The Cost of Success |
Many people have asked me what is it with Chabad? Why does a guy like Tucker Carlson who knows nothing about Judaism, less about Chabad, and very little even about Christianity suddenly go on the attack against Chabad, followed closely by “know nothing” Candace Owens?
Other than good old fashion bigotry, one of the major reasons for the attack against Chabad is that it has been successful in rescuing Jews from religious disintegration. Bigots do not like that. While they hate Jews and others of all types and descriptions, they are particularly annoyed by the fact that Jews, Judaism, and the Nation of Israel has existed since the beginning of recorded history. Neither Christianity nor Islam would exist without Judaism. Bigots know that, and they do not like it.
The founder of Chabad is Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi who lived from 1745 to 1812. He is known in popular wisdom as the Alter Rebbe which simply means the old rabbi. The Rabbi was known for his work in mysticism. Anyone who is interested in learning about the phenomenal contribution of the Chassidic movement should read Elie Wiesel’s popular, “Souls on Fire.”
The original founder of “modern” Chassidic thought was Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer, known to the Jewish community as the Baal Shem Tov. He is referred to as a mystic.
The Baal Shem Tov was born in 1700 approximately and died in 1760. At the time he was born, Jews had faced such tremendous bigotry and animosity that there were those who believed the Nation of Israel had become moribund, hopeless, and a near drudgery. The Baal Shem Tov and his followers sought to reinstitute the fire of love for G-d, optimism, and self-fulfillment back into the Jewish soul. They were largely successful.
In the early days, there were........