24 Friday, Feburary 11, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
(Readers Forum)
Materials submitted to the Readers Forum must be brief.
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enclosed.
Lubavitch
Response
Editor, The Jewish News:
In the Feb. 10 issue of The
Jewish News, a letter to the
editor by Rabbi Jack
Goldman eras printed. This
letter contained gross dis-
tortions of fact and pre-
sented a totally misleading
and malicious picture of the
Lubavitch movement.
Rabbi Goldman contends
that Lubavitcher Hasidim
follow the Shulhan Arukh
of the Ray (the first Rabbi of
Lubavitch) "which in some
cases boldly takes issue
with the accepted traditions
of Orthodox Jewish life and
strikes out with its own tra-
ditions." Is Rabbi Goldman
talking about Jewish law or
Jewish customs? So what?
Every Jewish group has de-
veloped its own customs,
and as long as they remain
within the parameters of
Halakha (Jewish Law),
they are accepted and re-
spected by all Jews.
But the Ray's Shulhan
Arukh is a work on
Halakha, not customs. And
anyone remotely familiar
with the processes of the de-
velopment of Halakha
realizes the absurdity of
Rabbi Goldman's state-
ment. The Shulkhan
Arukh, which is the defini-
tive source of Jewish law, is
constantly being developed
by recognized Halakhic ex-
perts.
The Ray's Shulhan
Arukh is one of several
universally-accepted
compendiums on the
Shulhan Arukh, such as
the Orukh HaShulhan,
the Mishna Brurah and
others. To say that the
Ray's Shulhan Arukh
disagrees with the origi-
nal Shulhan Arukh is like
saying that when a Jus-
tice of the United States
Supreme Court hands
down a legal decision he
disagrees with the Con-
stitution!
Among all Hasidic groups
the Ray has always been the
final Halakhic authority. I
challenge Rabbi Goldman
to document one case where
the Shulhan Arukh of the
Ray "takes issue with ac-
cepted traditions of Or-
thodox Jewish life!"
Rabbi Goldman claims
that "Lubavitchers spurn
the traditional commen-
taries on the Torah in favor
of Tanya, a commentary on
the Scriptures revered by
the Lubavitcher sect." First
of all, Tanya is not, and
bears no relationship what-
soever to a commentary on
the Scriptures. Rather,
Tanya is a philosophical
work on the nature of God,
Torah and the Jewish soul.
This remarkable book has
been responsible in our
A LETTER TO THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
times for awakening tens of
thousands of Jews to their
spiritual heritage_ It is by
no means studied exclu-
sively by Lubavitchers. For
example, in the world-
renowned Mesivta Torah
V'Daas (a recognized non-
Hasidic institution of
higher Jewish learning) lec-
tures are regularly given on
Tanya.
Rabbi Goldman is per-
turbed that Lubavitch
has its own prayer book.
Surely he must be aware
that there are many
different siddurim that
are accepted in the Or-
thodox community.
Sephardic Jews pray
from a siddur which is
very different from that
of Western Jews; among
Western Jews there are
many variations (or
"nuschaot" as they are
called) of Ashekenaz,
Sfrad, and Nusakh Ari;
Yaakov
Rabbi
world-
Kaminetzky,
renowned Torah authority,
has stated that in his opin-
ion the two most
grammatically correct sid-
durim are the siddur of
Habad-Lubavitch and the
siddur edited by the Mun-
kaczer Rebbe.
As far as Rabbi
Goldman's contention that
"Lubavitch promotes dis-
harmony and divisiveness,"
may I point out that
Lubavitch institutions are
represented and work to-
gether, not only with the
U.S. Congress on a national
level, but on a local level
with the Council of Or-
thodox Rabbis which repre-
sents the Orthodox commu-
(Continued on- Page 25)
.1D1Y11 13`11.1i1 11)1
A letter appeared in the February 1 0, 1 984 edition of the
• Jewish News suggesting that Lubavitchers have their own brand
of Judaism which is 'different from that of mainstream Orthodox
Judaism. The tenor of that letter, written by Rabbi Jack Goldman,
is a gross distortion of the truth and a disservice to the Jewish
community. If not for Lubavitch there would be neither the Bais
Chabad Torah Center, a functioning Orthodox Synagogue and
adult education center, nor the Bais Chabad Afternoon School,
the only independent Orthodox Hebrew School in the Metropoli-
tan Detroit area. Both of these institutions are headed by a
Lubavitcher Rabbi, maintain the true ideals of Judaism, and have
brought many Jews back to the ways of Torah. The great majority
of the members of these institutions are not Lubavitchers, yet they
are very comfortable learning and praying in the true spirit of
Torah.
