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May 01, 2006
Jewish Traitors
Sadly there is no shortage of Jews who campaign against the State of Israel. Many of them are university professors in the US (and Israel!) whose skewed views are corrupting the minds of the next generation of leaders and policymakers. However objectionable, they do not collaborate with murderers. That kind of degeneracy is the preserve of the Neturei Karta.
Ordinarily they would be entitled to their point of view and to demonstrate opposition to Zionism in appropriate places, such as outside the Knesset or - if they felt so violated - at the European Court of Human Rights in the Hague. But no - these characters demonstrate alongside terrorists whose abiding policy is the wilful murder of Jews inside and outside of Israel. The NK pays homage to mullahs and clerics like Qadarawi who encourage suicide bombings. And they make solidarity visits to the new leaders in Iran whose avowed intention is to wipe another 6 million Jews off the face of the earth.
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It is very important to know and remember the faces of Naturei Karta. Are they coming to your shul to daven? Are they soliciting charitable funds from you? You should know who they are and blacklist them.
We should put them in cherem, in halachic, legal isolation.
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Open Letter To Neturei Karta
By: Steven Plaut
Neturei Karta is a small sect of ultra-Orthodox "Jewish" extremists, best known for marching arm in arm with Yasir Arafat and endorsing every anti-Israel terrorist and anti-Semite on the planet as part of its jihad against Israel.
Neturei Karta is a small sect of ultra-Orthodox "Jewish" extremists, best known for marching arm in arm with Yasir Arafat and endorsing every anti-Israel terrorist and anti-Semite on the planet as part of its jihad against Israel.
Neturei Karta ("Guardians of the City" in Aramaic) was created in 1938, mainly by Hungarian Jews, as a breakaway group from the more mainstream Agudath Israel movement.
The organization openly calls for Israel to be destroyed and openly supports the worst genocidal anti-Semites on the planet.
Recently, in response to one of my columns, I received a series of e-mails from someone associated with the Neturei Karta movement. He and I carried on a correspondence of sorts for quite a while. Below I have taken the essence of the notes I sent him and compiled them into an "open letter."
Dear Sir,
In the Amida prayer, which Jews recite three times every day, there is a section in which the minim are denounced. The minim were small groups of treasonous Jews who collaborated with the Roman enemies of the Jewish people, and the prayer explicitly mentions that these minim were tattlers, snitches, people who served the anti-Semites of their day as agents, and worked against Jewish existence and survival. Since then, of course, the segment in the daily prayer has been understood to be a curse in general upon anti-Semites, and especially Jewish anti-Semites working against their own people.
I mention all this because I can think of no more apt illustration of a cult of minim than Neturei Karta. Your cult is nothing more than a pseudo-Jewish pagan group working against Judaism and in collaboration with the worst enemies of the Jews. You would have no problems serving the Romans or Assyrians if they were still around.
You claim that you are simply opposed to Israel because it is full of people who trample upon Jewish observance. Well, let me tell you something. The most secularist pork-eater on any kibbutz in Israel is halachically more Jewish than the "rabbis" in the Neturei Karta cult. Why do I say this? Because, as you know, there is a clear halachic rule that says that living in the Land of Israel is equivalent to observing all 613 religious commandments or mitzvot. All of them — even the ones reserved for priests and even the ones that may only be performed in the Temple (and so may not be performed today).
No, I am not suggesting that living in Eretz Yisrael should be regarded as a blanket exemption from the observance of all other Jewish religious precepts. I am simply saying that even someone who observes nothing at all, but who lives in Israel, is on a very real level more Jewish than the "rabbis" of your minim cult.
When you march in anti-Israel demonstrations alongside anti-Semites, when you endorse Arafat and his stormtroopers and serve as their public relations agents, when you support terrorists and excuse mass murders of Jews, you are acting as followers of the evil Bil`am, not as sons of Jacob or disciples of Abraham.
You say you want Israel destroyed because it was not set up properly, because the Messiah has not yet come. Do you really think that Israel can be destroyed without there also transpiring a second Holocaust? Do you not realize this is the unavoidable consequence of what you are proposing, and what the people you are supporting seek?
A ketuba, or marriage contract, that is signed on the Sabbath is still a valid one and must be respected, even though signing it on the Sabbath is a violation of the day. A kohen who marries a divorcee has sinned, because such a marriage is prohibited by the Torah, but the marriage must be acknowledged and even accepted and honored. It stands.
Whether or not Israel was created properly or at the correct time, the fact that it exists changes how Jews must behave and requires a certain amount of responsibility and arvut ze l`ze, or mutual support and defense, even from the most smug, self-righteous pretenders at ultra-religiosity.
Whatever you think about the establishment of Israel, you have no right to endorse those who seek to destroy it and its Jewish population through violence. And if you do endorse such people and march with them, you are collaborators with Haman. You are worse than Dotan and Aviram.
Had you lived in Shushan in Persia in the days of Queen Esther and her Uncle Mordecai, you would have been marching arm in arm with Haman. After all, among those Persian Jews were no doubt many who violated the Sabbath and other religious principles. Neturei Karta would have supported Haman as a way to "punish" them.
