Passover Special: The Continuing Erasure and Cancellation of Rabbi Jose Faur: The Case of Samuel Lebens and the Habura
David Shasha
The Continuing Erasure and Cancellation of Rabbi Jose Faur: The Case of Samuel Lebens and the Habura
I just posted an item on Rabbi Yosef Bitton and his Lashon ha-Ra hypocrisy regarding his slander against his uncle Rabbi Jose Faur:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1QKv9kgeoy0hOt1Eg3lqXaN2AtBs89X5QVazSDZcXcQQ/edit
In the article I made extensive reference, as has become common of late, to Rabbi Joseph Dweck and his Washington Heights-loyal Habura.
One of the primary Anti-Maimonidean culprits is one Samuel Lebens, a true enemy of Sephardic Jewish Humanism:
https://shows.acast.com/the-habura/episodes/60e71906da23f200120f3ea6
Once again, here are all the SHU posts on Dweck and his YU Habura:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pFWVQTzB3GLzpYLhl8YCF2Q5d9c8yrlYu-yHxWyf38E/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hUyDltsH4cb5OJ1lcKgWjZkZfpwWl14B9qUcAV8injY/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LUsZA48zpKtgkOB2YWRtjC4R0Y2Nt6tw4KHlbe2rRpE/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/123skOImJSmEdze7OzWZtd2KeyBn77zvcOPkDmqJUNR8/edit
After I posted the Bitton article, Rabbi Dr. Lebens provided yet another excellent example of his Anti-Sephardi racism, which took the very interesting form of an article on the late Rabbi Jonathan Sacks and Cultural Pluralism:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kQ0xZzIueLJkMSv2arZFAV_ZucQe2Eaj/view?ths=true
The reason why this article was so interesting is because I published an article on exactly the same subject for the EDAH Journal back in 2003:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10PB65T0j5KCtYVuRDffdThuTUWdKksCt/view?ths=true
Normally I have to make a conceptual stretch to show how the YU Sephardi-haters are erasing us and running roughshod over the tradition of Jewish Humanism.
In this case, Lebens does the job himself, as his article serves as an inverted mirror-image of my own; not only neglecting to reference Faur’s take on Jewish Post-Modernism, but ignoring my article, published in a prominent Modern Orthodox journal, which is also not cited.
I do not often like to draw attention to my work in this way, preferring to make it about Anti-Sephardi racism in general and to keep the discussion within the framework of Religious Humanism.
I would very much suggest that you print out the Lebens article from Tradition magazine as well as my EDAH article, in order to see how the former seeks not only to undermine Sacks’ thesis on Cultural Pluralism in Dignity of Difference – which, as I have repeatedly said, was rejected by the Modern Orthodox establishment – but which also refuses any mention of the work of Faur, which is the very foundation for my article.
I have already discussed Sacks’ retreat from Religious Humanism under this pressure, and his eventual “reconciliation” with the Washington Heights mafia:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T95UtKqVQrTZWObnxgTYMxrBYvc-6SzTpQM668sKoj4/edit
The Lebens article is yet another critical addition to that process, and it is indeed curious that it appears at a time when I have continued to ramp up my attacks on the Habura and on Rabbi Norman Lamm in the larger context of White Jewish Supremacy.
It is not really all that important if this is a coincidence or whether it is intentional; what is important is that we are now seeing a concerted Modern Orthodox effort to consolidate the Torah u-Madda philosophy in a way that rejects in toto the work of Faur and his understanding of the classical Sephardic tradition with its cosmopolitan values, best understood in the context of Andalusian Convivencia.
I have published two special newsletters on the disgraced Lamm – who in death continues to remain a powerful figure in Modern Orthodox circles in spite of his malfeasance as an administrator – which present a plethora of evidence to the point:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_2LKirURPMjE1Oc1yaTuIbm4tFOEGynW6myTlmEuudk/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gF2oPHR3lA2_upz5Ik1BjYyUz7y-aTEYqdpsz5VJz10/edit
Lebens’ new article on Sacks attacks Post-Modernism head-on, as it maintains the Ashkenazi conceptual hegemony which firmly rejects the idea of Jewish Humanism.
In the very same issue of Tradition magazine that contains the Lebens article, there is a fascinating piece by Shmuel Lesher entitled “Rabbi Eleazer Fleckeles: An Early Rabbinic Humanist” which is currently only available to subscribers, but which becomes pretty obvious when we look up Rabbi Fleckeles:
https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/6182-fleckeles-eleazar-ben-david
It is hard to miss the obvious:
Fleckeles wrote: "'Olat Ḥodesh," in four parts, containing sermons, a criticism of Mendelssohn's translation of the Pentateuch…
Indeed, “Rabbinic Humanism” according to the RCA means attacking perhaps the most important proponent of Rabbinic Humanism in Ashkenazi history, Moses Mendelssohn!
More than this, rather than attacking Mendelssohn’s Jerusalem – a more obvious target – Rabbi Fleckeles goes after his Bible translation.
The hatred of Jewish Humanism goes deep in the Ashkenazi Orthodox world. They cannot stand it!
As I have repeatedly stated, the Modern Orthodox mafia – which believes that Rav SHAGAR represents Jewish Post-Modernism – has consolidated its power against Sephardim – and against Faur:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14p92quf8IlXEjCVnRMOkirpbPah1_gKN5WL65NRdu6s/edit
This consolidation can be seen in the tributes to Lamm and Torah u-Madda, and in the new book of essays, Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai:
https://www.amazon.com/Strauss-Spinoza-Sinai-Orthodox-Questions/dp/194785772X
One of the contributors is none other than Samuel Lebens!
https://mobile.twitter.com/DBashIdeas/status/1500259381736321029
The book has been reviewed in the Jewish Link:
https://jewishlink.news/features/50473-orthodox-judaism-today
Just to square the circle, I learned of the review from Tikvah Mosaic:
For those who continue to wonder why Jose Faur has been Cancelled, look no further than Sam Lebens and the other resources that I have offered here. The idea that Cancel Culture – as Yosef Bitton laughingly asserted – must be rejected is truly belied by an Orthodox Jewish world where Cancellations are a constant factor, and where silencing ideas that do not align with the Washington Heights dogma is truly de rigueur.
David Shasha