Are the Lubavitch pacifists?
Does this help?
I’d say it would depend on the individual.
I once met a Lubaticher who was a soldier in the Israeli Army. I don’t know if this is a typical thing for Lubavitchers, but they are pro-Israel. (Of course, he may have become Lubavitch after enlisting in the army.)
The fact that the linked site misidentifies the major work of the founder of this group, the “Likutey Amarim” (= Collected Sayings) as “Likutic Amanan” (= meaningless gibberish) does not inspire much confidence.
But I agree with your answer that it depends on the indivdual. Which means IOW, no. There is nothing in this group’s specific ideology which makes them pacifists. Though indivdual members, like members of any group, may be oriented in this direction (or away from it).
Well… there’s Habad (Lubavitch) and there’s Habad. On the on hand, you have “knitted yamulke”, or moderate Orthodox Jews, who often identify themselves with Habad and are by no mean all pacifists - their opinions range the entire political spectrum, although they tend towards the right wing of the political map . The guy KVS met was probably one of those. On the other hand, you have the “Haredim”, or “Ultra-Orthodox”, who act as the core of the Lubavitch movement. them, I would not call pacifist, at least not per se, but rather isolationsist. They simply tend to care little about what happens outside their own communities.
This seems like a bigoted statement to me. Could clarify the exact meaning of this, and inform as to the basis of this assertion?
How the hell is that a bigoted comment?
Haredi communities - Lubavitch or not - tend to be tight-knit, insular and wary of outsiders. They tend to filter ut most “modern” media in the form of television, film and non-specialized newspapers. Thyey tend to marry within their own, as well as to keep social problems (familial abuse, drug problems, etc.) within their own communities, due to suspicion of the civil court system. They tend to care little about national politics, except when it concerns their direct interests. They tend to avoid military service. Their family values tend to be traditional.
Oh yeah - and they tend not to drive on the Sabbath. How’s that for a bigoted statement?
I know this from following the subject for years via television and print; by visiting their neighbourhoods, and having them visit mine; by talking (and arguing) with them directly. To quote a Habad spokesman (Rabbi something-or-other) speaking in a forum on religeous-secular relations, Haifa University 1999, “we have no interest in being a part of the Secular state, and we want to prevent ‘modern’ intrusion upon our way of life.”
OK, maybe not - I said it seems like it. I don’t see much connection between much of your recent post and the statement that
but if that’s what you say you meant, fine with me.
I agree with most of the items on your list, but note that they have no bearing on whether or not they would be likely to be pacifists. The one significant assertion that does bear on this, that
is demonstrably false. Had you actually purchased any of the Haredi newspapers during your years of living in Israel, you would have noticed that national and international news are covered at about the level of your average American small-town paper, maybe higher.