In Elijah`s generation, all but a handful of Jews were acting as pagans. Strange, but I do not recall Elijah justifying anti-Semites murdering them. Indeed, Elijah enthusiastically endorsed the very worst pagan of all, King Ahab, when the king went on the warpath to kill the enemies of Israel.
The Neturei Karta "rabbis" are not recognized as Torah authorities by real Torah authorities outside the cult — not by Sephardic rabbis, not by Ashkenazic rabbis, not by misnagdim, not by chassidim. In essence, virtually all Jews see Neturei Karta as a pathetic minim cult. Can you name a single rabbi outside Neturei Karta who endorses the view of your own "rabbis"? Of course you can't.
So you think collaborating with the worst anti-Semites on the planet, people who openly endorse genocide of Jews, is better than collaborating with misguided Israeli secularists, people who perhaps need to be pulled back to the traditions of Israel? You believe that when a Jew sins, he ceases to be a Jew and should be murdered? I wonder what books you are reading as replacements for the Torah.
You insist the Zionists are the Devil, not the Palestinian terrorists. And of course, if the Palestinian terrorists are not the Devil, why should anyone think the German Nazis were? Since you defend the Palestinians' right to murder my family — and, as it happens, my family does not eat pork — then what is wrong with the Germans murdering my grandparents?
In the interest of consistency, why not march around in your pro-PLO parades wearing swastikas? Why not put one on your website?
The Neturei Karta cultists are inverted Bil`ams. Bil`am was ordered to curse Israel, yet ended up blessing the Tents of Jacob. You are the reverse. You are ordered by the Torah to bless Israel, but you curse the Jewish people. You have no concept of Jewish solidarity because you are, at best, a pseudo-Jewish minim cult.
Steven Plaut is a professor at Haifa University. His book "The Scout"
is available at Amazon.com. He can be reached at steven_plaut@yahoo.com.
And here are the NK appearing on Iranian TV, thanks to my friend Baruch Cohen for bringing this to my attention and suggeting that I post the whole sorry and surrealistic affair on Seraphic Secret.
Posted by Robert J. Avrech at May 1, 2006 09:55 AM
Comments
Seraphic Secret is private property, that's right, it's an extension of our home, and as such, Karen and I have instituted two Seraphic Rules and we ask commentors to act respectfully.
1. No profanity.2. No Israel bashing. We debate, we discuss, we are respectful. You know what Israel bashing is. The world is full of it. Seraphic Secret is one of the few places in the world that will not tolerate this form of anti-Semitism. That's it. Break either of these rules and you will be banned.
The NK just make me shake my head. Some people just don't get it. Why they think they are any different is beyond me.
Posted by: Jack at May 1, 2006 11:46 AM
Jake:
Of all our enemies, the NK are perhaps the most maddening. They look Jewish, they talk Jewish, they keep Shabbos, keep Kashrus, halachically they have all the requirements of being Jewish, and yet, and yet, they are the enemies of the Jewish people as sure as Hamas is and as sure as the State of Iran is. I guess we can just chalk them up as more little Noam Chomsky's and Tony Judt's -- but with peyes.
Posted by: Robert Avrech at May 1, 2006 12:04 PM
Plaut is dynamite when it comes to these snappy yet measured intellectual (and spiritual) scoldings.
Posted by: Jeremiah at May 1, 2006 12:04 PM
The thing that amazes me is that, looking they way they do, if they were to walk down the street in Gaza or Shechem, they would be lynched. I can't help but wonder how they traveled around Iran looking that way as well. Don't they understand that they are being used by the Jew-haters and Israel-bashers?
Posted by: wanderer at May 1, 2006 01:18 PM
Jeremiah:
Yes, Plaut is on-target. He writes regularly for The Jewish Press. The editor-in-chief, Jason Maoz, is doing a wonderful job and has made the JP the best real Jewish Paper in the US.
Posted by: Robert Avrech at May 1, 2006 01:23 PM
Wanderer:
The NK were guests of the Iranian government so it's not as if they were just wandering around Tehran taking in the lovely sights. They were given VIP treatment. Do they understand they they are being used? Of course they do, and they couldn't care less. For them, as for all evil people and their movements, the ends justify the means.
Posted by: Robert Avrech at May 1, 2006 01:27 PM
It's not just the NK who are a disgrace....
This item from YNET...
Orthodox riot on eve of Memorial Day
Police called to Shabbat Square were shocked to find dozens of ultra-Orthodox insulting memory of fallen soldiers – rioting, setting dumpsters on fire and blocking traffic; police say they view incident ‘with extreme gravity’ but fail to make any arrests
Efrat Weiss
As Israel collectively mourned its fallen soldiers on the eve of Memorial Day Monday, a few dozen ultra-Orthodox insulted the memory of the fallen when they rioted in Shabbat Square. The demonstrators set garbage cans and dumpsters alight and blocked off the area to traffic. Police were called to the scene and closed it off to pedestrians.
Police confirmed that the demonstration was prompted by Memorial Day and said they viewed the incident with extreme gravity. Despite this, no suspects were arrested. In past years members of the haredi sector have also held unruly demonstrations on Memorial Day.
