Post

[Thoughts Below] :: Palantir’s Alex Karp—self proclaimed atheist—makes the expected pilgrimage to Chahbad’s Rebbe Shneersons grave. — Personal Admin Thoughs :: I never know how to approach this subject anymore without accusations of bigotry — which is far from who I am and what I stand for. As someone with years of religious study—both in a personal and an academic setting [4 years JIMES minor in undergrad] — I am still perplexed at the hold that Chahbad-Lub holds over politicians… just so everyone is aware, for most of Jewry, Chahbad and its followers are actually seen as heretics.. and not just secular or reform communities … much of the Frum world hold the same views.. eg, majority of prominent ultra-Orthodox authorities, such as Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, ruled that holding the belief that a dead or hidden Rebbe (like Shneerson) is the Messiah is a form of heresy and NOT up for debate. And from a strictly [religious] perspective—when self-proclaimed Christians, Atheists or Diests even entertain the idea of “paying respects” to a self-proclaimed Supremacist who is quoted over 3000 times stressing the inferiority of non believers, it’s strange st best and considered a form a blasphemy for dogmas that forbid recognition of self-proclaimed messiahs — it’s perplexing. It would be like Protestants or Catholics regularly paying respects to Mormonism’s religious leader, Joseph Smith — which we NEVER see, despite the LDS’s own significant influence in American politics. These are just thoughts and questions that I think is fair to ask. As voters we have a right to atleast understand and know what sort of political or religious hold a certain group has on our politicians, no? If we have normalized grilling anyone with even an iota of Islamic roots — should the same interrogation be expected of others? I know there will be those that immediately dismiss this as cherry-picking sectarianism or bigotry against the larger community. I assure you it is not, and I welcome your insights if you have any. 💛