Orthodox Rabbis condemn the racism of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh
We, members of Torat Chayim, are aware of Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh’s expertise in the realm of Hasidut and Kabbalah but are shocked and offended by the way he uses these same ideas to employ Jewish supremacy to promote atrocities against innocent, non-Jewish civilians living in the land of Israel and their property, providing Halachic justification for these actions. Furthermore, we are even more ashamed that his thought was awarded in a ceremony attended by prominent Religious Zionist politicians such as Betzalel Smotrich and Rabbi Rafi Peretz.
An example of a morally reprehensible position he took is in Baruch Hagever, a summary provided by one of his students of a class he gave in 1994 where he identified positive aspects of Dr. Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of 29 innocent Muslim worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs such as sanctification of the name of God and saving Jewish lives from future terrorist attacks. In his words, “about the value of Israel’s life, it simply seems that the life of Israel is worth more than the life of the Gentile and even if the Gentile does not intend to hurt Israel, it is permissible to hurt him in order to save Israel.” In addition, his ideas and institutions have inspired a new generation of radicals who use key motifs of his thought and other Jewish sources to justify the killing of non-Jews in the state of Israel and the destruction of their property. This stance is most prominently featured in a book he endorsed written by the Roshei Yeshiva of his institution, Od Yosef Chai, called Torat Hamelech, which described in detail instances where according to Jewish law, Jews are allowed to kill non-Jews.
We as members of Torat Chayim, a group of Orthodox Rabbis and Rabbinic leaders, see the Torah as an authoritative document but are aware of the plethora of ways in which it can be interpreted and implemented. As it is written in Masechet Yoma 72b, “If one is deserving, the Torah becomes a potion of life and if one is not deserving, the Torah becomes a potion of death.” Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh's interpretation of Torah to justify murder is a chillul Hashem and while people like Baruch Goldstein committed the physical crimes, as it says in Masechet Yoma 86a: “woe to his teacher who taught him Torah. So-and-so who studied Torah, see how destructive are his deeds and how ugly are his ways. About him and others like him, the verse states... [that] ‘men said of them: These are the people of the lord, yet they had to leave His land’” (Ezekiel 36:20). Decent people are disgusted by murder in the name of Torah and word of his teachings has already brought Torah (and the state of Israel ) into disrepute in our countries. His teachings turn the laws of the Torah into "nekamah ba'olam," revenge in the world, which Rambam denounces as turning the Torah into "laws that were not good and rules by which they could not live" (MT. Hilchot Shabbat, ch. 2, h.3). Such chillul hashem is rightly described by the Gemara as an unforgivable sin.
As we say in the liturgy on days when the Torah is read, the Torah’s “ways are ways of pleasantness and all its paths are peace.” Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh’s teaching have done the opposite, giving Religious Zionists a textual justification to engage in morally sickening behavior. We hope in the future to celebrate the contributions of Torah scholars whose Torah is rooted in life, love and peace, not in strength and violence.
Rabbi Dr. Shraga Bar-On
Rabbi Dr. Alan Brill
Rabbi Dr. Nathan Lopes Cardozo
Rabbi Barry Dolinger
Rabbi Yehoshua Engelman
Rabbi David Fain
Rabbi Dr. Reb Mimi Feigelson
Rabbi Aaron Frank
Rabbi Avidan Freedman
Rabbi Daniel Geretz
Rabbi Steve Golden
Rabbi Dr. Mel Gottlieb
Rabbi Dr. Yitz Greenberg
Rabbi Steve Greenberg
Rabbi David Kalb
Rabbanit Rachel Keren
Rabbi Daniel Landes
Rabbi Dr. Sam Lebens
Rabbi Hayim Leiter
Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Rabbi Dr. Ariel Evan Mayse
Rabbi Dr. Yehudah Mirsky
Rabbi Dina Najman
Rabbi Micha Odenheimer
Rabbi Avi Poupko
Rabbi Dr. David Rosen
Rabbi Dr. Isaac Sassoon
Rabbanit Tali Schaum-Broder
Rabbi Shalom Schlagman, MD
Rabbi Chaim Seidler-Feller
Rabbi Aaron Shub
Rabbi Daniel Silverstein
Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz
Reb Noam Zion