Lately posters have been hung around Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox Mea Shearim neighborhood declaring, “Zionists are dogs,” “Beware! Zionists’ bite” and “The Zionist beast is not human.” An extremist faction called the “Sikrikim” belonging to Neturei Karta is responsible for the campaign. Police assessed that the signs were pasted up specifically in advance of Independence Day, but added that they could also be expressions of protest for the arrest of Yisrael Vales, the Yeshiva youth accused of beating his three-month-old son to death recently. Vales was released on bail.
Vales belongs to an ultra-Orthodox faction known to be extremist, which objects to the existence of Israel as a state and even refuses to accept allowances from the Israeli government. The “Sikrikim” faction is considered the most extreme, and many similar riots took place over the past month protesting Vales' arrest until his release.
Not only the ultra-Orthodox used the occasion of Memorial Day to hold protests. Demonstrators opposed to Israel’s disengagement from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria raised a black flag on Givat Shaul Street in Jerusalem which read, “Gush Katif and Amona – we won’t forget and we won’t forgive.” Passersby who saw the flag called the authorities.
Posted by: Lance at May 1, 2006 02:16 PM
I can't help but wonder how they traveled around Iran looking that way as well.
When the Muslims invaded Europe they often encouraged the development of anti-Catholic Christian sects like the Serbian church, etc., as a way of weakening Rome's spiritual grip on the populace. Today's Muslim support of NK is no different.
Posted by: Solomon2 at May 1, 2006 06:44 PM
My computer froze as I watched that clip.
Even a machine had a hard time with their B.S.
Posted by: Ari at May 1, 2006 06:57 PM
There aren’t enough Yiddish expletives to describe these fools. I looked at Neturei Karta's website - it's very odd that an organization that calls itself Jewish has no mention any chesed projects they do, the fine education they are providing for their children in day schools, or what's doing in their shuls. I guess those things must be put on the permanent backburner so they can do their work for their Fuhrer.
Posted by: Rachel at May 1, 2006 08:31 PM
The video was rather jarring and upsetting, but then I began wondering what the big deal is. Does the appearance of two Neturei Karta “rabbis” on Iranian television have any impact on the existence of Israel? I doubt Neturei Karta has much real influence. More worrisome to me are the likes of Noam Chomsky and all the communal “leaders” who wanted to be the first to meet with Arafat in the 1980s. Or what about the Reform rabbis who at a convention last year passed a resolution calling on President Bush to adopt a more even-handed approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (And by even-handed they did not mean less biased toward the Palestinians.) So a few crazy Hasidim are running around calling for the end of the Jewish state—is this any different from what so many American liberal Jews wish for?
Robert, I suspect many Orthodox Jews get riled up by Neturei Karta’s activities in part because they belong (even if only ostensibly) to the same denomination. However, if we put aside their love affair with anti-Semites and despots, their theological opposition to Israel is by no means extreme. Not only would most haredim find little to object to in their fundamental religious arguments against the state, but I shudder to think how many sympathize more with the doctrines of Neturei Karta than those of the Mizrachi (religious) Zionists. (How many “gedolim” would even accept your challenge to place the Neturei Karta in cherem?)
If anything, at least the Neturei Karta are the least hypocritical among the anti-state Haredim on two counts. First, only Neturei Karta bring the arguments to their logical conclusion and proclaim their willingness to live under Palestinian sovereignty. I doubt most Haredim (as well as Israeli Arabs) would really be willing to trade their Israeli citizenship for Palestinian citizenship. Secondly, while Haredim rant and rave (and sometimes even riot) against the Israeli government, they have no qualms about doing whatever they can to get as much money as possible from the government. Neturei Karta supposedly refuses to do this.
Robert, as I stated above, I don’t think cherem is a realistic option. But I would love to see a list of individuals and institutions associated with the movement in an effort to cut off their funding.
Sof sof ha-davar ha-nishma, two Neturei Karta rabbis in Teheran is a good start. Best case scenario: they should all move there. In any case, I am sure God has front-row seats reserved for them in hell (next to Chomsky and his cronies).
Posted by: ari k. at May 1, 2006 10:43 PM
My wife and I have a handy tool for categorizing different levels of evil. (After clicking on link, scroll down to the first comment.) Using this simple metric, we see that NK members should be hit by a truck.
Posted by: Doctor Bean at May 2, 2006 06:37 AM
I think Ari K. makes some good points. One thing to remember with extreme fringe groups like this is paying any attention to them is a victory for these guys. As you could see in the Iranian TV interview, it seemed that their biggest gripe was not getting enough media coverage in the U.S.
I know as Jews we're taught not to ignore dangerous enemies, but in this day and age where publicity = victory, I say we 1) inform ourselves about these guys, and then 2) proceed to ignore them as much as possible.
I thank Robert for helping to accomplish #1. Now let's pretend they don't exist.
Posted by: Jake at May 2, 2006 12:53 PM
H. Klinton vs Obama. How you consider, who will win elections in Unated States of America?
Posted by: XXXLKlintonLobby at March 18, 2008 05:27 PM