By Rabbi Michael Leo Samuel
CHULA VISTA, California — Whenever I read the Lubavitcher website, it seems as if we are reliving history. The Lubavitcher character assassination of Shmuley Boteach reminds me of how the 17th century Dutch Jewish community treated one of its heretical spirits and his name was Uriel da Costa (1585-1640).
Uriel was born in Portugal to a family of conversos (people who were forcibly converted to Catholicism) in the 16th century. After studying at Coimbra, he became interested in Judaism. His family fled Portugal and settled in Amsterdam, where he had hoped the Jewish community would welcome his return.
Or, so he hoped . . .
Uriel found the practices of rabbinic Judaism too rigid and mechanical as well as at odds with the ethical message of Tanakh.. In 1624, he published one of his controversial books, Examination of the Traditions of the Pharisees Compared with the Written Law, which created shockwaves throughout the Amsterdam Jewish and Christian community. The Dutch officials burned Uriel’s controversial book, and he was fined for undermining the foundations of religious faith. Although the Dutch people were reasonably tolerant toward the Jews, the Jewish community feared Uriel might endanger their welfare, so the Jewish community decided to excommunicate Uriel da Costa. Using him as a scapegoat meant the Jews of Amsterdam could remain in safety.
Uriel was expendable.
Although Uriel felt strong about his religious principles, he finally decided to acquiesce to the Orthodox Jewish authorities of his time. If his readmission meant that he would, “become an ape, to live among apes,” he would do so, “Monkey see, monkey do.”
However, Uriel soon became disillusioned with Mosaic Law altogether, and felt that all religions were “human inventions.” By 1640, the Jewish community decided to discipline Uriel. They gave him 39 lashes in the synagogue. They placed a large door over him, and the Jewish community literally walked over him, treating him as though he was dead.
Little did the community realize that he would soon be.
After he returned home, he wrote his autobiography and committed suicide.
Uriel da Costa is a tragic story about how the Jewish community alienated one of its rebellious spirits. Young Benedict de Spinoza made sure that when he wrote his famous philosophical works, he instructed his followers to publish them posthumously. Had there been a JTS or a Hebrew Union College in Amsterdam, both of these men would have found a home for their idiosyncratic ideas of theology. Unfortunately, they lived in a rather draconian period of Jewish history, a time when people preferred to burn books and ban ideas, rather than confront them with better ideas.
When I read about the Chabad reactions to Shmuley Boteach’s controversial, Kosher Jesus, I shudder to think what the Jews of Crown Heights would do if they were living in the 17th century. Although they cannot “walk over him,” as they literally did with Uriel da Costa, they are verbally dismembering him before the entire Jewish and Christian world to watch in disbelief.[1]
Shmuley Boteach deserves a better fate than Uriel da Costa.
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Notes:
[1] Here is a random selection of diatribes collected from:
http://collive.com/show_news.rtx?id=18125&alias=shmuley-boteach-blasts-collive
“You’re a loser which not many have interest in you! Have a nice life.”
“His first was KOSHER Giluy Aroyos (incestuous relations)
His next is KOSHER Avoda Zara (idolatry)
I’m sure that his next one will be KOSHER MURDER!”
“S.B. is the’ real ‘mesis umadiach’ (sinner who incites others to sin)…. and there is a chiyuv (obligation) on rabbonei-Lubavitch (Chabad rabbis) to ‘uvi’arto horo mikirbecho‘ (exterminate the evil from your midst).”
“Nothing goes down… other than Boteach, may this happen speedily in our days and let us say Amen.”
“Shmuley, if I ever see you I will throw rocks at your car, spit on you and chuck dirty diapers at your house.”
“The soton (Satan) has in every generation someone in who he dresses up to do his work.”
“It is time for Boteach to print a book with the name The Kosher Chazer (pig) – and to put his picture on the front cover”
“…We must take action to stop this ego-maniacal monster.”
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Rabbi Samuel is spiritual leader of Temple Beth Sholom. He may be contacted at michael.samuel@sdjewishworld.com
He is spreading near-heresy, and he is being treated better than he should be.
Unbelievably some are even sticking up for him!
As far as Hebrew Union College, JTS etc., there’s nothing Jewish about them (other than the actual people there), its all apikursos.
So everyone who disagrees with you is draconian?
Because we disagree with Shmuly and hence ban his book, we’re draconian?
Your a typical liberal lefty.. Everybody and everything must have its time of day, right? Wrong! That’s Liberalism, NOT Judaism!
As M. “Savage” says: “liberalism is a mental disorder”!
The Torah has ZERO tolerance for Avoda Zoroh and Minnus, I’m talking about the ancient Torah, the ever-present eternal Torah, not the DEformed Moses Mendelson/Spinoza Torah. There are no more Mendelson’s, why? Because reformists (or rather deformist’s) eventually assimilate.
Religiously observant Jews believe in the Torah, and the Torah is more than Tikkun Olam, (an expression that’s about the only 2 hebrew words reform kids learn if they go to a Jewish day school). Some deformist picked up on 2 words, distorted them, and those are the only 2 words they preach.. What happened to the rest of the Torah/Talmud? Oh i forgot, that’s for the cave men!
Oh my, as I’m writing this now, i decided to Google you, as Iv’e never heard of you before (somehow i just stumbled upon your article). Now, when i read your past (Kfar Chabad…), I’m like uh oh, why did i just waste my time.. delete the whole thing, but Iv’e come to the conclusion that your so many years in your hole, that you’ve long lost your way..
So getting back to Shmuly, I don’t understand your problem. There are Rabbis, Rabbi Shuchat, a man who knows the “new testament” inside out, a man who actually read Shmully’s book, has given a Psak Din that we may not buy or read this book, period.
What’s so bad about that, it’s not open enough for you?
You expected that in Kfar Chabad you should be reading brit chadash and they will give you a pat on the back?
My friend, realize that the Shulchan Aruch forbids one to read certain subjects, so what is so “draconian” if the Rabbi’s determine that a certain book goes inti that category?
If you believe it’s the Shulchan Aruch that’s draconian then I guess we all are, and there’s no hope, because then by orthodox by the very definition are draconian, because the shulchan arukh is!
So we’re a lost case..
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Scrolling through your blog, I see the way you write about the Israel “Chareidim situation”, and you do the typical thing all the Chilonim media do, you paint the whole Chareidi population as making
“-A ban on mannequins.
-The Personal Mechitza, which is a small partition Haredi Jews wear around their heads when travelling on El Al Airlines. The PM prevents Haredim from gazing at the lovely El Al Stewardesses. It comes in only one color: black.
Women must sit at the back of the bus!
-How to attack Modern Orthodox girls walking to elementary school.
-How to attack wheelchair bound children on Shabbat!”
I call that hate speech, taking what a few meshugoyim do, and painting everyone else with that is a crime. This is waaay worse than anything you said vis-a-vis the Boteach book. For this alone I consider you to be a Chareidi-hater anti semite!
No, I won’t ever call you nazi, but i can see you drawing very similar cartoons portraying religious Jews, you wouldn’t hesitate one bit. It seems like you have some deep seated hatred from your youth that won’t go away.
I still love you!