Controversies relating to Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh is outspoken in both his faith and his politics and controversies surrounding him have sometimes made the headlines.
Controversial views
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz has called Ginsburg "a well known radical on his views on Israel Arab public", referencing his "prosecution in the past for incitement to racism after having published a book insisting that there is no place for Arabs in the state of Israel".
In 1989, Ginsburg was quoted in New York Times his views concerning recent attacks against Palestinians and the rise of racism in Israel:
Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg had offered biblical justification for the view that the spilling of non-Jewish blood was a lesser offense than the spilling of Jewish blood. Any trial based on the assumption that Jews and goyim are equal is a total travesty of justice, he said.
In 1994, Ginsburgh received much publicity on account of an article "Baruch Hagever" in which he praised Baruch Goldstein who had massacred 29 Arab worshippers at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron. Rabbi Ginsburgh wrote that it is possible to view Baruch Goldstein's act as following five Halachic principles, namely "sanctification of God's name", "saving life" (referring to testimonies that he had allegedly received regarding a planned Arab massacre of Jews), "revenge", "eradication of the seed of Amalek" and "war". Motti Inbari commented on this:
In his writings, Ginzburg gives prominence to Halachic and kabbalistic approaches that emphasize the distinction between Jew and non-Jew (Gentile), imposing a clear separation and hierarchy in this respect. He claims that while the Jews are the Chosen People and were created in God's image, the Gentiles do not have this status, and are effectively considered subhuman. Accordingly, for example, the commandment "Thou shall not murder does not apply to the killing of a Gentile, since "You shall not murder" relates to the murder of a human, while for him the Gentiles do not constitute humans. Similarly, Ginzburg stated that, on the theoretical level, if a Jew requires a liver transplant to survive, it would be permissible to seize a Gentile and take their liver forcefully. From this point only a small further step is required to actively encourage and support the killing of non-Jews, as Ginzburg did in the case of Goldstein.
Ro'ee Sharon, correspondent for Israeli newspaper, Maariv, wrote the following in his summary to an article reviewing Rabbi Ginsburgh and his work,
The scope of his teachings is far greater than merely nationalist ideology. In the dozens of books the Rabbi has written, he exhibits a rare command of the exact sciences, music, Chassidut, philosophy, psychology, and Kabbalah. His closest students are unwilling to address the topic of racial prejudice in his writings separately from the rest of his teachings. One of them noted that these teachings are on just one floor out of a skyscraper of thought, and it is meaningless to treat one small apartment separately from the rest of the building.
Most recently, in July 2010, Ginsburgh was detained by Israeli police for questioning regarding a book "The King's Torah", which he had suggested that his disciples read. According to a report by the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, the book says "It is permissible to kill the Righteous among Nations even if they are not responsible for the threatening situation... if we kill a Gentile who has sinned or has violated one of the seven commandments - because we care about the commandments - there is nothing wrong with the murder".<ref namearrest/> .<ref namearrest/>
 
< Prev   Next >