Analysis

Candace Owens slams Shmuley Boteach for calling racial supremacist rabbi his ‘mentor’

On Piers Morgan Uncensored, Candace Owens slammed Shmuley Boteach for his love of the late ‘Rebbe’ Menachem Mendel Schneerson of the Chabad-Lubavitch group, who promoted an extreme doctrine of racial supremacy under the guise of mysticism.
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Paul
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Paul Cahill

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(LifeSiteNews) — In her debate on Piers Morgan Uncensored, Candace Owens slammed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach for his public admiration for the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, former leader of the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic denomination and promoter of extreme ideas about the racial supremacy of the Jewish people. 

Owens last appeared on Morgan’s show in June, in which she defended the claim that “Christ is King” and other ideas under aggressive questioning from the host.  

The debate with Boteach came after a feud of over two years, during which Boteach claimed shared responsibility for Owens’ firing from The Daily Wire. 

Owens began the debate by using her opening statement to point out the existence of radical fringe sects in every community and race, and accused Boteach of being an example of this: 

I think one of the things that the world is recognizing, and what we’ve always recognized, is that there are radical fringe sects that break out within every single religion amongst every race.  

There’s white supremacy, there’s black supremacy, there’s radical Islam, there are all of these “Christ Cults” around the world.  

I think right now it’s important for people to understand that radical Judaism is also a thing, and you’re watching an example of it right now on your screen, the person sitting across from me.  

She went on to detail Boteach’s links with Schneerson: 

On his Facebook page in 2016 a tribute to someone who he said was his ‘mentor,’ that was Rabbi Menachem Schneerson. He said he was his mentor and his friend.  

Owens did not mention that Boteach is himself a former Chabad-Lubavitch “shliach” (an emissary to other Jews), and the movement apparently played a significant role in his formation.    

Boteach and Chabad have since parted ways, and while he no longer holds an official position with the movement, he has called Schneerson his “mentor” and has displayed a picture of him in a photo.  

Owens reminded her audience that Schneerson’s group Chabad-Lubavitch was at the center of the synagogue tunnel scandal in January 2024, and explained that elements of this denomination believe Schneerson himself was (or is) the Messiah (Moshiach). 

Having identified the group, she explained that Schneerson taught a radical racial supremacy to his followers:  

So again, you have Rabbi Shmuley who believes that [Schneerson] is his mentor. They believed that he was the Messiah. 

It becomes important to understand, ‘What did Rabbi Schneerson preach?’ Well, he preached Jewish supremacism: the hatred of all non-Jews. 

And you don’t have to take my word for it, because if I said it, they would say: ‘That’s anti-Semitism.’ You should instead take the word of the two Jewish professors who translated his work.   

Those authors names were Israel Shahak and Norton Mezvinsky, and their book was entitled Jewish fundamentalism in Israel. 

She continues, quoting this work:  

From that book we learned that Shmuley’s mentor Schneerson describes the difference between a Jew and a non-Jew and he says: ‘Thus we do not have a case of profound change in which a person is merely on a superior level. The body of a Jewish person is of totally different quality from the body of all nations of the world.’  

And he talks about ‘the substance of the Jewish body’ versus the substance of non-Jews, saying that the inner quality ‘is so different and so great that the bod[ies] should be considered completely different species.’  

So that is a belief, and you can go through his speeches and you will see that he continually talks about how non-Jews should be treated and that again we are a different species.  

This is what Rabbi Shmuley believes in. We have to come to terms with the fact that there are Jewish radicals, and it’s incumbent upon the Jewish Community to call them out.   

Boteach had previously condemned Owens’ rhetoric about the Black Lives Matter organization. Owens reaffirmed her opposition on the basis that it encouraged “black criminals to take to the street, to burn down, to loot and to riot, in the name of racism” and stated that this demonstrated her opposition to all forms of “supremacism,” whether from the Jewish community or the black community.   

Boteach did not respond to these comments about Schneerson, although he shared several tweets following the debate that defended Schneerson and praised his doctrine in general terms.  

The difficulty with citing Shahak and Mezvinsky 

Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, the work cited by the Jewish authors mentioned (Shahak and Mezvinsky) is highly critical of Israeli political life and culture. Another work by Shahak took a similar approach specifically to Haredi Jewish religion.

Shahak and Mezvinsky stated in their “Note on Bibliography and Related Matters” that they relied on Hebrew texts, rather than those in English, because they believed “that the great majority of the books on Judaism and Israel, published in English especially, falsify their subject matter.”[1] They continued: 

The falsification is sometimes a result of explicit lying but is mostly the result of omission of major facts that may create what the authors consider to be an adverse view of their subjects. […] What usually makes such books unreliable are not so much the lies but rather the purposeful omissions. Regarding Judaism and Israel, the omissions are more blatant and numerous in books published in English outside of Israel than they are in Israel’s Hebrew literature.[2]   

The authors then give examples of what they mean for each chapter, and then conclude: 

We append this note in lieu of a traditional bibliography in protest against what too often happens in Jewish studies outside Israel.[3] 

Fairly or unfairly, these authors’ reliability is hotly contested – and the “protest” above does not help matters. Shahak was accused of fabricating his evidence – most famously regarding his account (in the work mentioned, Jewish History, Jewish Religion) of a Haredi Jew refusing to call an ambulance for a dying non-Jew, because it was Shabbat.

Despite such accusations, many defended both Shahak himself, his account of the incident mentioned, and his analysis as a whole. Palestinian-American intellectual Edward Said called him “one of the most remarkable individuals in the contemporary Middle East.”[4] His works also included endorsements by outlets such as the Jewish Socialist and Haaretz. [5]

The Schneerson texts that Owens cited from Shahak and Mezvinsky are difficult to find in English. While researching an extensive LifeSiteNews report on Schneerson and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Dr. Maike Hickson and I were unable to verify the texts that Shahak and Mezvinsky cited.  

