J.J. Goldberg writes: As part of its promotion of Orthodox observance, Chabad Hasidism touts a traditional version of Jewish family values, including rules on modest dress for women, “impurity” during menstruation and opposition to homosexuality.
Less well known is Chabad’s political role in Israel, where many of its rabbis and leaders are prominent in far-right, pro-settlement and anti-compromise activism. Several top Israeli Chabad leaders have become leading right-wing activists. Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburgh, a senior Chabad educator and philosopher, has written in praise of the late Baruch Goldstein, who committed the 1994 Hebron massacre. Ginzburgh also mentored Yitzhak Shapira, co-author of the 2009 book “The King’s Torah,” which justified killing Palestinian babies because they might grow up to be terrorists. Another Chabad leader, Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo, raised money for the families of Jewish terrorists and has urged the death penalty — by a court, not vigilantes — for dovish Israeli leaders Ehud Olmert, Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni.
