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Friday, February 24, 2012

Rabbi Shmuley's Accusation of anti-Semitism against Michael Coren is Absurd

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach is a pop-rabbi known less as a theologian than as an author of self-help books, a hanger-on of Michael Jackson,  and a TV personality featured as an occasional guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show. This fellow, currently exploring the possibility of running as a  Republican Congressional candidate in New Jersey, who bills himself as America's Rabbi, appeared on Sun TV's The Arena with Michael Coren yesterday.

Rabbi Shmuley, as he likes to be called, did the show to plug his new book, Kosher Jesus, which has gained some controversy in the orthodox Jewish community for describing Jesus and his teachings' close connection to Judaic traditions. There is absolutely nothing controversial about the conclusions Rabbi Shmuley reaches in his book. Robert Graves, the great war poet,  classical scholar, and the extraordinary author of unforgettable novels like I Claudius,  made identical assertions some sixty-six years ago, though in the form of historical fiction, in his book King Jesus.

Rabbi Shmuley's segment with Michael Coren did not go well. When discussing Jewish attitudes, Coren complained of the negative depictions that secular, leftist Jews attribute to conservative Christians. This set Rabbi Shmuley off and the conversation quickly degenerated into a shouting match, with Shmuley accusing Coren of dredging up anti-Semitic canards and Coren  responding that words he did not say were being put in his mouth and that Shmuley was in effect in denial of historical fact and contemporary reality.

Within a few hours of taping the interview, before it was even broadcast later in the day, Shmuley Boteach, through his press agent, sent out an email blast accusing Coren of perpetrating a "disgusting slur, a tributary of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, that the Jews control whole segments of society."

What to say about all of this? Well, I have a few things and I'm in a unique position to comment. Firstly, the idea of Michael Coren being anti-Semitic is patently absurd. I have known Michael for over a year, appeared on his television show about half a dozen times, spoken to him and corresponded with him on many other occasions. He is outspoken about  and proud of his own Jewish heritage, which has made him the target of anti-Semitism from Islamists and fanatical leftists like those who skulk in online ideological cesspools such as rabble.ca.

What Michael said about secular leftist Jews and their contempt for conservative Christianity is something he has said to me about secular leftist Christians. Indeed he was much more harsh in his assessment of them. Perhaps Michael would have done well to bring that point up with Rabbi Shmuley, but given the heat of the exchange and the Rabbi's constant interruptions, that opportunity never arose.

Rabbi Shmuley seemed to take great issue with the contention by Coren that Jews are influential in Hollywood. I was a Strategic Planing and Creative Executive for a major Hollywood film production company and during my time with it was involved with a slate of films that were nominated for 14 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Director,  Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay and Best Documentary. 

The fact is that there are a lot of Jews in very important positions in Hollywood. Anyone who is familiar with the history of the film industry knows it was virtually founded by Jews. This is not something to be ashamed of. Movies are the great American art form of the 20th Century and Jews should take pride in their role in its birth and life.

What is objectionable is to cast Jews in the fictional mold of a conspiratorial monolith who act in secret concert for some sinister end. Absolutely nothing could be further from the truth. No Hollywood executives are meeting and saying, "let's as Jews, trash Christianity."  The fact is that most Hollywood Jews, like just about everyone else in Hollywood, are secular leftists and the philosophical and ideological outlook that comes with those attitudes is reflected in their work. Most Jews in the US also vote for the Democratic Party, but that hardly makes it part of a conspiracy.

But let's be clear, Coren was talking about secular Jews and their attitudes because his guest was a Jewish rabbi, in the same way he would have raised the subject of anti-western attitudes in leftist Christian churches if the Presbyterian Moderator had been his guest.

If Michael is guilty of anything, it may be of not articulating that better. But given the inflammatory exchange, it's hardly surprising he didn't get a chance.

Michael Coren is one of Canada's most ardent defenders of Zionism and the right of Jews to national self-determination. In less than a week, he will be a panelist at an event presented by The Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center, an organization devoted to combating anti-Semitism. Not only is the calumnious accusation of anti-Semitism against Coren wrong, but it is a shameful disgrace and if Rabbi Shmuley has any sense, he will retract his self-serving publicity release and apologize.




UPDATE: The battle continues at the Huffington Post. It looks like both Michael and Shmuley are milking a lot of publicity out of this. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect a conspiracy (Oh, no!!! Now I'm an anti-Semite too!!!)

