Deconstructing Chabad

This is a blog exposing the truth behind the Chabad organization, offering alternatives, and answering questions. This is a Jewish positive space- antisemitism will not be tolerated.

[deconstructingchabad]

Introduction and Blog Description

Hello!

This blog is a personal blog run by an ex-Chabad queer Jew.

What this blog is:

-A place for myself to talk about my own experiences growing up within and breaking away from Chabad.

-A place to educate and answer questions about Chabad

What this blog isn't:

-Bashing Chassidic and/or Orthodox Judaism. I am Egalitarian Orthodox myself.

Boundaries:

-The topics discussed on this blog are intracommunity issues within the Jewish community. I ask that non-Jews refrain from inserting themselves into these conversations or from sharing them around.

-Antisemitism obviously won't be tolerated, and neither will any other prejudices.

My core beliefs:

-Chabad is a highly organized Messianic cult within Judaism. Those within Chabad are still Jews, but the behaviour Chabad as an organization exhibits is no different from other high-control religious groups, and there are extremists within Chabad that display beliefs that are antithetical to Judaism. I will be coming at the issues with Chabad from two main angles: religious and psychological. The religious angle will focus on the ways in which Chabad displays religious norms, values, and beliefs that contradict foundational Jewish values and beliefs. The psychological angle will focus on the ways in which Chabad is a cult that exerts control over its members and recruits members from vulnerable demographics, and the ways in which it has maintained its power over the years.

Resources related to deconstruction:

BITE model- a model outlining the framework most/all cults share and how to recognize them

Yaffed.org- an organization advocating for better education within Charedi schools in New York.

Freidom- a support network for former Orthodox and Charedi Jews.

Footsteps- a support network for former Charedi Jews and those seeking to leave

SayNoToChabad- an Instagram account focusing on issues within Chabad specifically

Alternative sources for Jewish education:

MyJewishLearning

Jewish Virtual Library

Sefaria

ReformJudaism.org

ReconstructingJudaism.org

USCJ.org

Aish.com

Alternative Jewish youth and young adult

organizations:

Keshet

JQY

Moishe House

Hillel

[deconstructingchabad]

Most cults don't look like shadowy secret underground demonic rituals and concrete compounds and mass suicides. Most look like seemingly friendly outreach groups, charitable organizations, interest groups, and alternative spiritual movements.

[deconstructingchabad]

Question for other Jews: Is it idolatrous to have a photo or painting of a dead Rabbi that you treat as having some sort of holy properties and protective powers and often have numerous copies of these pictures all over your home, workplace, and synagogue?

Yes

No

Voting ended onDec 18, 2024

[deconstructingchabad]

Presented without comment

[mossadspypigeon]

what exactly are you trying to prove with this

[deconstructingchabad]

Well I created this blog because I was getting fed up with progressive and queer Jews on Tumblr thinking Chabad is somehow progressive and in any way their friend, when it absolutely is not.

[tribulation-of-somnolence]

Do Donald Trump and Ben Shapiro have any connection to Chabad?

[deconstructingchabad]

That photo I shared is taken at "The Ohel"- the grave of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, the sixth Chabad Rebbe, and Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Chabad Rebbe, first of all.

The Trump family and Donald Trump himself have extensive connections to Chabad.

Here's a really extensive article covering a lot of it. While I don't endorse all of the language used, it's still an accurate and thorough reporting:

The Happy-Go-Lucky Jewish Group That Connects Trump and Putin

Where Trump's real estate world meets a top religious ally of the Kremlin.

This article was written in 2017, and so connections have only run deeper since then.

Ben Shapiro also has connections to Chabad, publically endorsing them and speaking at Chabad events.

Ben Shapiro Recommends 'Rebbe'

Political commentator Ben Shapiro visited a Chabad school and then recommended to his listeners to read about the Rebbe.

Ben Shapiro at The Chabad of Bal Harbour: "A Night For Israel" - 5 Towns Central

Mordechai Shapiro and Ben Shapiro at Moshiach Seuda

After an over-the-top Yom Tov in the upscale Trump National Doral in Miami FL, the luxury Pesach Program ended on a high note with an inspir

[deconstructingchabad]

Actually I think if you haven't grown up Chabad yourself you shouldn't tell people what they can and can't say about Chabad. People should be allowed to talk about their experiences growing up within Chabad in the same way people from every other Charedi sect and/or cult should be allowed to talk about their experiences, and their words shouldn't be misconstrued as a condoning of antisemitic violence. Survivors of abuse shouldn't be forced to be silent because their words don't fit the narrative you've constructed in your head about the communities they come from.

