Plunder Under the Guise of Hasidism: How Halakhic "Renovations" Became a Tool for Community Destruction

Plunder Under the Guise of Hasidism: How Halakhic "Renovation" Became a Tool for Community Destruction

---

Introduction: Between a "Small Sanctuary" and Nine Days' Renovations

The following article was published in the summer of 2023, during one of the darkest periods for the Hungarian Orthodox Jewish Community (MAOIH). At that time, the EMIH (Chabad) organization effectively completed its takeover of the historic community’s institutions, assets, and synagogues—a move many perceived as outright plunder disguised as financial "revitalization."

The drama reached its peak when worshippers of the Great Orthodox Synagogue on Kazinczy Street were locked out of their sanctuary, forced to pray in the streets under the official pretext that the building was closed for "renovations." The article concludes with an appeal to Rabbi Baruch Oberlander, a leading figure in Chabad Hungary, to break his silence and restore justice in the spirit of true Hasidism.

Faith outside the stolen sanctuary: Orthodox worshippers forced to the street after Chabad’s hostile lockout

However, not only did Rabbi Oberlander remain silent, but he also chose that specific time to publish a Halakhic ruling permitting the continuation of synagogue renovations even during the "Nine Days"—a period when such work is traditionally restricted. This ruling was widely seen as a transparent legal cover for the ongoing lockout of the Orthodox community. When later asked about these events in an interview, Oberlander dismissed the accounts of the hostile takeover as "untrue rumors," despite the events unfolding in plain sight and in defiance of the Jerusalem Beth Din's rulings.

---

What can we learn from the Lubavitchers?

Written by: Zoltán Németh | 2023-07-31 | Category: Politics, Opinion

In recent weeks, we have read a lot about how the status quo ante Lubavitch EMIH has managed to gain influence in the orthodox MAOIH, filling key positions with people from their own denomination or sympathizing with them, de facto taking over. The latest news is that the MAOIH community was no longer able to use its own synagogue, but while they were being pushed out of it, tourists visiting it were allowed in.

Partners in the takeover: Köves and Oirechmann dancing together, far from the locked gates of the Kazinczy synagogue.

The more details that emerge from the events of the past period, the more shocked the reader may be. Is this really how people who consider themselves religious Jews behave? What might the narrow Jewish and broader Hungarian public think about the Jewish religion based on all this? If we follow the events, we can quickly realize that its goal and implementation are contrary to the precepts of the Jewish religion in several respects, so the question may arise in us, what ideology does the Lubavitch movement actually follow?

The EMIH's goal is obvious; in addition to its own denomination, it also wants to acquire the authority and assets of the Hungarian Orthodox Jewish community. Although all Torah laws are equally important in Jewish tradition, the Ten Commandments stand out among them all. In the last commandment, God calls upon us not to covet our neighbor's house, wife, property, etc. Although it is not specifically named, we can rightly assume that this prohibition extends to our neighbor's community and its assets as well. EMIH's ambition is thus contrary to the Torah in its most essential aspect.

Let's look at the implementation. In order for EMIH to gain influence in MAOIH, it had to send people to the membership of the faith community who presented themselves as people who had the interests of MAOIH in mind and wanted to become active members of the community, but in fact wanted to play it for another Jewish denomination, the Lubavitcher EMIH. It has since been revealed that these people did not become active members of the MAOIH community, and the leadership was replaced by people who had the interests of EMIH in mind. To complete the merger, the secretary general of MAOIH was the brother-in-law of Slomo Köves, the Oirechman Shmuel, also a Lubavitcher. The Jewish religion considers such behavior to be genevat da'at, i.e. stealing the mind of another (in everyday terms, misleading the other), and of course it does not allow it.

According to the new leadership, the MAOIH had previously mismanaged its finances, and the EMIH needed to be involved to help revive the Orthodox community. According to this, the Lubavitchers and their sympathizers acquired the MAOIH to help its religious life. In addition to the fact that the exact opposite is currently happening, the Talmud also addresses the question of whether one can fulfill a mitzvah by breaking another precept (mitzvah ha-ba'ah ba'averah)? The Talmud (Sukkah 30a) uses the example of a stolen holiday bouquet (lulav) to show that such an act is not considered a mitzvah, from which it is easy to see that the revival of a community acquired through fraud is not considered a religious act either.

Since the former members of the MAOIH also felt misled, they turned to a rabbinical court, which ruled that the entry of the new members was illegal, and so was the general assembly at which these members turned the MAOIH into an EMIH affiliate. The Jerusalem Beth Din Tzedek sel haEda haCharid is the most prestigious rabbinical court of the Orthodox (Haredi) communities, but surprisingly, the Lubavitch EMIH did not consider the court’s decision binding on itself, again violating the Torah’s precept (Deuteronomy 17:8-11). This is also interesting because earlier, when there was a disagreement between the EMIH and the Mazsihisz, Shlomo Köves stated that whoever does not accept the jurisdiction of an authentic rabbinical court “questions the Mosaic tradition itself.” What does all this mean for the Lubavitch community?

What happened also reinterprets the term “chassid.” The original meaning of the word chassid is “a pious, God-fearing person,” someone who not only lives by the letter of the law but also does more by following the spirit of the Torah (lifnim misurat hadin). In this case, however, the opposite has happened. Reading articles in both the Jewish and non-Jewish press in which Orthodox Jews ask to be given back their religious community, and seeing photos of themselves being forced to pray in the streets, Lubavitch chassidim are committing one of the greatest sins, the desecration of God’s name in the world (chillul Hashem).

Since the Lubavitchers dispute that any religious law was broken, let’s look at two other Torah concepts that may be relevant to what happened. One is called marit ayin. According to the Torah, we must not only be careful not to break a law, but also to be careful not to cause another person to suspect that we are breaking it (Numbers 32:22). The other is lifne iver, the prohibition to “put a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14), which in this context means that our behavior should not encourage another person to disregard religious law.

However, all this may yet change. Last week we commemorated the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, which our sages illustrate with the story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza (Gittin 55b-56a). According to this story, the rabbis had the opportunity to speak out against the humiliation of Bar Kamtza, but they remained silent, and this ultimately led to the destruction of the second Temple. This story has special significance and relevance in Hungary today.

The leader of the local Lubavitcher community, Rabbi Báruch Oberlander, has also been silent since the events, while his old membership of the MAOIH is losing its own “small sanctuary” before his eyes. However, unlike the ancient rabbis, he has a way to turn things around. He only needs to hear the message of Tisha Be’av and, as the president of the Rabbinical Court of the Budapest Charedi Jewish Communities, support the decision of the Jerusalem Charedi Rabbinical Court and ask his own community to restore the original status quo.

One of the often-stated goals of the Lubavitcher movement is to facilitate the coming of the Messiah. Since the Second Temple was destroyed due to irrational hatred among Jews, our sages believe that the opposite, selfless love for others (ahavat chinam), can help rebuild it. Restoring the MAOIH to its original state would undoubtedly be such an act, which would also increase the sanctification of God’s name in the world, and this would certainly be the will of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe.

 Source (Hungarian)