Moshe Greenberg is a scholar described by the periodical Conservative Judaism as "one of the leading scholars of Hebrew scripture in the world," formerly the Chair of the Department of Bible Studies at Hebrew University in Israel. As a young man, Greenberg's first introduction to the racist foundation of Jewish religious literature was in Sefer Hatanya, the central works of Habad hasidim [one of today's ultra-Orthodox groups, also spelled "Chabad"]. Greenberg noted in 1996 that

 

        "What emerged for me, from the study of the first chapters of the book

        and their antecedents was the discovery that the main stream of Jewish

        thought is permeated by the genetic spiritual superiority of Jews over

        Gentiles, disconcertingly reminiscent of racist notions of our time.

        Living in Israel for the past twenty years in a Jewish majority that is no

        more sensitive to the feelings of minorities within it than Gentile

        majorities are.... [with] Jews in their midst, I have come to realize the

        vitality of Jewish racist notions, and I am more than ever convinced that

        the hold Judaism will have on this and future generations will be gravely

        impaired unless these notions are neutralized by an internal reordering of

        traditional values." [GREENBERG, p. 33]

 

     (This Chabad organization, it should be pointed out, has a yearly fund-raising telethon, where in Los Angeles a variety of well-meaning non-Jewish Hollywood personalities, ignorant of the central tenets of the group, are active in its growth)

 

   ….

  

     The Orthodox "Chabad" movement is a very popular, and activist, movement in America and Israel today, seeking to pull wayward secular Jews back to the religious fold. For decades this organization was headed by Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, who died in 1994. "The difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish person," said Schneerson,

 

      "stems from the common expression: 'Let us differentiate.' Thus, we do

       not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a

       superior level. Rather, we have a case of 'let us differentiate' between

       totally different species. This is what needs to be said about the body:

       the body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the

       body of [members] of all nations of the world ... A non-Jew's entire

       reality is only vanity. It is written, 'And the strangers shall guard and

       feed your flocks' (Isaiah 61:5). The entire creation [of a non-Jew] exists

       only for the sake of the Jews." [BROWNFELD, A., MARCH 2000,

       p. 105-106]

 

     Elswhere, Schneerson wrote that

 

     “The Jewish people were granted the unique ability to draw down all

     Divine effluences through their performance of Torah and mitzvos

     [the fulfillment of religious commandments] ... [Jews] become vessels for

     G-dliness ... The reason why only Jews possess this unique quality

     is because of their power of mesirus nefsh, total self-sacrifice...

     [SCHNEERSOHN, Y., 1986, p. 2] ... The Talmud comments that

     Jews possess three innate character traits: they are bashful, merciful

     and benevolent. These traits are not only meritorious in and of

     themselves, but also reveal the greatness of the Jewish people. Every

     Jew inherently possesses these beautiful traits. [SCHNEERSOHN, Y.,

     1986, p. 11] ... G-d's conduct with the Jewish people transcends the

     bounds of nature. When a Jew submits all his natural matters to G-d's

     service, the Almighty then helps him in a supranatural manner." 

     [SCHNEERSOHN, Y., 1986, p. 199]

 

 

 

 

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