And if you think Chabad is nothing but a perfectly benevolent organization that just wants to help every single Jew without prejudice, then their propaganda is working on you. Individual Chabad shluchim can have the most lofty of intentions, you could have had the most positive experiences with individual Chabadnikim and Chabad houses, but that doesn't change the fact that the organization itself is predatory and harmful.

[deconstructingchabad]

Presented without comment

[mossadspypigeon]

what exactly are you trying to prove with this

[deconstructingchabad]

Well I created this blog because I was getting fed up with progressive and queer Jews on Tumblr thinking Chabad is somehow progressive and in any way their friend, when it absolutely is not.

[deconstructingchabad]

Something I noticed when moving to the region I live in now was that the Jewish Federation (actual umbrella organization for all the Jewish organizations in the area) had the URL "jewish[county name].org"... and that Chabad had the URL "jewish[county name].com." This seemed exactly like phishing or like the practices of "crisis pregnancy centers" to me.

Yeah I hate to say it but it's probably intentional, Chabad will also usually claim domains like "[insert university name] Jews" or the like, despite the fact that there are other Jewish organizations on college campuses and despite the fact that college campus Chabad houses are very often not "officially" associated with the colleges they're established at so they don't have to deal with official university regulations and codes of conduct (this also means that many don't have access to university allocations for student organizations and have to rely on alternative sources of funding). Then again, sometimes it's not intentional in the beginning, since there's only so many combinations you can do for a URL, but.....yeah.

Another note in case you didn't know:

.org is a domain extension typically denoting an organization, often a non-profit one.

.com is a domain extenstion typically denoting a commercial business (though nowadays it's used for most website domains whether they're commercial or not).

So. Not saying this means that these specific Chabad houses aren't nonprofit organizations, since nowadays nonprofit organizations can have the .com domain extension.... but it does mean you should look into them a little further.

[deconstructingchabad]

It shouldn't take being queer for people to realize they can get out. It shouldn't take being traumatized and ostracized for people to realize they can leave.

[deconstructingchabad]

I have to say I'm very tired of the all-or-nothing view people have of cults and cult survivors and deconstruction. It feels like the only people talking about surviving and deconstructing from religious cults are those who took a completely hard turn in the other direction towards atheism, areligiousity, and even anti-theism. But I'm still a very proud Jew. I'm still an Orthodox Jew, and by for intents and purposes I'm still as frum as I was when I was in Chabad. I don't hate Judaism, I don't hate Orthodox Judaism, and one of the reasons I'm so passionate about talking about how harmful Chabad is because it's such a very real threat to Judaism. I love Judaism and being Jewish- that's why I speak out against Chabad.

[deconstructingchabad]

One of the things I hate so much is how much a foothold Chabad has in Jewish affairs and how well they hide who they actually are. When I talk about how they're a cult and how much they traumatized me and so many I know, people treat me like I'm crazy. They've so successfully monopolized Judaism, so many people think they're a wholesome outreach organization, and even if they acknowledge some problematic elements of their ideology, they'll treat them like harmless kooks instead of the highly organized and powerful cult that they are. It's so isolating.

[applesauce42069-deactivated2024]

Chabad anime mascot when

[deconstructingchabad]

They already do, it's the Tzivos Hashem child soldiers

[deconstructingchabad]

Songs of my childhood

I've been pretty busy with the Yamim Noraim and personal matters, so I haven't had the time to make really big deep-dives lately, but I still want to post on this blog, so I've decided to start a series breaking down the songs from my childhood in Chabad and the harmful messaging in them. Since each post will only be one song, they won't take as much work as a really extensive deep-dive on one specific topic.

