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In other words, she was forcefully abducted by a Jewish cult in order to stop her from joining a gentile cult? s**t, this is why Chabad Lubavitch is responsible for getting more good Jews baptized than the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope put together. In fact, I think your story is a little bit suspect. Could it be that she wasn't even joining a cult, and that she was cutting off contact from her family because she had too damn much Chabad Lubavitch in her life? And maybe she's "Frum" now because civil law has failed her?

Look, abduction is a crime whether it's Judaism or Scientology. These aren't the dark ages. I've got family in the Lubavitcher cult myself. I know a thing or two about the "convincing" that goes on. When one of my relatives decided to stray from the one true faith of the chosen people -- and this is a true story -- he was kidnapped and kept a prisoner in the Chabad. They didn't let him out and would have kept him there until he was "frum" if he didn't happen to be a blackbelt in Taekwondo. I feel sorry for anyone taken prisoner by Lubavitchers who doesn't know how to kick a door down.

Word to the wise, if you're ever in New York and you're approached by a mob of men all dressed up and ready to party like it's 1699 and one of them asks you if you're Jewish, say no. It might be bearing false witness, but at least you won't get abducted. s**t, of all the things I despise about Buddhism, I've never heard of a Buddhist pulling any idiocy of this magnitude.

Actually to some extent it is forbidden. It depends on what your talking about, about going into a buddhist temple, that is strictly forbidden for a Jew to take part in, as its a religion of a "nation" and therefor foreign to you, as a Jew. If your talking about walking through mexico or china town, thats fine, that is not going into a house of worship. The jews mission in the world is laid out in the alainu, "to banish idolarty from the earth, and false gods will be utterly destroyed" If were expected to destroy these idols, I doubt we're granted permission to go into a spiritual environment of "waters" that we may not feel conferrable with, even if you go in to affirm your Judaism, your doing it for yourself and not for Hashem, who commands you not to go in at all.

Okay so I can respectfully tell you the truth about all of what you said:

You said your grandfather converted to Chabad Lubavitch. Does this mean somewhere in the family there was a reform or conservative conversion that orthodox jews don't recognize as halachic conversion? I know for a fact, becoming a Lubavitch rabbi and having many friends who are, that they do absolutely NO conversions. If you converted through reform or conservative, sure, we don't call you jewish, because those conversion processes are faulty. If someone were to come into a rabbis office and ask to be converted, the rabbi, if it was a goyum, would kindly reject and try and talk them out of converting, if they still want to, the rabbi would send them to a class that is NOT Lubavitch and have them do it that way, which is still orthodox. We do not do conversions. Ever. It is not the position Chabad to convert people, so we stay away from it. So I'm really not sure what you mean when you say your grandpa "converted" to Chabad Lubavitch. If he was already a jew and didn't convert through reform or conservative, then he is truly a Jew, and no need to convert even through orthodox like most people who are born jews and whos mother and grandmother and great grandmother are jewish from birth.

And i'd say most of it really is true judaism. The reform and conservative synagogues are not leading "true jewish" identities and even bringing jews ashtray. The conservative temple by me serves the kids pizza with pepperoni and cheese during class, teaches the women to wear to tefillin and not light shabbos candles. On Saturdays, the rabbi isn't even shomer shabbos, but they're preaching that its good to walk to shul on shabbos morning and maybe turn off your cell phone if your conferrable with it, but only if your conferrable with it. When you go to Chabad, the rabbis entire family is completely shomer, completely glaat kosher, and he doesn't tell people to be like him. When people go there for erev shabbos or shabbos morning, they feel the spiritual atmosphere more because of that, because of the mechitza, and cell phones are strictly turned off in a drawer at the house. I'm not saying people in conservative temples or reform aren't shomer, but the percent if very very low. I'd say its the most important thing in a jews life, and the amount of jews that do it that are not orthodox are very low, lower than it should. For a orthodox jew, it literately means separation from G-D to break it. The problem that most people have is just this, that Lubavitchers are a chassidic group. People are uncomfortable with this, because its too religious, and your life should not revolve around G-D. I though believe the opposite. Every single act every single day, can be for G-D. It's not just going to temple saturday morning in jeans, every single moment can be a opportunity for you to have a direct relationship with Hashem, hands down. It is not evangelizing jews, its giving jews the opportunity to have a orthodox jewish shul, how its traditionally done, while still maintaining a secular life.

