Shalom Dov Wolpo
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Rabbi Shalom Dov Wolpo, also Sholom Ber Wolpe[1], (born 1948) is a senior Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi and community leader in Israel. He has written more than forty books in Hebrew, mostly dealing with the position of Schneerson as the Jewish messiah. He set up the Chabad Yeshiva in Kiryat Gat where he is currently the dean or Rosh Yeshiva. He has become associating in recent years with right-wing political causes, and has set up a campaign group - SOS Israel - an organisation that runs press and postering campaigns.
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[edit] Chabad messianism
Wolpo is viewed as one of the leaders of the movement to get the Lubavitcher Rebbe to accept the mantle as the messiah. In 1984 he became one of the first Chabad adherents to openly describe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson as the Messiah, publishing a book that made that argument..[2] Schneerson responded by writing "It has come to pass that because of his [Wolpo's] activities ... hundreds of Jews have stopped learning Chassidus, and now oppose the Baal Shem Tov and his teachings in actuality."[3]
In an interview with Israeli Channel 2 evening news in March 1994, he told an interviewer that Schneerson's place as the Messiah and the fact of his "eternal life" was "as secure as the rising of the sun in the morning." [4]
He wrote a number of critical books as a commentray on the writing of Rabbi Eliezer Schach, leader of Lithuanian Haredim - a prominant critic of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement and of Schneerson himself - under the title Yedaberu Shalom.
[edit] Politics
In 1979, on the instrucitons of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, he published his first book Da'at Torah a polemic aginst returning lands captured by Israel. He was aactive in the protests that surrounded the evacution of Yamit, and in 1982 published the book Shalom shalom Ve'ain Shalom that argued that peace with the Arab World was impossible.
[edit] Gaza disengagement
He was active in the protest movement in 2005 that fought the disengagement from Gaza. Following the failure of that campaign he organized a rabbinical conference entitled "we shall never forget and we shall never forgive" that banned the recitation of the Prayer for the State of Israel that is recited i n synagogues around the world. After the Second Lebanon War Wolpo organized a publicity campaign with the slogan "we told you so" that distributed over a million brochures. He was also responsible for a poster campaign promising that those responsible for Israel's actions during the war would be "punished from heaven".
In January 2006 he wrote a letter to Olmert warning him that if he ever gave up even "an tiny parcel" of the Land of Israel he would suffer from a bitter fate. The letter noted that Schnnerson had warned that he would personally fight with all his powers against any Prime Minister who gave up Israeli territory or back peddled over settlements.[5][6] He told the press that Ariel Sharon had brought about a "new holocaust" with the Gaza disengagement, and that he had gladly "collaborated with the Nazis of today." [6] He ruled that assisting in the evacuation of the Gaza settlement was as bad as violating the Jewish Sabbath.[7] He called for Olmert to be "brought to trial and punished."[8]
Following the disengagement he published a book entitled "Between light and dark" in which he argued that the disengagement Schneerson was right about rejecting Zionism as a way of hastening the messianic era. [9]
[edit] SOS Israel
He is the founder of the organization SOS Israel a political action group that unties a broad spectrum of the religious right in Israel behind extensive poster campaigns and mass protests.
Another campaign run by his organization under the slogan "there is a judge" (referring to God), generated considerable controversy in the Israeli press in March 2007.[10] One radio host, Natan Zahavi, denounced Wolpo on the radio in obscene terms[11] and the Israeli Broadcasting Authority is currently investigating.[12][13]
He has recently released a film under the SOS Israel mark entitled "there is law and there is a judge" which makes the argument that all the political leaders that had a hand in the Gaza disengagement have suffered as a result, for example Sharon suffered a stroke, Moshe Katzav was forced to resign. The film argues that this is God's retribution. The film includes footage of Schneerson arguing that making peace with the Arabs will lead to disaster and telling Katzav that "it would lead to the opposite of peace.[14] Maariv reports that two million copies of the film are to be distributed, and the film is to be made available for download online.[14]
[edit] Recent activities
In a halachic ruling, Wolpo ruled that it was forbidden to teach children from Israeli education ministry approved textbooks that show maps of Israel with Green Line marked, as this was an attack on West Bank settlers.[15] He told Maariv that Israeli education minister Yuli Tamir should "recall what happened to Ariel Sharon" before she attacked the settlement movement.[16]
In February 2007, Wolpo appealed a decision that a political campaign under the slogan "if anyone comes to remove me from my home, I will chop off their hands" amounted to incitement to violence. The slogan was meant to protest the removal of Jewish settlers from their West Bank homes.[17]
Wolpo arranged an elaborate award ceremony for a soldier who was disciplined for refusing to shake the hand of Israeli Chief of Staff Dan Halutz. The soldier was protesting the evacuation of his grandparents from their Gaza home in 2005.[18]
In 2006 Wolpo defended Rabbi David Drukman, chief rabbi of Kiryat Motzkin, over charges that he had abused his position as a state employee to incite violence. Wolpe said: "Rabbi Drukman will go down in history as someone who stood up to a vile government fearlessly." [19]
During the 2006 Second Lebanon War he told the local Kiryat Gat weekly that "..Olmert has declared war against God and against his Torah" and that he should be brought to justice. He added that the war should continue "until the enemy has been totally eradicated."[20]
In 2006 he advocated not celebrating Israeli Independence Day, and offered a free copy of one of his books to anyone that pledged to do so.[21]
In 2007, he told a conference in Jerusalem that "the remedy for the disengagement is to understand that the State of Israel is a terrible thing. We should not bless or praise the state that was founded by criminals and heretics like Herzl."[22]
[edit] Bibliography
Wolpo has published over 40 books in Hebrew. These include:
- Daat Torah Be'inyanei HaMatzav B'Eretz HaKodesh - polemic against territorial concessions.