So, to start off strong, we'll start with "A Child Alone on the Shore". From a cursory search, the first online published lyrics of this song I found from a compilation of Chabad camp songs in 2008, and in a blog post from 2009, I found it attributed to the album "Oh Rebbe 2", an album released in 1998 by Mendy Chanin and Meir HaLevy Eshel. So, this song has been around for at least 25 years. It's no surprised that it first sprang up after the death of Rabbi Schneerson, since it contains really heavy Messianic overtunes and allusions to his "bodily death", as believers put it, and the belief of his return. So, without further ado, here is the song:

A child alone on the shore, Waving a light up so high. To signal a ship that no one can see, In the rough open ocean and vast darkened sky. As every sailor passed by, They questioned the boy with the light, 'Why little one do stand at your post, There is nothing and no one in sight?' The young boy looked up, his face all aglow, And waved his small lantern above and below. 'Please wait here with me, the ship we will see,' 'Dear child explain to us how do you know?' 'I'm firm in my faith, the answer is clear, I'm so very certain the ship will appear. The captain has told me and promised he'll come, Of course I believe him, for I am his son.' The Rebbe, our captain, his promise will keep, Knowing a chossid's emunah proclaims. 'I'm firm in my faith the answer is clear, V'hu Yigolainu - Omein.'

Notes:

Chossid- word for follower of a Chassidic movement, in this case, a follower of Chabad Chassidut and specifically of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Emunah- Hebrew word for faith

The last line is a Hebrew transliteration and translates to "And he will redeem us, Amen".

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his wife, Chaya Mushka Schneerson, never had any biological children of their own, and a common sentiment in the Chabad community is that "the Rebbe didn't need an heir because we are his children". The idea of being the spiritual children of a spiritual leader isn't really a Jewish value- we're all descended of Avraham Avinu, the first Patriarch, and we certainly are Bnei Yisrael, the children of Yisrael/Yaakov, but that's because from a cultural and ethnic perspective, we literally are- Judaism is a descent-based ethnoreligion, so we are most of us descended from a single entity. But you'd be hard pressed to find followers of any other Rabbi call themselves his children.

The idea of referring to your spiritual leader as your father is, well, something you see a lot in Christianity, especially in denominations where the clergy take a vow of abstinence and thus would not have biological children of their own. But Judaism has no such thing- sex isn't the sinful thing it's treated as in Christianity, and spiritual leaders especially are encouraged to lead by example by marrying and procreating.

We don't know why exactly Menachem Mendel and Chaya Mushka Schneerson never had children- whether it was a choice or because they struggled with infertility- and it feels wrong to speculate or ascribe judgement because, well, at the end of the day, whether it was a choice or not, it's still very personal, and they themselves might not be alive to hear the way we talk about them, but other couples might. Having children or not having children is morally neutral.

But what's not theologically neutral is assigning divinity to a human being, something that is explicitly forbidden in Judaism. You'll also notice that any mention of G-d is absent in this song- it's the Rebbe that's the father, the Rebbe that's the redeemer. If not for the last stanza in the song, I could totally see it be a song about the Jewish people's relationship with G-d as our Parent and our yearning to be ingathered from our exiles with the coming of the Messianic age. This would not be a foreign theme- Avinu Malkeinu, a prayer recited on public fast days and on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, literally translates to "Our Father, our King", and is exactly that- an expression of longing for connection with our God. Which is what makes "A Child Alone on the Shore" all the more, well, spiritually icky. It takes the relationship we have and yearn for with G-d and replaces G-d with a human man. A human man, mind you, that was dead at the time of publishing this song.

I'm sure you all know where I'm going with this......

(Spoiler: It's idolatry)

[deconstructingchabad]

Man, I'm kind of bummed Chabad turned out to be yet another high control cult that abuses its members. I'm a very very lapsed Jew trying to figure out what to do and while there are two synagogues near me, both are pretty much entirely descended from the initial handful of families that founded them in the 40s and 50s and not super welcoming of newbies. The only Jewish organization doing any sort of outreach or catchup courses is the local Chabad house. If they're gonna push any messianic crap though, I might as well just avoid them. I get enough of that crap from the Jews for Jesus newsletters around town. Oh well.

Yeah, it really sucks because I maintain that Chabad does provide an invaluable service to the Jewish community, often because it's the only resource available in many places (this is by design, often it'll outcompete other Jewish organizations and establishments). I wish there were other Jewish organizations with as much reach as Chabad that weren't culty and borderline idolatrous.

I will say though, in my personal opinion, if you have to choose between not being able to practice or connect with your Judaism, or use resources Chabad provides, I think you should choose using Chabad's resources, but going in there aware and taking a lot of what they say about "the Rebbe" with a grain of salt. I wouldn't want anyone to not have any lifeline to a Jewish community, especially now when antisemitism in on the rise and connection with other Jews is so important. I myself engage with the Chabad in my area not because I support them (I obviously don't), but because it's where I can go to see other Jews (who are not Chabadnikim, just regular Jews who use Chabad's services because it's the only place there is).

