Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid criticized the course of the Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic group this week, saying it has engaged in “political activity” on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The Rebbe was very adamant against the idea that Chabad should be part of some political activity,” Lapid, who is chairman of the Yesh Atid Party, said during a Knesset debate on the establishment of a museum honoring Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, also known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe (1902-1994).
“The problem is that in recent years, after the Rebbe passed away, Chabad has become more and more involved in political activity,” continued Lapid, claiming that some of Schneerson’s followers (Chassidim) “worked to help Netanyahu become prime minister” in the last election.
“The problem is that you can either be a movement of the entire Jewish people, or a political movement,” the opposition leader snapped at ultra-Orthodox lawmakers. “You will have to choose.
“To the people of Chabad, I say: It won’t work to be a movement of the entire Jewish people year-round, and then, when there are elections, to become political activists,” Lapid charged.
A spokesman for Chabad-Lubavitch, which is based in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, told JNS on Thursday that the worldwide Jewish movement “absolutely” does not involve itself in the politics of the Jewish state.
Lapid also noted positive aspects of Chabad, saying that “the fact that children all over the world—Israeli children—can enter Chabad houses and celebrate a holiday or Kabbalat Shabbat is positive and important.”
The Yesh Atid leader proudly took credit for a 2014 measure allowing Chabad Chassidim to count time spent serving Jewish communities outside of Israel as a form of national service. Notably, the change was opposed by Yesh Atid MK Ofer Shelah during committee meetings.
“I personally have a very good relationship with the Chabad synagogue in my neighborhood,” said Lapid. “Rav [Yehuda] Lipsh, our neighborhood rabbi, and I prayed together in memory of a child from the neighborhood who was killed in the war in the Gaza Strip.”
For these reasons, and “out of respect for the Rebbe,” Yesh Atid decided not to oppose the Bill for Instilling the Legacy of Lubavitcher Rebbe and the Chabad Movement Dynasty, Lapid declared in his Knesset remarks.
The bill, sponsored by Otzma Yehudit Party lawmaker Amichay Eliyahu, was approved in preliminary reading on Wednesday. Twenty-three MKs backed the draft, with no opposing votes or abstentions, and it was sent to the Education, Culture and Sports Committee for further discussion.
The explanatory notes to the legislation states, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe was the seventh leader of the Chabad Chassidic movement, and one of the most influential Jewish leaders in the history of the Jewish people.”
The Rebbe “was a pioneer in the integration of Judaism and modern science, he promoted universal Jewish education and worked a great deal for the benefit of the people of Israel and the State of Israel,” it continues.
“The purpose of the bill is to establish a center that will work to commemorate the Rebbe’s legacy, mark his unique contribution and inculcate his values for future generations,” continues the note. “The center will work to impart the unique legacy of the Chabad movement throughout the generations; a movement that operates all around the world according to the principle of ‘With all our heart to every Jew.'”
Schneerson met with Israeli leaders from across the political spectrum, including Netanyahu, whom the rabbi first met in 1984, during the early days of his tenure as Israel’s envoy to the U.N.
“He said: ‘You are going to be the ambassador of the Jewish people in the Hall of Darkness,’ as he called the U.N. He said, ‘Light a candle of truth. Stand up against our enemies and for our people and for our land,'” Netanyahu recalled when he met with Chabad rabbis in July.
“He said three things: Ahavat Yisrael [‘Love for the Jewish people’], defend Eretz Yisrael [‘the Land of Israel’] and fight the lies,” continued Netanyahu. “In each generation, they rise up to destroy us. And God will redeem us from their hands. But we have to help the Holy One, blessed be He. We have to take our own action against our would-be destroyers.”