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Alexis Jacobi wrote: ↑Sun Apr 26, 2026 5:24 pm
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who believed Jewish people have divine souls and non-Jews mere human ones. I
Care to give a reference for that*? Chabad is almost certainly the most accessible of the Hasidic sects. They are about the only ones that will have anything to do with non-Orthodox or even non-religious Jews.
* BEYOND a claim that Jews get a (temporary) extra soul on Shabbat. Mysticism is mysterious.
The difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish person stems from the common expression: "Let us differentiate." Thus, we do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. Rather, we have a case of "let us differentiate" between totally different species. This is what needs to be said about the body: the body of a Jewish person is of a totally different quality from the body of [members] of all nations of the world. … The difference of the inner quality, however, is so great that the bodies should be considered as completely different species. This is the reason why the Talmud states that there is a halachic difference in attitude about the bodies of non-Jews: "their bodies are in vain." … An even greater difference exists in regard to the soul. Two contrary types of soul exist, a non-Jewish soul comes from three satanic spheres, while the Jewish soul stems from holiness. … A Jew was not created as a means for some [other] purpose; he himself is the purpose, since the substance of all [divine] emanations was created only to serve the Jews. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" [Genesis 1:1] means that [the heavens and the earth] were created for the sake of the Jews, who are called the "beginning."
As cited in Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994) was the seventh Rebbe (or grand master) of the Lubavitch (or Chabad) sect of Chasidism. He was a hugely influential figure who transformed Chabad into one of the largest Jewish movements in the world. In this week’s lesson we examine his attitude to the election of Israel.
Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), otherwise known as the Alter Rebbe, was the first of the seven Lubavitcher Rebbes. His writings, especially his magnum opus, known as the Tanya, carry an authoritative weight in the Chabad movement. Accordingly, Rabbi Schneerson will not have wanted, at any point, to contradict them.
We saw in lesson 31 that the Alter Rebbe explicitly endorsed the attitude of the Zohar and of Rabbi Chaim Vital, when it comes to the souls and spiritual status of gentiles. In the opening chapters of the Tanya, he argued that Jews have two souls – one animal or human soul, and one Divine soul that is somehow, or in some sense, an actual fragment of the Divine (although this raises an obvious difficulty, because the Alter Rebbe also subscribed to the Orthodox Jewish view that God is indivisible, and therefore has no parts). Gentiles, he claimed, by contrast, have only the animal, or human soul, and even that human soul is less inherently holy than the human soul of a Jew.
We know that Rabbi Schneerson was committed to the writings of the Alter Rebbe, and we also know that he was particularly concerned for the spiritual and physical welfare of non-Jews.
MikeNovack wrote: ↑Mon Apr 27, 2026 3:05 am
Care to give a reference for that*? Chabad is almost certainly the most accessible of the Hasidic sects. They are about the only ones that will have anything to do with non-Orthodox or even non-religious Jews.
I only go so far as to assert, with zealous pride, that a properly prepared Matzo Ball Soup can and will cure most ills, material and spiritual. “Oysbesern di velt mit matse!” Is my call to the world, and the denizens of PN!