The reason you think its a separate religion is because your not used to orthodox judaism or chassidism, your used to reform or conservative which is no where near the REAL judaism that Moses gave to the Jewish people at mt. saini, which says you will die if you don't uphold the Torah, keep shabbos, marry jewish, ect. Which is true, you will die. Not saying physical death, but spiritual death, you will loose the connection G-D has made with you through the mitsvot that you keep.

The rebbe is NOT worshipped, he is not a deity, he is not moshiach. He is the most recent leader of Chabad Lubavitch Chassidism. Each Chassidic dynasty has a rebbe, which is a leader that keeps them all together. This rebbe is a Tzadik, a righteous person, but NOT worshipped and NOT Hashem. Since Lubavitch is a Chassidic dynasty, we have a rebbe, like the others. Some people respect this man so much they say he is moshiach, but in all truth he is not, he did lead a very holy and respected life though, and by imitating him, we can do the same. If you go inside a Chabad Shul, there is no picture of the rebbe in the actual shul, because that would constitute as idol worship, so we put no pictures in that area. You only see a picture of the rebbe in the halls, rabbis office, main entrance, kiddish room. It is NOT in the shul.

Finally about the kidnap story, in no way does it suggest Chabad is a cult, you just misunderstood the story. It was not the rabbis idea to kidnap the women, it was her brothers, who came to the rabbi asking for help. The rabbi agreed to help because they believe so much in ahavas yisroel that no jewish soul should be limited to such a thing, such as a cult, which is a painful experience. So they agreed to "kidnap" her for that reason, and with her brother they all talked to a few rabbis and they talked her out of the cult she was in. She even said to her brother afterwards she was happy they took her like that, because she was starting to worry in the cult if it was really true.



You can't relate Judaism to Scientology, that is absurd. Even used as a kidnap story, that is absurd. The idea behind it is completely different and shouldn't even be comparable. The story I told you never happens, it happened once that i've head of for a special reason, in any other case, and especially today, they would never again do this- this story takes place is the late 80s or early 90s.

I respect you and all you've said, I just want to spread light onto subjects your trying to rationalize about or put down.

I'm ignoring what you said before this for a reason.

I know Buddah is a enlightened figure and not a divine being. But it is still a figure that is prostrated in a home and bowed down to, in respect or to emulate. The only one a Jew should be emulating is Hashem, and we do this by mitsvot and good deeds. By bowing down to a human being who reached a state of enlightenment, you are feeding your ego and bowing down to yourself who wish to reach the same thing instead of a union with G-D. It is still considered a "foreign" figure that is NOT Hashem and therefor idolatry for a Jew, not a non-jew.

ANY object prostrated in a home is a idol which means seperation from G-D in the world to come, for a Jew. ANY. No exception. Read my idolatry thread.

Jews emulate G-D by preforming mitsvot/commandments, being kind to others, etc as Hashem is kind so you be kind, in almost every aspect.

As I said:

Buddah is in fact without question idolatry, as it states: Not to make any figures for ornament, even if they are not worshipped (Ex. 20:20))

I personally believe that HaShem just made that commandment so the Children of Israel wouldn't fall prey to the bobble-head trend. Just like that rule against sha'atnez is to protect us from the wearing of ugly polyester suits. But then, the Orthodox congregation I go to isn't quite Orthodox enough, apparently, so I guess I wouldn't know.

. . . Sorry, couldn't resist.