintaining their religious dignity, running underground schools and prayer groups.
Since the Mumbai massacre, there have been calls here for the Israeli government to subsidize security at Chabad houses across the globe, seen by Israelis as extensions of home. "Our Chabad," summed up one headline on an Israeli news web site. The warmth with which so many Israelis have responded to Chabad proves--along with the growing popularity of prayer lyrics in Israeli rock music and of informal “secular” prayer groups spreading in Tel Aviv and elsewhere--that large parts of Israeli society may be entering a post-secular phase.
Still, it is doubtful the country would have reacted with the same emotional intensity had the Holtzbergs been ordinary ultra-Orthodox Jews rather than Chabadniks. Mainstream Israelis resent ultra-Orthodox Jews for separating from the state and its obligations even as they demand that it subsidize their separatism. Chabad neither separates nor demands, but gives. Israelis encounter Chabad's embrace most often abroad. When our young people just out of the army travel the most remote corners of the world (because military service doesn't provide enough dangers and thrills), they invariably encounter a Chabad house.
Israelis also love Chabadniks for their courage: Rivkie and Gavriel weren't yet buried when Rivkie's father announced his intention of taking over their work in the Mumbai Chabad house. Though few Chabadniks are drafted into the army, they don't avoid danger zones: Chabad activists rush to the front lines during war, providing religious services and dancing with soldiers to raise morale. One friend told me about her sister who was serving in a border post so sensitive that a visitor required special permission from the general in command of the front: "And then who shows up on Hanukah with jelly donuts? Chabadniks."
Contrast Chabad's embrace of the Israeli ethos with ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionists--one of whom, Leibish Teitelbaum, a member of the Satmar hasidic sect, was killed in Mumbai. Teitelbaum's family demanded that his coffin not be draped in the Israeli flag, even though his body had been retrieved and flown home by the Israeli government--a reminder that Jewish anti-Zionism is less an ideology than a character flaw, a lack of capacity for gratitude. Chabad defines itself by its love for every Jew; the anti-Zionists define themselves by the Jews they despise.
Israeli society reciprocated the Teitelbaums' contempt, barely noting that other funeral. Watching the mutual estrangement that even a common Jewish death couldn't heal, it felt like one of those moments in Jewish history when schismatic sects evolve into separate faiths.
Israelis know Chabad's flaws--the cars mounted with the late Rebbe's photograph and the words "Welcome King Messiah," the replicas built around Israel of the Rebbe's house in Brooklyn, complete with red bricks chipped in all the original places. And also Chabad's hardline politics: There was no territorial compromise, including Israel's withdrawal from Sinai in 1982, that Chabad didn't vehemently oppose. But many Israelis overlook the messianic looniness and the political rigidity because they crave a connection with a form of traditional Judaism that loves them unconditionally. And though it's rare in Israel's grudging public discourse to express gratitude, this week at least, Israelis offered Chabad that same unconditional love in return.
Yossi Klein Halevi is a contributing editor at The New Republic and a senior fellow at the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies of the Shalem Center in Jerusalem.
By Yossi Klein Halevi
25 comments
Nicely balanced piece.
- T S
December 4, 2008 at 11:40am
Not all chabadnicks believe the rebbe of blessed memory was /will be moshiach...it is not a part of chabad..(some believe it is so) but i really enjoyed the rest of the article..
- Yossef
December 4, 2008 at 1:33pm
no sense in these topic
- teejay65555
December 4, 2008 at 2:05pm
As a 20+ year member/supporter of Chabad, I wish that the media would stop referring to the organization as being "ultra-orthodox" which is not factual. Thanks
- Steven Siegel
December 4, 2008 at 2:11pm
another exagerated emotional outburst from a country that regularly kills and terrorizes palistinians for land that they believe is God's gift to his chosen people. To any utlra orthodox who believes this, I ask if god created heaven and earth why has he interveened and settled this dispute for his chosen people? Really can't both muslims and jews just live on the same land. I don't like my neighbors but I am not going to blow them up. 2000 years now please someone just win already
- moses
December 4, 2008 at 2:18pm
Its nice to see Yossi Klein writing something positive about right wing Jews. I wish it didnt need a massacre to do it. I love his writing and always have but his politics and religious beliefs are a bit hard to stomach.
- Steven Katz
December 4, 2008 at 2:24pm
As a secular Jew I have always had mixed feelings about Chabad-niks. On the one hand, they tend to be undeniably good natured and unconditionally warm (to fellow Jews), as Yossi Klein Halevi notes. It is a strangely comforting feeling for a Jew to run into a Chabad house in far flung parts of the world (I ran into them in Goa, India, which is a common destination for post-army Israelis looking to let loose after mandatory military service). But I have (and continue) to be troubled by the way in which the Chabadnikim are focused almost exclusively on ONLY helping Jews. To my mind, there is something rather sinister about being so devoted to helping just one small group of people (defined somewhat by religion and somewhwat by race) - to the exclusion of everybody else. This is perhaps reflective of my deeper suspicion that ardent group solidarity (based on religion, race, nationality etc.) will always have a darker side because it is inherently divisive and necessarily excludes many from its ambit (and often actively targets outsiders).
