Chabad is a diverse, complex, and trans-dimensional organization.
I have personally had great experiences with Chabad rabbis and families. I greatly respect their community building and social work, and I find their Torah to be very thought-provoking, even when I disagree with specific claims they may make or conclusions they may reach.
(For example, the Lubavitcher Rebbe was of the opinion that one could not fulfill an obligation to bless by concentrating and “saying” the words in one’s mind, while R Qafeh was of the opinion that not only could one do so but that this was an ideal way to handle a situation of doubt regarding obligation to bless.)
While my experience has been mostly positive with only a few counter examples, many people I know have had terrible overall experiences with Chabad. They have encountered prejudice, ignorance, and dogmatism in their interactions with Chabad rabbis and Chabadnikim in general. They find the Tanya’s statements seeming to suggest that God has parts or that Jews are essentially superior to gentiles, to be anathema. And they find the cult of personality turned messianic ideology turned idolatry, to be quite alarming. I understand the concerns of these people, and I think they need to be included in the intra-Jewish discussion of Chabad.
But Make No Mistake.
Tucker Carlson did not go after Chabad because of conflicts between foreign Chabad houses and native Sepharadi communities in South America and Western Europe, or because of philosophical criticism of the Tanya as it has been inter-generationally understood, or because he has issues with cults of personality or messianism.
To repeat: Tucker Carlson did not go after Chabad because they are a messianic movement. To be sure, as a Christian fundamentalist, Tucker believes that any messianism other than his own is idolatrous, but that’s not why he singled out Chabad.
In that exact connection, it’s worth noting that – when looking for a scapegoat for America’s involvement in this war (I literally heard a missile exploding in the background as I wrote that) – Tucker had a much riper target within Israeli society itself, the messianic ethno-nationalist ideology that, over the decades, has increasingly attracted so many right wing politicians and populists (who happen to also sit in the current government). If Tucker was truly concerned about a messianic movement in Israel dragging an unwilling USA into a foreign conflict – that’s where he’d take aim: Israeli messianists in political power coordinating a regional war with the White House.
~> Instead, Tucker Carlson targeted Chabad because they are among the most visible Jewish people across America. <~
Read that again. Slowly.
His audience is American right-wing Christians.
He is turning them against the Jewish people they can easily recognize (who put themselves out in the public eye as a matter of course) and telling them that those Jewish people – yes, the nice rabbi and rebbitzen from the Chabad house around the corner – are dangerous ideologues working with Israel to manipulate America and control the world.
This kind of propaganda is not new. We’ve seen it before. Many American Jewish people recognize it for what it is – but have not yet accepted where the train is headed (and accelerating fast). Many other American Jewish people unfortunately do not recognize the flashing signs of what’s coming and gleefully continue cheering the leopard on as it eats everyone else’s faces first.
Chabad is not perfect.
But they are precisely the targets Tucker et al choose because all American Jews are in their sights.
May Hashem guide and shield all of the holy flock in these dark times, may our cries and pleas for peace! protection! prosperity! be answered speedily, may the plans of Haman always be overturned and brought down upon his wicked head.