I know there's some Jews who would call for a total boycott of Chabad- these Jews are usually in a very large and connected Jewish community, like New York City or places in Israel- and those Jews are coming from a place of privilege to be able to say that. I don't think you or any other Jew should let their Judaism suffer, and if getting matzah from Chabad or going to services at Chabad is what you need to do- do it. Just go in there with the awareness of who they are and what they stand for. The congregants at outreach Chabad houses tend to not be Chabad themselves, anyway.

Have a wonderful Sukkot, Chag Sameach!

[etz-ashashiyot]

She Sukkos on my Shmini Atzeres until I Simchas Torah

[etz-ashashiyot]

I am forcibly removed from the synagogue

[yanzinator]

As someone who has witnessed an actual forcible removal of a Jew from a synagogue, I guarantee you, that isn't nearly enough.

The shame you will feel from the looks you're gonna get however will make you remove yourself.

[titimylove]

i very much want to know this story, if you're at liberty to tell

[yanzinator]

A man runs into the shul with a cup full of water and throws it on one of the shul attendees, but it mostly splashes on a different guy.

freeze frame

someone just got splashed. you're probably wondering how we got here. to know that we have to go back a while.

8 years (before the shul fight) ago two men had a dream. A beit chabad in one of the most popular tourist sites in Mexico. We'll call these two, Rabbi s, and Rabbi d. A Jewish gvir on the island also wants a place to daven, and so he helps them open just that, even though there are nearly no local Jews around.

Fast-forward 2 years. By now, some Jews have moved in, enough to get a minyan going. The gvir moves out, and is no longer upholding the beit chabad. Now financials are a big fucking deal, rabbi s takes care of that, but now rabbi s holds more power in the beit chabad. Surely no problems will arise because of this.

Fast-forward another year. Rabbi m moves in. Rabbi m isn't a Rabbi, he has no ambitions to be one, but he loves Judaism. He has ambitions for business, and here there's opportunity. He opens a cosmetics store.

2 years later, the beit chabad is doing really well, getting a full minyan for every shachris, and occasionally even for maariv-mincha on weekdays. Rabbi m's business is doing so well, it's even attracting some competitors. Rabbi s's is more than handling the financial situation, and if any issues ever occur, Rabbi m is there as a safety net. Rabbi d meanwhile is managing all the religious events and leading minyans, keeping the beit chabad exciting basically. He's the face people think of when they think of this beit chabad.

This perfection won't last however, as tensions start to rise on Rabbi m's business front. He has multiple business partners by this point, and one of them disagrees with a lot of his decisions, he splits off and joins the competition. Not on friendly terms. This starts a long drawn out war over which employees end up working where. Rabbi m stops going to shul to avoid meeting these people.

fast-forward another year. Financial strain. They're leaning heavily on Rabbi m. Rabbi d is starting to doubt rabbi s's ability to manage financials. Rabbi s is upset no one appreciates his work. By now the beit chabad has a lot of assets, restaraunts, locations, attraction partnerships, and rabbi m has a Jewish school that is ran by volunteers from the beit chabad.

The two rabbis start trying to power grab, trying to take control of different aspects of the beit chabad. This wouldn't actually affect the attendance and what not in the shul. Everyone is still going peacefully, the shul is a no yelling zone, everything is peaceful outside of a few extreme disagreements between some people that aren't you.

By the end of the year however, no one is unnaffected. Most of the Jews who live here, came to work for Rabbi m, so now they're being fought over, and they feel it. The Jews there who came because of Rabbis s and d are just trying to daven in peace, but as soon as people leave the shul, they start arguing about what's going on.

On the religious front, rabbi m has decided to side with rabbi d. Rabbi s agrees to relinquish everything that's his in the beit chabad in exchange for 100,000 usd, a price that rabbi d could never come close to paying, and rabbi m is also not willing at all to do. This can now be felt in the community, as rabbi s stops sending his children to the Jewish school, and stops going to minyanim.

back to the business front, we arrive at around two months before the fight. One of rabbi m's competitors, specifically the one his former partner split to, has fallen. Their last store just got bought out due to poor management. Everyone who left for that business is now screwed. Rabbi m offers to hire them back, but only as entry employees. Most of them also have already taken a side in the beit chabad debacle. Tensions, and hate, are at an all time high

come simchat torah, 5783. Everyone comes to shul. Lots of tourists too. The shul is packed, but one of the people who hates rabbi m is particularly pissed to see him. It starts with a cup of water thrown at rabbi m. It misses and hits another bystander instead. (oh hi that's me, I'm the now wet bystander).