- R.D.
December 4, 2008 at 3:05pm
Very good piece, just one comment. I don't know if it is the majority or not, but unlike other ultra-Orthodox Israelis, many Chabadniks do serve in the IDF, for a shorter period of time, after deferring their service for study.
- LB
December 4, 2008 at 3:20pm
You say jew a 'despises jews' simply because he doesn't want his body draped in an Israeli flag? Wow. That is some crazy hardcore stuff.
- ed
December 4, 2008 at 3:55pm
I am a Chabad Shliach myself and I'm deeply offended by the way Yossi Klein portrays the Satmar Chassidim and the request that the holy Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum's coffin not be draped in an Israeli flag. The Satmar Chassidim have a belief that Jewish rule in Israel should be strictly according to Torah laws. Without debating whether their belief is correct or not, this is one of the principles the Satmar community has. Rabbi Leibish Teitelbaum lived as a Satmar chossid and has the right to be buried as one, without being ridiculed. Those wretched terrorists ridiculed him enough, by killing him as he was bent over a Talmudic tractate. We don't need one of our own degrading him as well.
- A
December 4, 2008 at 3:58pm
They should not have been there. India is not the territories. Go back to Boston or wherever they came from. They would kill a Muslim Palestinian in a second, so I do not cry for them. I have had personal experiences with Chabad followers in Brooklyn NY who were very hostile and rude to me. WELL SAID MOSES ^^^
- Random American
December 4, 2008 at 4:22pm
My father is a Lubavitcher Chabadnik(I'm no longer frum) and I think he would object to Yossi's characterization of Satmars and other Hungarian Jews. Having known a number of Satmar, yes, it is true they are more devoted to their community than their nation as a whole. (Witness all the tax-evaders who live in Williamsburg, etc.) But despite the fact that they are much more private than Chabadniks, Hungarian Jews are all genuinely nice people who will welcome you into their shuls with open arms. I am someone who, not being frum, thinks that all Jews need to set aside their differences over who-is-moshiach and who-is-the-Satmar-rebbe's-heir and just get along, especially considering how few frum Jews there are left.
- Abe
December 4, 2008 at 5:54pm
it appears Yossi Klein Halevi suffers from the very affliction he attributes to the Satmars, that is, the inability to rise above one's petty "shtik" even at a time like this. The difference is, the Satmar attitude towards the Israeli flag has a source in Torah (even if misinterpreted), whereas Klein seems to believe that our ethics come from some other source. In short, Yossi, grow up!
- reader
December 4, 2008 at 8:08pm
We care about everyone in the world and will help all but if you had a choice between a brother about to die of serious injury or a total stranger, I sure hope you'll choose your brother. We have only that many hands. We encourage the rest of the world especially Arabs to build similar support systems in which they go otu and HELP THEIR own instead of worrying about annihilating us...
- TO SEVEN A Chabdnik
December 4, 2008 at 11:54pm
Just a little footnote: (It's not the word of G-d so I need not fear commenting..!) From reading the entire article, the author should have come to his own conclusion that the "messianic looniness and the political rigidity" may not just be as he describes it, but really a direct result of Chabad's unwavering and unadulterated commitment to Hashem and His Torah. I thought it was a good article, beautiful in fact. But the writer is being very judgmental on all the religious Jews and is so-to-speak "pardoning" the Chabadniks because "they're not so bad" and "they have a good side". If he looks a little closer he'll realise that the same inspiration that had Gabi and Rivka HY"D sacrifice their lives to do good to others is the very same inspiration that has Chabadniks building replicas of 770 all over the globe and has most of Chabad assertively believing that the Rebbe is indeed Moshiach. Though I appreciate his willingness to separate the good from the bad, you don't need to do that when there is no bad!
- Shliach
December 4, 2008 at 11:56pm
I adore Chabad. I get a kick out of reading about the Baal Shem Tov or flipping through the Tanya that I don’t from Plato or Aristotle (or Maimonides or the contemporary followers of the Vilna Gaon). I just don’t get those guys. The intellectual rigour and slightly shabby, romantic anti-rationalism of Hassidism are very Jewish indeed, and the Lubos are the most accessible sources. Everything about Chabad is Jewish: the eating, the schmutzic garb, the contrariansim, the irony (even the name, which is ostensibly an avowal of rationalism and actually a repudation of it). They make the other, uptight Haredi groups look like a bunch of Wasps. And they’re incredibly savvy. I’m not sure there’s another organisation (“I’m not into organised religion” “That’s why I’m recommending Chabad” is a line my rabbi has used more than once) in the world that used the media so cleverly. Unlike other Hassidim, Chabad is hip and on point As a casual observer with politics left of any other TNR reader, I can ignore the hardline talk (and the cholent) and focus on the jokes. And having zero interest in the community turf wars, the Rebbe is as good a candidate for Messiah-King as any other. But most importantly, why wouldn’t Israelis yearn for their Yiddishe ancestors old-time ways? Israel is one of the most goyish nations on earth. They fight, they camp, they listen to trance music, they even have an effective navy. Instead of traipsing off to Goa and frizzing their neurons with mind expanding drugs, maybe those kids just need a nice glass lemon tea.