- Yechi HaMelech - polemic arguing that Schneerson is the Messiah.
- Yechi HaMelech HaMoshiach - explanation of the legal ruling declaring Schneerson to be the Messiah.
- Shichat HaPeag - halachic exegesis on the wearing of wigs by Haredi women.
- Yakum Se'are Lidmama - more on women's wigs.
- Yedaber Shalom - a series of books attacking the works of Rabbi Eliezer Schach.
- Ki Hem Chayenu - 770 Jewish Ideas - educational textbook (Israeli Education Ministry).
- Bein Ohr Lechoshech - the connection between Schneerson and Israel.
- Shemen Sasson MeChavreich - (Three vol.) biography of Schneerson and others connected with him.
[edit] Citations
- ^ Or any number of combinations of these names, when transliterated into English.
- ^ The Revelation of Melech HaMashiach (King Messiah), "Yechi HaMelech", Sholom Ber Wolpo, "The Committee for Fulfilling the Rebbe's Directives"
- ^ The Revelation of Melech HaMashiach, published by The Committee for Fulfilling the Rebbe's Directives.
- ^ The truth about messianism in chabad - looking at the facts, Tapuz magazine, November 15, 2005
- ^ The Lubavticher Rebbe v. Ehud Olmert, MSN Israel News (Hebrew), Idan Yosef, January 16, 2006
- ^ a b Right-wing Rabbis issued warnings, The Forward, January 20, 2006
- ^ Rabbis: Disengagement is as bad as violating the Sabbath, Noam Shravit, MSN Israel, January 16, 2005
- ^ The hard-line opponents of disengagement, Leslie Susser, Jerusalem Report, March 21, 2005
- ^ Chabad rabbi: Disengage from state, Matthew Wagner, Jerusalem Post, November 20, 2005
- ^ SOS Israel against Natan Zahavi, Arutz Sheva (Hebrew), 28 March 2007
- ^ "Suspend Zahavi immediatly", Meirav Kristal, Yediot Aharonot, March 11, 2007
- ^ Censure steps against Natan Zahavi, Meirav Kristal, Yediot Aharonot, (Hebrew) March 20, 2007
- ^ The Rabbis against Zahavi, Yigal Gaoni, Globes, March 14, 2007
- ^ a b Live on Film, Maariv, March 22, 2007
- ^ New Halachic ruling, Akiva Eldar, Haaretz (Hebrew), May 12, 2006
- ^ "Yuli Tamir should remember what happened to Ariel Sharon, Maariv, May 12, 2006
- ^ Appeal to Mazuz: Allow threats of hand amputation against settlement evacuators, Yuval Yoaz, Haaretz, February 8, 2007
- ^ The grandson who neither forgave nor forgot, Hagai Hoberman, HaTzofe, May 5, 2006
- ^ Rabbi Drukman in court hearing, Arutz Sheva, July 6, 2006
- ^ Interview with Shalom Dov Wolpo, Kiryat Gat Net (Hebrew), July 13, 2006
- ^ We must celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Hodia Crish Chazoni, Makor Rishon May 15, 2006
- ^ Thousands of delegates promise: "We shallnot forgive", Dikla Gal-Ed, Makor Rishon, March 14, 2007
[edit] External Links
- English language website of SOS Israel, religious right-wing campaign group founded by Wolpo.
- A fifteen minute preview of the film "there is law, and there is a judge."
- Hebrew wikipedia's article on SOS Israel (Hebrew)