10 comments:

  1. Coren saying that Christ "perfected" Judaism is highly offensive.

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  2. That's part of basic Christian belief about the role of Jesus. I don't believe it, but I don't find it offensive that someone else does. And it would be irrational to suggest it means Coren is anti-Semitic

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  3. I've always been a bit mystified by the whole "perfected Judaism" concept. As far as I can see, Christianity isn't Judaism 2.0, but Judaism 1.3.7 - an update, not an improved version, with a whole lot of extra code, and a few new bugs to offset the bugs in version 1.0.

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  4. As far as I can tell, every religion likes to think they're the only one that finally got it right.

    The one thing Judaism has over the others it that it is the oldest surviving monotheistic religion, so it's the prototype, unless you count the brief period in Egyptian history under Ahkenaten where he banned worship of all gods beside Ra. The extent to which that may have been the inspiration for Judaism is speculative.

    My view is that they are variations on a theme and which version you prefer is a matter of personal taste. Of course, for most people, the reason they identify with a particular religion is because they were born into it.

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  5. The pathetic thing here is Bnai Brith and JDL are not defending Coren because of what he said but because of who he is. If someone who was not a supporter of Israel said the exact thing Coren said about Jews and Hollywood and Jesus “prefecting” Judaism you could be sure Frank Dimant and Meir Weinstein would be racing each other to condemn the comments as anti-Semitic.

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  6. I think you need to understand a little more about Christian belief before you say that. Jewish texts and teachings postulate certain things will happen upon the Messiah's arrival. Those things didn't happen duiring the life of Jesus, so Christians get around that by saying he's coming back. Their assertion that Jesus "perfected" Judaism is just another way of saying that they believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of Biblical prophesy about the coming of the Mesiah. It is intrinsic to their faith principle. After all, there would be no rationale for Christianity if it were not supposed to be an "improvement" on the tradition and belief system from which it emerged. Personally I think this is all about as important as Jonathan Swift's parody of religious wars being as significant as the battle between Lilliputians who thought eggs should be cracked at the big end versus the litle-enders who wanted it broken at the small end.

    But I think you'll find that genuine anti-Semites don't talk about Christianity "perfecting" Judaism because that statement explicitly recognizes the links between the two religions, which is something that anti-Semites tend to want to deny.

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  7. The great Irish poet Roogan McDougall said it best...." you ain't nothing but a ...praying all the time"

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  8. Was that from his colection, Ruminations on a Geesh?

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  9. Michael "Shmaya Meir"March 14, 2012 at 4:43 PM

    "He is outspoken about and proud of his own Jewish heritage,"

    So proud in fact of that heritage and birthright in fact that abandoned it to become a Catholic. Yes I can see that........

    Please don't get me started on Meir Weinstein, who gets no lack of traction out of the statement that he was a student of Kahane',acting the way he did on Coren's show almost immediately after the Boteach segment.
    It is not a secret what Kahane thought or felt about Christianity and Xtian Missionairies and Jews who by converting to xtianity gave up that birthright. Weinstein has certainly had no qualms with linking himself to Kahane and Kahane's ideas in the popular media, having "milked that cow" repeatedly in JDL Canada press as well as the main stream media.

    Whether Boteach is Rabbi to the stars or Rabbi to the trees or Rabbi to my aunt rose, he is still that-- a "legitimate" Jew and a Rabbi and he speaking out where he sees foul against the Jewish people(very much the way coren is allowed to on so many differnet topics, only without so much complaint from his fan club).

    Who cares if Michael is "proud" of his Jewish heritage, if it is a heritage that he has plain and simple rejected and denied by his life choices.

    For Coren to invite Weinstein to glad hand with himself right after the fact and for Weinstein to defend Mr. Apostate, er..I mean Mr. I'm right you're wrong ,while castigating a fellow jew....Kahane would be crying!!!

    Quiet honestly, does Weinstein head the Jewish Defense League of Canada or the Jesus Defense League of Canada???

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  10. Look, call it what you like Michael, but the bottom line is that Shmuley was more interested in self-promotion than anything else. The notion of Coren being anti-Jewish is idiotic. If Shmuley had managed to stop flapping his gums for a few seconds, he might have found that out for himself, but obviously he is too much in love with the sound of his own voice for that.

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