Splashing turns to yelling, turns to physical attacking, and some people are supporting rabbi m, and some are supporting the other guy. Rabbi d sees this for what it is, a risk of way too much fighting, and has the guy forcibly removed, and politely asks rabbi m to leave as well, which he does. The situation is quelled for now.

[titimylove]

this needs to be a movie lmao i was riveted

[etz-ashashiyot]

100% yes I was on the edge of my seat

[deconstructingchabad]

This is just unfortunately Normal Chabad happenings when you have a high control international religious organization that relies on donors and real estate holdings and recruitment, except it's a sect of Judaism so the recruitment is only limited to those who are already Jewish (unlike Christianity and Islam which can proselytize to non-Christians/Muslims), and so the market is already extremely saturated, leading to terf wars such as this. I personally have experienced this in numerous communities I've lived in throughout my life.

[yanzinator]

*turf wars, and I'll have you know, everything is sorted out by now, and they're all friends again, and everything is going great two years later. Like except for extremely low tourism causing issues since that's a main source of a lot of things, but that's not important.

Also chabad in itself isn't an organization, like, bro??? tf are you on about???

[deconstructingchabad]

Chabad very much is an organization. They literally identify themselves as such in the very first paragraph of their 'about' section:

You can read their 'about' yourself here if you don't believe me.

[etz-ashashiyot]

She Sukkos on my Shmini Atzeres until I Simchas Torah

[etz-ashashiyot]

I am forcibly removed from the synagogue

[yanzinator]

As someone who has witnessed an actual forcible removal of a Jew from a synagogue, I guarantee you, that isn't nearly enough.

The shame you will feel from the looks you're gonna get however will make you remove yourself.

[titimylove]

i very much want to know this story, if you're at liberty to tell

[yanzinator]

A man runs into the shul with a cup full of water and throws it on one of the shul attendees, but it mostly splashes on a different guy.

freeze frame

someone just got splashed. you're probably wondering how we got here. to know that we have to go back a while.

8 years (before the shul fight) ago two men had a dream. A beit chabad in one of the most popular tourist sites in Mexico. We'll call these two, Rabbi s, and Rabbi d. A Jewish gvir on the island also wants a place to daven, and so he helps them open just that, even though there are nearly no local Jews around.

Fast-forward 2 years. By now, some Jews have moved in, enough to get a minyan going. The gvir moves out, and is no longer upholding the beit chabad. Now financials are a big fucking deal, rabbi s takes care of that, but now rabbi s holds more power in the beit chabad. Surely no problems will arise because of this.

Fast-forward another year. Rabbi m moves in. Rabbi m isn't a Rabbi, he has no ambitions to be one, but he loves Judaism. He has ambitions for business, and here there's opportunity. He opens a cosmetics store.

2 years later, the beit chabad is doing really well, getting a full minyan for every shachris, and occasionally even for maariv-mincha on weekdays. Rabbi m's business is doing so well, it's even attracting some competitors. Rabbi s's is more than handling the financial situation, and if any issues ever occur, Rabbi m is there as a safety net. Rabbi d meanwhile is managing all the religious events and leading minyans, keeping the beit chabad exciting basically. He's the face people think of when they think of this beit chabad.

This perfection won't last however, as tensions start to rise on Rabbi m's business front. He has multiple business partners by this point, and one of them disagrees with a lot of his decisions, he splits off and joins the competition. Not on friendly terms. This starts a long drawn out war over which employees end up working where. Rabbi m stops going to shul to avoid meeting these people.

fast-forward another year. Financial strain. They're leaning heavily on Rabbi m. Rabbi d is starting to doubt rabbi s's ability to manage financials. Rabbi s is upset no one appreciates his work. By now the beit chabad has a lot of assets, restaraunts, locations, attraction partnerships, and rabbi m has a Jewish school that is ran by volunteers from the beit chabad.

The two rabbis start trying to power grab, trying to take control of different aspects of the beit chabad. This wouldn't actually affect the attendance and what not in the shul. Everyone is still going peacefully, the shul is a no yelling zone, everything is peaceful outside of a few extreme disagreements between some people that aren't you.

By the end of the year however, no one is unnaffected. Most of the Jews who live here, came to work for Rabbi m, so now they're being fought over, and they feel it. The Jews there who came because of Rabbis s and d are just trying to daven in peace, but as soon as people leave the shul, they start arguing about what's going on.

