The terrorist targeting of the sole Jewish center in Mumbai India has been particularly rattling. This is what human beings driven by religious fanaticism are capable of.
Enough of that. Two of the five (six?) Jewish people murdered at Chabad House Mumbai were the rabbi and his wife. (I recall when a Chabad House was started in ithaca New York. I also dimly remember an article on this in a local newspaper and what the rebbetzin – rabbi’s wife – had to say about cheeseburgers.) David Klinghoffer writes poignantly about his own appreciation for the Chabad movement.
In which I came across this:
Though their work entails outreach to Jews who haven’t yet been fully acquainted with their spiritual heritage, being judgmental is foreign to Chabad. That’s on principle. In the Tanya (1796), the fundamental work of Chabad philosophy, Chabad founder Schneur Zalman of Liadi urges that alienated and unlettered Jews be drawn in with “strong cords of love.” The Tanya is not worried about whether, in the process, the non-observant Jew actually turns fully to observance.
I thought “what a wonderful description of what Christian witness should look like”. Imagine:
Being judgmental is foreign to Christianity. That’s on principle. Christian theology urges that those alienated from the Christian church and those who have never learned about Jesus be drawn in with strong cords of love. Christian mission is not worried about whether, in the process, the non-practicing Christian or the non-Christian actually turns fully to faith in Christ.
I can live with that.
