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St. Paul rabbi's comments set off storm of protest

"Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children," St. Paul Rabbi Manis Friedman wrote about Arabs. He says the quote was misleading.

By JEFF STRICKLER, Star Tribune

Last update: June 3, 2009 - 11:19 PM

A St. Paul rabbi ignited a tidal wave of protest Wednesday when he was quoted in a Jewish magazine as advocating the killing of Arabs.

"Destroy their holy sites. Kill men, women and children," wrote Rabbi Manis Friedman of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. "With their holy sites destroyed, they will stop believing that God is on their side."

He quickly retreated from that position following withering criticism from both Muslim and Jewish groups. He posted a blog entry saying that his words were "misleading" because they were the answer to a different question than the one that was posed at the start of the article.

Friedman's statement was one of several from rabbis around the country printed in Moment, which bills itself as a magazine of Jewish politics, culture and religion. The rabbis each represented a different denomination. Chabad-Lubavitch is a Hasidic movement in Orthodox Judaism. Friedman was listed as rabbi of the Bais Chana Institute of Jewish Studies, a girls school in St. Paul.

The other rabbis all advocated finding a peaceful solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Friedman's statement opens with: "I don't believe in western morality, i.e. don't kill civilians or children, don't destroy holy sites, don't fight during holiday seasons, don't bomb cemeteries, don't shoot until they shoot first because it is immoral."

The headline over the statements says: "How should Jews treat their Arab neighbors?" Friedman insisted that the question presented to him was: "How should we act, in a time of war, when our neighbors attack us, using their women, children and religious holy places as shields?"

'An affront to all people'

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) denounced his comments. "They echo the extreme rhetoric that we all have been moving away from," said Jessica Zikri, communications director for the Minnesota chapter of CAIR. "I'm surprised that a legitimate publication like Moment would publish this. They should have shown better judgment."

The article drew fire from Jewish organizations, too. Jewish Voice for Peace issued a statement calling Friedman's comments "an affront to all people, but especially Jews who value all life equally."

Rabbi Haim Beliak, executive director of the national educational foundation HaMifgash, was equally harsh, saying that Friedman's ideas "suggest a debased morality and an atrophied ethical sensibility. Friedman does not speak for Judaism."

Friedman was not available for further comment, but his supervisor, Rabbi Moshe Feller, director of Upper Midwest Chabad-Lubavitch, said that he had reprimanded Friedman.

"Rabbi Manis is not like that at all," Feller said. "He's a very soft-spoken man, a very quiet man. But what he said is wrong. It was an irresponsible remark."

In his blog posting, Friedman apologized "for any misunderstanding the words printed in my name created" and tried to "clarify" his answer. He said his answer was specifically tailored to address a military invasion.

"I attempted to briefly address some of the ethical issues related to forcing the military to withhold fire from certain people and places, at the unbearable cost of widespread bloodshed [on both sides] when one's own family and nation is mercilessly targeted from those very people and places," he said.

"Any neighbor of the Jewish people should be treated, as the Torah commands us, with respect and compassion."

Jeff Strickler • 612-673-7392

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