- Opehlia Tshabalala
December 5, 2008 at 3:02am
re: Ophelia Tshabalala. very well put. But, Chabad is for all its media savvy extremely rigid, particularly on the family/social/gender questions where it diverges a lot from the mostly egalitarian/socially liberal politics of their young Jewish flock. Also, 10 points on the lemon tea. Egg creams too, or is that more Brooklyn than Jewish?
- Oy
December 6, 2008 at 1:08am
It totally untrue to say that Chabad only helps Jews. the reason the telethon in America is so successful is because Chabad in Ca has for decades now run programs helping homeless people drug addicts and others regardless of race or religion. Rabbi KAntor, Chabad shliach in Thailand, helped Thai families after the tsunami. In the immediate aftermath he helped a, lot of Israelis who were there, but he also helped Thais and others. and after the initial traumatic few days he set about helping get food, clothing, toys, etc to local families who'd lost everything. In Mumbai, local non-Jews loved the Holtzbergs and had a great relationship with them. even in the Ukraine, home of the infamous Cossacks, Chabad has helped local non-Jews. what they don't do is try to convert non_Jews in exchange for assisting them- one of many many things that separates Chabad from other service organizations.
- c.a.
December 6, 2008 at 1:45pm
The Teitelbaums never asked the Israeli government to bring the body back, and had already raised the money to do it themselves. The Indian government insisted that the body would only be handed over to the Israeli government; so why should the Teitelbaums be so grateful? Satmar do not take anything from the Israeli government, whenever they have a choice in the matter. So what claim does Israel have on them?
- Milhouse
December 6, 2008 at 7:46pm
They were rude to you, Random American? And you think you are able to predict any of the Jewish victims "would have killed a Muslim Palestinian in a second"? It may interest you to learn that at a recent memorial service in an American Chabad house not one word of hatred or revenge was heard, even though the victims were all unarmed civilians.
- jewish daughter
December 7, 2008 at 7:47am
I agree with jewish daughter. I work in a Chabad house and not once has anyone said a word of hatred or revenge, although there are many tears and prayers. Comments such as those made by "Random American" show just how uninformed and prejudiced people can be, with no love nor compassion in their empty hearts.
- tiny tov
December 8, 2008 at 12:20pm
Moses you are an ignoramous. Best to sut it, when you don't know the facts: The West Bank, remains disputed territory. Here's why. United Nations Security Council Resolution 242 (S/RES/242) was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council on November 22, 1967 in the aftermath of the Six Day War. It was adopted under Chapter VI of the United Nations Charter.[1] The resolution was drafted by British ambassador Lord Caradon and was one of five drafts under consideration. It calls for "the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East which should include the application of both the following principles: (i) Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict” (ii) Termination of all claims or states of belligerency" and respect for the right of every state in the area to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries. Lord Caradon the principal architect himself wrote thus: We didn't say there should be a withdrawal to the '67 line; we did not put the 'the' in, we did not say all the territories, deliberately.. We all knew - that the boundaries of '67 were not drawn as permanent frontiers, they were a cease-fire line of a couple of decades earlier... We did not say that the '67 boundaries must be forever; it would be insanity. That said - until there is a secure situation for Israel AS WELL, violence will go on. I suggest yddress your remarks at Hamas Inc and their sponsors.
- Lenny
December 10, 2008 at 12:10pm
Good heavens Yossi Klein, may you see the light one day
- Reuven
December 10, 2008 at 9:14pm
This could have been Yossi Klein Halevi's opportunity to exemplify, and spread, the kind of unconditional love which he is extolling, and which the Holtzbergs unbdoubtedly extended to Leibush Teitelbaum zt"l.
- Sarah Shapiro/ Jerusalem
December 16, 2008 at 7:37am
Another mistake of Mr. Halevi: Chabad is not a Zionist group either. His contrast is so misinformed. And another thing: who says an anti-Zionist can not nevertheless "love every Jew" as he says Chabad does? He may not support the political entity known as the State of Israel, but does that contradict love for others Jews? In fact, it's a Torah commandment that a Jew love every Jew! And most Jewish anti-Zionists happen to view themselves as bound by the Torah. They're not some Jewish fringe group of self-hate-mongers.
- Yitzhak Fenster
January 14, 2009 at 11:57am