UC Irvine Chabad Rabbi: "We Will Not Be Silent-But Don't Do or Say Anything"

Below is a message that was sent out to the local Jewish community by Rabbi Zevi Tenenbaum of UCI Chabad advising them not to come to the UCI campus  to counter the Muslim Student Union.

B.H.

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Dear friends,

As you may be aware, this coming week (May 6th – 9th) the Muslim Student Union (MSU) will be holding their annual anti-Israel week at UCI.

Chabad at UCI will be on the main road every day of the week offering support and refreshments to Students on campus.

We are also working together with other on-campus organization to strategically expose the falsehood and hypocrisies of the MSU and their speakers.

We will not be silent.


Coming out to Campus

We understand that many of you would like to come out in support of Israel and the Jewish Students at UCI. Your concern is appreciated.

Please allow me to share my personal opinion, from our personal experience of being on-the-ground at the UCI Campus for over four years; we would suggest that you consider not making the trip out.

Here is why:

Many have pointed out that a large portion of the crowd on-hand for these hate-filled talks, are in fact, Jewish UCI students and members of the community.

This is counterproductive. For one, larger numbers is exactly what the MSU wants. In addition, a big crowd assembled at the center of campus attracts other students whom otherwise would just pass-on-by. They are now exposed to the propaganda and lies of the MSU.

If you insist on coming, we kindly request:

· Not engaging in conversation with members of these organizations. Doing so is a lose-lose proposition. It catches the attention of pedestrians and draws them in to the event, exactly what the organizers want.

· You please stand a far-distance from the podium and seating area.

Chabad at UCI continues to provide a variety of activities and programs, including Israel Advocacy for UCI Students and Faculty.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank our supporters. With your help Chabad at UCI continues to strengthen Jewish Life on Campus during challenging times and year round.

For more about Chabad’s ongoing activities, please visit www.JewishUCI.com.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Zevi  Tenenbaum
Director of Chabad at UCI

P.S. If you have any personal concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.

Rabbi@JewishUCI.com |  949.280.8998 | www.JewishUCI.com

Dear Rabbi, I respectfully disagree. I have not nor will I ever advocate for disruption or violence, but we are both being confronted with a larger problem that these events only exemplify. Each Jewish student must decide for himself or herself how he or she wishes to get involved on campus or not get involved. There is a legal and respectable way to be involved. I choose to be involved; whether any Jewish or Christian  community member chooses to join me or not.

Organizations like the Jewish Federation of Orange County and Hillel have chosen not to get involved and, at times, to even pretend there is no anti-Semitism at UCI or the other UC campuses. I say there is. Now comes this UCI Chabad rabbi who says, "We will not be silent," in one breath then tells the community not to respond to the "falsehoods and hypocrisies" of the MSU. It is "they" who are strategically doing so. I ask how-by that ridiculous I-Fest you put on every year with hookahs, belly dancers, and those silly signs telling us about all the I-phones invented by Israel?

So rabbi, you can stick your head in the sand and hope the lion goes away, but it won't. History has already told us that, hasn't it?

Update: This afternoon by chance I met Rabbi Tenenbaum for the first time. As he introduced himself, I told him that I had written about him and his message to the Jewish community. We then engaged in a polite discussion where we both expressed our views. Later, during the speaking event by Miko Peled, Rabbi Tenenbaum walked up to the mic and asked Peled if he was proud to be sharing the same podium where anti-Jewish speakers like Amir Abdel Malik Ali had previously spoken. After the event, I complemented him. So after my nasty-post above, I say kudos to Rabbi Tenenbaum for challenging Peled.