...At the same time, there are many things about Chabad I find troubling, even distasteful. Some of this is part of standard Orthodox Judaism, such as nonegalitarian worship and the belief in the superiority of the Jewish soul. Other things are particular to Hasidism, notably the reverence shown toward an individual rebbe. Chabad Messianism, the exclusion of Israeli holidays from Chabad calendars, the right-wing politics — I don’t like any of it.
None of that, however, detracts from what is enduring and worthwhile: the Jewish outreach. Quite simply, Chabad has changed Jewish lives.
It’s changed mine, in small but meaningful ways. I’m not shomer Shabbos, but now I have a mezuzah on my door. I take care to avoid embarrassing others, a commandment in Judaism that I only learned about through Chabad. Same with visiting the sick and showing up for shivas. Again, standard Jewish teachings that I learned from Chabad.
Two years ago, when my sister Jennifer was dying in a Miami hospital and my parents were driving back and forth every day to their home in Boca Raton, a Chabad rabbi offered them an apartment he kept right next to the hospital for just this purpose. They stayed there for months, for free. Of course, my parents gave him a donation later, but the point was, he didn’t ask. He just gave. Because that’s what a Jew is supposed to do....Read more...