An Anti-Candide
A former chief rabbi of Israel claims that the Holocaust was God's wrath, apparently directed against the Reform movement. It's kind of like the opposite argument to Voltaire's Candide. Pangloss cheerfully argued that behind every disaster lies part of a benevolent plan for humanity. R. Eliyahu agrees that genocide is no mere depressing reminder of man's inhumanity, but rather represents the plan of a savage deity. Apparently the Reform movement went wrong in trying to "act like goyim". If this is true, the Haredi movement better change out of the black garb pioneered by the Polish gentry and the Chassidim drop the Sufi inspired mysticism. I'm sure they'll get right on that...
- sheikh X at 10:34 PM
1 Comments:
The Chassidim are not Sufi-inspired. Most of their inspiration comes straight from Eastern Orthodox Christianity. To anyone who has lived in such a country (~80% Romanians are at least nominally Eastern Orthodox Christians), the similarities are glaring and extensive. Chassidism as a movement has developed largely in areas inhabited by such Christians - Russians, Ukrainians, Romanians.
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