YOSEF SHUBERT AND HIS PROBLEM (Guest Post)

It seems Yosef Shubert has a big problem, well, probably more than one, but we speak of what we know.... How can he revise history without everyone catching on?

Earlier this week he put together for Matzav.com a collection of oft-repeated (but never sourced) anecdotes supposed to ‘prove’ to us that his Hero – Rav E.M. Shach – really loved all Yidden. Really, even when he accused them of heresy, when he forbade interaction with them, when he blamed them for bringing another holocaust (r”l) upon us, when he derided their Torah study as a “sword upon the necks of the yeshivos”, when his only verifiable comments about any other group of Yidden were harsh criticism and vicious attacks, Yosef Shubert wants you to know: Rav Shach loved all Jews. When RS wrote that the Rav, R’ Yoshe Ber Soleveitchik was a “heretic who is guilty of indoctrinating the masses with heresy”, when he accused Chabad Chasidim and their Rebbe of idolatry, when he proclaimed secular Israelis “not really Jewish ”, when he proclaimed the Sephardim to be “not fit for leadership positions” and when he viciously attacked Rabbi Yehuda Levy, Yosef Shubert wants to make sure you know the facts: RS really loved every Jew – really.

Just in case the reader still harbors any doubt about the great love of RS for all Jews, in case one actually reads through his published letters and sees the attacks and angry rants, or listens to his recorded speeches and hears him heaping scorn on all types of Yidden, fear not – Yosef Shubert is here to explain how it’s all really love! So the question is, WHO is Yosef Shubert, and how does he know about all this ‘love’ that never seemed to make it into RS’s writings or talks, and has been left to various defenders and apologists to ‘explain’ to us…? How can Shubert tell us as he does in his latest screed on Matzav that RS “was the biggest oheiv Yisroel of the last generation” when there exists no evidence of this, and much evidence to the contrary?!

If we read Shubert's article on Matzav.com, the answer seems very simple. We know that RS was a lover of shalom and pursuer of peace because Shlomo Lorencz said so!! Shubert tells us that “Rav Shach did not bear rancor against any person, and would forgive all those who insulted him,” again with no proof of any type. Yet even if it IS true, it seems that RS would need to be begging forgiveness from all those HE insulted, not the other way around? Although Shubert signs on as a rabbi, he doesn’t support any of his statements with Torah sources, choosing instead to simply preach the “Torah and true mesora” as he sees it. Doesn’t Shubert know that that one who claims to be speaking for Torah needs to show “mina hani mili d’omar kroh”?!! Shubert has an unfortunate habit it seems, in his kana’us for defending his version of authentic mesora, for playing a bit loose with the truth. A while back Shubert got very angry at the kovod given to the founder of Touro College, Rabbi Dr. Lander after his petira. Shubert claimed that Lander had gone against an explicit letter signed by, among others, Reb Moshe and Rav Yaakov Kamenetsky. Problem is, there never was such a letter. The letter Shubert based that angry attack on was specifically addressing the prospect of opening a Touro in Israel – but that didn’t stop Shubert from misleading people. Are we seeing more vintage Shubert now with this latest screed – somebody should tell him that in the internet age lies are exposed quickly. Time for a different job, Rabbi Shubert?