1'03
D- Aociox cRaggi,i
p
kaz
11011 WEST TEN MILE ROAD • SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN 48015
PHONE: 559-5005-06
Rabbi Leizer Levin
President
Phone 557-6828
Rabbi Chaskel Grubner
MNAHEL
Phone: 398-1017
Rabbi Goldman would have the readers of the Jewish News
believe that they are being misled by Lubavitch. This is far from
the reality of the situation. Lubavitch provides a valuable service
to the Jewish community and it continues to be a vibrant, suc-
cessful movement, which is continually growing world-wide.
Dear Editor,
Rabbi Jack Goldman labels Lubavitch customs and practices as
"divisive innovations." He came to Congregation Bais Chabad
and applied for membership of his own free will. Our Congrega-
tion welcomed him with open arms. We consider the contents of
his letter insidious and certainly "divisive." If he is uncomfortable
with the ways of Lubavitch, he is free to leave our Congregation
and go elsewhere.
SIGNED
Rabbi Shach did write about certain matters, but he did not mention the Ray's Shulchan
Aruch - which is a sacred work accepted by Klal Yisrael (the overall Jewish Community)
as the work of a great ga'on (pre-eminent scholar) and posek, (Torah-Law Authority).
FRED J. RUBY
PRESIDENT, BAIS CHABAD OF WEST BLOOMFIELD
LARRY GORMEZANO
VICE PRESIDENT,
MORRIS MANDELBAUM TREASURER,
BAIS CHABAD
BAIS CHABAD
ERWIN HOLLANDER
PAST PRESIDENT,
BATS CHABAD
ALEX EHRMANN
MEMBER OF THE BOARD,
BAIS CHABAD
FRAN ROGERS
MEMBER OF THE BOARD,
and PRESIDENT OF THE
SISTERHOOD,
BAIS CHABAD
EILEEN BORSAND
VICE PRESIDENT,
SISTERHOOD,
BAIS CHABAD
LUCILLE RUBY
VICE PRESIDENT,
SISTERHOOD,
BAIS CHABAD
JERRY BORSAND
CHAIRPERSON,
BAIS CHABAD
RONALD ROGERS
CHAIRPERSON,
BAIS CHABAD
l•
s.
1.
a
!1
In the last issue of your worthy and respected newspaper (Jewish News; February 10)
there appeared a letter to the Editor headed "Lubavitch vs Orthodox."
The Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Detroit feels an obligation to respond to that letter
and to issue a clarification:
The Mishna Berura, a halachic Compendium authored by the Chafetz Chayim —
greatest halachic authorityof the previous generation — in many instances bases his
rulings upon the verdicts of the Ray's Shulchan Aruch.
In our city, variant forms (Nuscha'ot) of prayer are in use, as expressions of different,
valid customs; but the foundation of them all is the purity and sanctity of our Torah. The
different groups within the Torah - Community using these Nuscha'ot are all striving for
the same goal - the dissemination of Torah-Judaism, of Yiddishkeit.
In our community Lubavitch is one of the forces helping to spread Judaism, Torah,
religious commitment (Yiras Shamayim), education of boys and girls, kashrut, etc. The
Rabbis of the Lubavitch Synagogues are members in the Council of Rabbis and they
assist and support all aspects of the Council's work.
Our objective and goal is to unify all forces in the city — not, G-d forbid, to foster
divisiveness. Letters such as - the one printed last week can only sow disunity. In our
opinion the letter should not have been printed in your worthy newspaper, a publication
whose editors and staff - I am sure - would likewise want only to promote the unity and
togetherness of the Klal Yisrael.
Council of Rabbis
Detroit
Look for this Symbol
as your Guarantee for Council Kashruth Supervisi•n