mentalblog.com comments:
Very much to the point.
Chabad does good work in many places.This work is both religious and welfare. And they should be supported as such But their chief interest in most places is self preservation. In order to do that it requires fund raising and fund raising requires PR . And PR requires them to claim to do things that lets say they do not , can not or may not do, Increasingly Chabad world over portrays itself as the central Jewish address not only for religious issues but for Jewish education, social issues, welfare, defense related issues, drug rehab etc.And even in issues that affect non_Jews. All these activities run by young men and women trained at best to be rabbis not adminitrators, therapists or the like,
This fund raising mentality is not unique to Chabad. all charedim suffer from it. Lets say a charedi man dies at age 39 leaving 7 children. Add to the mix that both his father and in laws are upper middle class. Yet without exception emergency relief campaigns are launched to help the poor yesomim.Ads are bought in newspapers, and mailings posted. I am not a rasho, but should zedoka money go to families that are not poor ?? Will this money bring the nifter back ? But the fund raising mentality is at work.
When Crown Hts was plagued by riots under Mayor Dinkins, full page ads were bought by various Chabad orgs to raise money amongst secular Jews. No what for ? Certainly not for Yankel Rosenbaum HaYaD. Insurance covered the property damages. What for -to cover the PR campaigns of Butman, Paltiel and others and to feed the coffers of the various orgs in Crown Hts. Would this mnoey bring back Rav Yankel. Would it buy guns to shoot at the roving Black teen agers. What for ?
Thailand is another example.to be lets fund raise. Its a fund raising mentality. If AIDS (chas veshalom )struck the Blacks in East New York chabad would launcha fund raiser teykof umeyad mamash.Yet with all of these fund raisers many in Crown Hts. depend on the Liozner rebbe Rabbi Saul S. Deutsch for sabbath food as the local instituions apparently can not assit the local poor in crown Hts.
Donot get me wrong they should raise money for their klegitimate institutions and activities like schools and outreach etc.
By the way can anyone out there tell me what the National Committee for the furtherance of Jewish education run by the family of JJ Hecht does bepoel mamash ?
What a piece of work (both of you). Lubavitch spends days identifying dead Israeli bodies, keeping up a switchboard of information for parents in Israel, and while on the scene, helping with rescue in any way they can, and Tzemach and Schneur dont approve.
What hatred will do.
Yashar kochachem ! Lubavitch is to be congratulated for the work you relate to us in your comment..Adrebba sechar Mitzva behai alma Leka. This is important work. But must it be "rewarded"by a major fund raising drive.Read my comments. I make it clear that Chabad does much good work world over . And I mean that. But ein zaddik ba;aretz ... Lubavitch just like everyone else is not perfect. (Only I am perfect ...)If I help a blind man cross the street , should I issue a PR release about it. Should I start a fund raising campaign for sechar batolah. Adrerabba I would like to be in the category vehatzneh leches. and just reap the reward lishmo.
If you really believe that the PR campaign is pure self-aggrandisement, or that the fundraising is for personal gain, it says more about you than anything about Lubavitch.
Sheur, you need to read this post on the The State of Lubavitch
Here's the real question:
Let's say Chabad raises $250,000 for Tsunami relief. It spends $50,000 on meals, clothes, phone, etc. for Israelis vacationing in Thailand.
What happens to the remaining $200,000?
If it, too, goes to Tsunami relief – to Doctors Without Borders, or Project Noah's Ark, or any recognized aid organization – then fine, it's kosher.
But if all or much of the money stays in Chabad's pockets then your complaints against Chabad are more than valid.
Will we ever see an independent accounting of the money?
I take it that the average Lubavitcher shliach (since now all Lubavitchers are shluchim) will concede that that not everything the Aguda does is correct. I take it that he will also admit that Shaas and Rav Ovadya Yosef have made errors in their political stance. I take it that most Chabadniks will agree that Satmar has made serious errors in hashkofe. In addition I am sure Chabad would agree that the OU has committed some serious errors.So why is it that Chabad can never be criticized or said to make some errors in their vision of Judaism ?My original comments were aimed at what "lefi aniyas dayti" is a Charedi mehugayath to launch shnor campaigns in response to almost any tragic or sad event.I am waiting for the time when Chabad people will be as objective of their movement as Modern orthodox are of their movement and schools. Like any other Jewish grouping chabad has its faults alongside its acheivements.
ZAKA and the State of Israel are also active in Thailand helping Israelis there.
I am just wondering how much money various Chabad houses in the U.S. have raised to assist the victims mostly non-Jewish of this natural disaster ?
And who do you think is feeding all those people, the ZAKA workers, the stranded backpackers, etc? Chabad bought a refrigerated truck and is taking care of all those people, and that costs. Big. And this 'massive fundraising drive' seems to consist of one email, which last I heard still hasn't brought in huge amounts. These huge surpluses exist only in your imaginations; meanwhile the guys out there are running deficits.
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