This difficulty may be due to translation issues from Schneerson’s original texts. Alternatively, one side may claim that Chabad-Lubavitch has suppressed texts as outrageous as those cited by Owens; the other side may claim that Shahak and Mezvinsky falsified them. With both authors now deceased, it is difficult to resolve the question. 

However, while it is unfortunate that Owens had recourse to texts that are the object of a stalemate, Dr. Hickson’s report contained ample examples of alternative texts from Chabad-Lubavitch’s own archives, which established the same point – namely, that Rabbi Schneerson was a promoter of a Jewish form of extreme racial supremacy, pushed as mysticism. 

Our report demonstrated, using material published by Chabad-Lubavitch itself, that Schneerson taught the following form of racial supremacy: 

  • Jews have a superior soul to non-Jews with a special divine spark, which gives them alone the power to be united to God  
  • Non-Jews do not have the same soul or bodies as Jews – they have lesser or even evil souls 

And perhaps the least comprehensible of all:  

  • Schneerson also taught when the Moshiach comes, non-Jews will submit to the Noahide laws and will “serve and assist the Jews” and “realize that the purpose of their existence is to serve the Jews.” 

This final point bears citing in full: 

All the creations, even the gentile nations, will continue to exist in the Messianic Age — Would one expect G-d to suddenly kill off three billion people? That would be the very opposite of the Torah approach for, ‘the ways of the Torah are peace.’ 

Rather, the gentiles will continue to exist — however, the G-dly force which maintains their existence will be openly revealed and therefore, as the prophets declared: ‘Kings will be your foster fathers.’ 

The gentiles will realize that the purpose of their existence is to serve the Jews.

This is the inner meaning of the verse: ‘And the sea covered up their foes.’ The existence of even the enemies of the Jewish people will be transformed through the revelation of G-dliness in the Messianic Age, and they will serve and assist the Jews.[6] (Emphasis added)

Despite this, Schneerson and Chabad-Lubavitch have been praised by every US President since Jimmy Carter.

Conclusion 

The racially-charged ideas which Owens highlighted in her debate with Boteach are certainly found in Schneerson’s and the Chabad-Lubavitch movement‘s writings. 

Unquestionably authentic texts from Boteach’s “mentor and friend” prove this, without recourse to the contested works of Shahak and Mezvinsky.   

As mentioned, Boteach later shared several posts defending or praising Schneerson.  

However, Boteach is far from alone in admiring Schneerson. Dr. Hickson’s report detailed a bewilderingly extensive network of Schneerson admirers.   

Jewish journalist Max Blumenthal recently gave a pertinent example of this network, alleging that there are links between Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Boteach and the Adelsons (who were major supporters of both Chabad and Trump).    

Following the debate, Kennedy condemned Owens for criticizing Schneerson:  

During her interview on @PiersMorgan Candace Owen @RealCandaceO referred to what she termed ‘radical Judaism’ and characterized the iconic Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, as someone who ‘preached Jewish supremacism and hatred of all non-Jews.’ These words are a sickening and manifestly inaccurate description of a revered holy man who was respected and beloved by people of all faiths.  

Rabbi Schneerson preached a message of unadulterated love, tolerance, respect, and universal justice for all of humanity. My father considered him a spiritual mentor and sought his advice on diverse issues of morality and ethics. He once visited the Rebbe at 2 o’clock in the morning! As Americans, we need to distance ourselves from the troubling rise in antisemitism. We need unity in our country, not divisiveness. That’s what Rabbi Schneerson stood for. 

While Kennedy may be correct to deny outright “hatred of all non-Jews” on Schneerson’s part, the contempt that accompanies Schneerson’s racially supremacy cannot be denied. 

In response to Kennedy, Owens provided a quote and subtitled video of Schneerson saying that every single Jew: 

  • Brings about the existence of creation 
  • Are the masters over the entire world
  • Are owed recognition by all of creation 
  • Are in control, particularly over physical matters. 

As mentioned, Boteach subsequently shared a number of X posts defending Schneerson and his doctrine. Neither he nor these posts acknowledged the racial supremacy expressed, even though they were all in response to this post and video shared by Owens. 

At the end of the first segment of the debate on Morgan’s show, Owens drew a link between Schneerson’s ideas, the Israeli government, and the current war in the Middle East: 

I think the entire world is now paying attention and wondering, ‘What is going on in Israel? What is this government? Is this a radical Fringe government?’ And many people are concluding that the answer to that question is ‘Yes.’

In fact, our report suggests that the Israeli government not only shares ideas with Schneerson and Chabad-Lubavitch but is, in fact, influenced by the group, who are also an important voting bloc.

This influence, coupled with Schneerson’s racially-charged Jewish supremacy, may shed light on the unfolding of the current war in the Middle East. We addressed some of these points below:

Further parts of this report show that this influence extends much further than Israel. 

This article has incorporated extracts from the report on Rabbi Schneerson and Chabad-Lubavitch, written by Dr. Hickson with my collaboration. Read more here: Extreme racial supremacy pushed as mysticism by influential religious denomination 

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References

References
↑1 Israel Shahak and Norton Mezvinsky, Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, p 150. Pluto Press, London, 1999.
↑2 Ibid.
↑3 Ibid. 163.
↑4 Foreword by Edward W. Said to the second edition, in Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years, p ix. Pluto Press, London, 1994
↑5 Ibid., front matter
↑6 https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/2516709/jewish/Shabbos-Parshas-Beshallach-15th-Day-of-Shevat-5743-1983.htm