Why Orthodox Judaism is a Cult - Parts 2 & 3

Again, here are 8 criteria that groups use to identify a group or organization as a cult:

1.  Love Bombing - Instant friendship, extreme helpfulness, generosity and acceptance...Group recruiters "lovingly" will not take "no" for an answer-invitations impossible to refuse without feeling guilty and/or ungrateful. "Love", "generosity", "encouragement" are used to lower defenses and create an ever increasing sense of obligation, debt and guilt.

2.  Schedule Control & Fatigue - Study and service become mandatory. New member becomes too busy to question. Family, friends, jobs and hobbies are squeezed out, further isolating the new member.

3. Submission - Increased submission to the leadership is rewarded with additional responsibilities and/or roles, and/or praises, increasing the importance of the person within the group.

4. Intense Study - Focus is on group doctrine and writings. Bible, if used at all, is referred to one verse at time to "prove" group teachings

5. Totalism - "Us against them" thinking. Strengthens group identity. Everyone outside of group lumped under one label.

6. Isolation, Separation & Alienation - Group becomes substitute family. Members encouraged to drop worldly (non-members) friends. May be told to change jobs, quit school, give up sports, hobbies, etc.

7. Secrecy - Group hides inner workings and teachings from outsiders. Sophisticated cults may curry media interest or even employ public relations consultants and ad agencies to manage their image.

8. Information Control - Group controls what convert may read or hear. They discourage (forbid) contact with ex-members or anything critical of the group. May say it is the same as pornography making it not only sinful and dangerous but shameful as well. Ex-members become feared and avoidance of them becomes a "survival issue."

Years ago, I decided to see what it was like to get sucked into an Orthodox Jewish group. I posed as a secular Jew and lett the kiruv (Orthodox Jewish outreach) rabbis rope me in to this learning experience. I spent one year full-time in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community before moving away, and then studying with a different community, but only part time. To this day, I spend 2-3 nights a week studying with Orthodox rabbis. Occasionally, one of them finds out the truth about me, and I inevitably get kicked out, and have to find another group. This has happened several times so far, and I predict it will continue to happen in the future.

So far my most notable experience has come when one Modern Orthodox rabbi, who identifies himself as the most liberal and tolerant of Orthodox rabbis in the area, found out about my beliefs. At first, he seemed intrigued. We talked for a few hours about my beliefs regarding God, Israel, and the public education system. He was absolutely shocked to find that a fellow Jew could believe in Jesus as God. He also asked me about my feelings about Jews for Jesus, and I said that I like their intentions but believe they are not terribly successful.

About a week later, I got a phone call from him, where he said that he would not allow me to attend any of his shiurim (lectures) and pretty much wanted to break all contact with me. I asked why he seemed to have such a change of heart. He said that even though I never had any affiliation with any missionary organization. In all my years of studying with Orthodox rabbis, I have not attempted to sway their audience. I just sit and listen. The rabbi said that he could not allow me to do that, because I might in the future, encounter a secular Jew and use this rabbinic information to persuade him or her to accept my beliefs.

Several things are of note here. First, this rabbi has been known to invite people who are not Orthodox and have no intention of becoming Orthodox to dine with his family or to spend the night for the Sabbath, or to attend religious events with them. He is sharply critical of the Hasidic group Chabad, which is a very outreach-focused organization. He brags that he accepts all Jews for who they are and provides no pressure for them to conform to his beliefs. This is the rabbi who would not even let me listen in on his lectures because "you could use them against us."

Second, it was during his phone call where I heard him repeat so many slogans that I had heard a bunch of times from Orthodox Jews, and repeating them word for word. This rabbi was not thinking for himself, but was spouting the propaganda that he had been force-fed in yeshiva many years ago.

Third, his attitude toward letting outsiders know his beliefs resembles Gnosticism and other secret societies more than it resembles a defensible belief system. I have studied under Eastern Orthodox theologians, letting them know my beliefs openly. They had no problem with teaching me. I have studied Roman Catholic theology under very theologically conservative Roman Catholic theologians. They openly welcome me, even though they know I have major issues with their theology. Reformed Protestants also have openly welcomed me and even atheists and agnostics to learn their belief systems. In all cases, I asked whether they were afraid I could use their beliefs against them. They all responded that if I used these teachings to criticize them, they would be happy that at least I would be criticizing what they actually believe.

People who have confidence that their belief systems are true are not afraid of criticism. Alvin Plantinga has phoned many of his colleagues, telling them that he wanted clarification on what they believed so that he could more accurately criticize them. These colleagues were only too eager to oblige! They believed that their beliefs had the best arguments for them, and would be happy to change them if other beliefs had better arguments. I agree with this sentiment. I would only be too happy to accept the belief system and even the lifestyle of Chabad or the Aish Hatorah or Jews for Judaism rabbis if they presented strong enough arguments. But I think the feeling is really not mutual.

Years ago, when I was living undercover as an ultra-Orthodox Jew, I studied in the kollel (community learning center) pretty much on a nightly basis. I particularly enjoyed studying with adolescents and even older children who were raised Orthodox, because they gave me the raw teachings that they were taught in the day schools, without filtering out any of the teachings which might look bad to outsiders.

I was reading through the latter chapters of the book of Daniel (ArtScroll translation) with one 14 year old boy, who said that he had never read the book of Daniel before. I let him do most of the reading and discussing of the commentaries on the text. When we got to Daniel 12:2 he froze up. He said that he could not believe what he was reading.

"Many of those who sleep in the dusty earth will awaken; these for everlasting life and these for shame, for everlasting abhorrence."

He said "but we don't believe this. We believe that the wicked will suffer for up to 12 months but no longer."

I was later told by the rosh kollel (head of the kollel) that I should not be reading prophets with the kids. They are not taught these books until later on because they can be easily "misunderstood." He gave an example that he believed strongly in marital fidelity, but a cursory reading of 2 Samuel or 1 Kings makes it look like David was guilty of having an affair with Bathsheba and arranging the murder of Uriah to cover it up, or that Solomon was violating his marital vows by having 700 wives and 300 concubines. The rosh kollel told me that he thought Bill Clinton was a despicable individual for having an affair with one intern. There was no way he was going to let the kids just read these books of the Bible for themselves.

Defenders of Orthodox Judaism will claim that cults do not allow questioning while Orthodox Judaism thrives on questioning. This is one of those dangerous half-truths. It is true that the rabbis do allow lots of questioning from the laity. They are more than happy to answer questions when they know they have the questioners intellectually out-gunned. They will answer questions from people who do not have the education to pose powerful, thoroughly researched questions backed with citations from top scholars.

Michael Brown said that when he was a teenager, the Chabad rabbis would gladly allow him to ask them questions about their interpretation of Scripture. Once Brown started becoming an expert in Semitic languages and was able to challenge their interpretations on philological grounds, they quickly stopped letting him ask those questions.

I have repeatedly contacted anti-missionary organizations such as Jews for Judaism to ask if they would be willing to engage a Christian scholar in oral debate. They have consistenly refused to do so, stating "we do not believe in debates." I have asked Dovid Gottlieb, the founder of the modern Kuzari Principle argument if he would publish it in a peer-reviewed journal, and he refused. These rabbis do like to entertain questions, but not from professional scholars, lest their followers realize that the Rebbe has no clothes.