On the religious front, rabbi m has decided to side with rabbi d. Rabbi s agrees to relinquish everything that's his in the beit chabad in exchange for 100,000 usd, a price that rabbi d could never come close to paying, and rabbi m is also not willing at all to do. This can now be felt in the community, as rabbi s stops sending his children to the Jewish school, and stops going to minyanim.

back to the business front, we arrive at around two months before the fight. One of rabbi m's competitors, specifically the one his former partner split to, has fallen. Their last store just got bought out due to poor management. Everyone who left for that business is now screwed. Rabbi m offers to hire them back, but only as entry employees. Most of them also have already taken a side in the beit chabad debacle. Tensions, and hate, are at an all time high

come simchat torah, 5783. Everyone comes to shul. Lots of tourists too. The shul is packed, but one of the people who hates rabbi m is particularly pissed to see him. It starts with a cup of water thrown at rabbi m. It misses and hits another bystander instead. (oh hi that's me, I'm the now wet bystander).

Splashing turns to yelling, turns to physical attacking, and some people are supporting rabbi m, and some are supporting the other guy. Rabbi d sees this for what it is, a risk of way too much fighting, and has the guy forcibly removed, and politely asks rabbi m to leave as well, which he does. The situation is quelled for now.

[titimylove]

this needs to be a movie lmao i was riveted

[etz-ashashiyot]

100% yes I was on the edge of my seat

[deconstructingchabad]

This is just unfortunately Normal Chabad happenings when you have a high control international religious organization that relies on donors and real estate holdings and recruitment, except it's a sect of Judaism so the recruitment is only limited to those who are already Jewish (unlike Christianity and Islam which can proselytize to non-Christians/Muslims), and so the market is already extremely saturated, leading to turf wars such as this. I personally have experienced this in numerous communities I've lived in throughout my life.

[deconstructingchabad]

Presented without comment

[deconstructingchabad]

I was wondering, what percentage of Chabad would you say views the Rebbe as the Messiah? Also, do you view the aim of trying to get secular Jews to practice Judaism as a bad thing that they do?

Thanks for responding if you choose to!

I wish I had data on your first question, but from my research there hasn't been a polling specifically on that. From anecdotal evidence from my own and others' lived experiences, I would estimate that a majority of people who identify as being in the Chabad movement believe to some extent that the Rebbe is Mashiach, although there is a spectrum of belief ranging from "the Rebbe had prophetic powers and was ushering in the Messianic age but wasn't Mashiach the person" to "the Rebbe is Mashiach and while his body is deceased, his spirit is still alive and able to communicate with us". A conversation on Mi Yodea has some anecdotal responses, for example, and one response estimates that around 60% of Chabad believe that the Rebbe is/was Mashiach. The thread concludes, like I do, that there hasn't been an official polling, which is unfortunate. As soon as there is, I will rush to examine the data, but until then, we really can only rely on anecdotal testimonies.

As for your second question, I don't believe the aim to increase Jewish observance to be a bad thing. I think increasing Jewish observance and pride is a good thing, especially in today's society that seeks to suppress Jewish expression and practice. I think Chabad does provide an invaluable resource for Jews in areas without a solid Jewish support network, especially on college campuses and more remote parts of the world, and I myself still utilize Chabad's resources when I need them.

But that's part of the issue- when Chabad is the only resource available, when Chabad takes advantage of the fact that they're often the only exposure to Judaism for a good number of Jews and non-Jews alike to promote the idea that they are the archetype of Judaism. Messianic beliefs aside, I have an issue with Chabad presenting itself as the ultimate authority on Judaism. I don't like the monopoly Chabad has exercised over Jewish life. If they were just a fringe sect that didn't seek to dominate all of Judaism, I would still think they had concerning beliefs, but I wouldn't consider them to be a considerable threat to Jewish diversity of thought and practice. The issue with Chabad is the way it seeks to homogenize Judaism into a single way of thinking and practicing, when Judaism has always been diverse, going all the way back to the fact that we started out with twelve tribes.

In short- educating less-involved Jews about Judaism and seeking to increase Jewish observance and Jewish pride is not a bad thing. It's a good thing! The only problem is that Chabad generally doesn't give the whole picture of Judaism to those they educate and promote only their brand of Judaism specifically while suppressing other Jewish traditions and communities.