Movements and Cults in Judaism

The Rabbi’s Opening Post

Movements and Cults in Judaism

Posted on 13/6/2013

These remarks are prompted by several considerations that have recently become sharper for me, and by this short article:

http://www.bhol.co.il/Article.aspx?id=55581

The article’s closing sentence is:

Cults can exist anywhere; it is important that people be aware and know to be careful

This really raises the question of how a cult is to be defined. There are no clear definitions of the phenomenon (see Wikipedia, but also the sites of associations that combat cults and help people escape them), yet everyone agrees that it exists. Some also identify religions as a kind of cult, and there is something to that. And yet, my feeling is that there are certain movements within Judaism that are not movements but cults (paraphrasing the title of Avraham Korman’s book, of blessed memory). The question is how one defines a cult for this purpose, and what the difference is between a religion and a cult, if any. (I know that those who delight in this identification as though they had found great spoils will immediately appear here.)

I will suggest here several important characteristics (the order is not significant): 1. The existence of a charismatic leader. 2. Lack of criticism toward him (he is never wrong). 3. His control over cult members (over their money or bodies; sexual exploitation and other forms). 4. No possibility of escape (at least not without commando-level operations, physically or mentally). 5. Irrational delusions. 6. The imposition of an esoteric language (rules and concepts) on reality, while ignoring the fact that reality does not really obey those rules and terms. As part of this: strained excuses, in the Lenin-and-Stalin style, for why everything in reality fits our a priori language. 7. Bizarre and irrational decision-making because of esoteric considerations. 8. Inconsistency (even on their own terms). 9. Deviation from Jewish law (justified by the claim that this is what the leader says). This is, of course, unique to a cult within Judaism. 10. A selective approach to the sources (only under the guidance and interpretation of certified commentators possessed of super-wisdom, who usually distort the sources in accordance with ideology and agendas, not necessarily interests in the narrow sense). 11. The addition of sacred writings unique to them (of course relevant to Judaism). 12. Miracle stories about the leader and seeing him as a kind of god or angel (or Messiah). 13. Danger to cult members or to the surroundings. 14. Detachment from the family and previous society. 15. Megalomania (the world rests on us). 16. Seeing conspiracies in everything around them (the Antichrist, or the European Union). 17. Viewing reality through metaphysical lenses (not relating to what is happening, but only through the phenomena and metaphysical forces behind reality).

I assume there are additional characteristics, and I would be happy to have the list supplemented. Clearly, not all of these characteristics exist in every cult, and clearly some of them also appear in groups that are not cults. Still, it seems to me that this is the right terrain for characterizing the phenomenon.

This also does not mean that everyone there is a member of a cult, but rather that the group functions as a cult, with a greater or lesser degree of homogeneity.

Moreover, it may be that all these characteristics are irrelevant. The question is whether these beliefs are true, not whether the characteristics are of this sort. Someone who thinks he is the Messiah is usually hospitalized, unless he really is the Messiah. Therefore, thinking yourself the Messiah is not necessarily a sign of illness. The same goes for cult characteristics. Belief in the leader or in their sacred writings could be correct, and then it is not a cult.

And from here to two examples: it seems to me that groups such as Har HaMor (the ‘Kav’ yeshivot), or broad parts of Chabad (not only the messianic camp), are, quite simply, cults in this sense (of course not all the characteristics exist in them, nor in every member, as above).

I would be happy to discuss this on several levels:

A. Supplementing the list of characteristics.

B. Objections to some of them.

C. Suggestions for defining how many of them a group must exhibit in order to be called a cult.

D. Discussion of concrete groups (like the two I suggested above).

I think that a discussion of what it is justified to do on the assumption that this is indeed a cult (how far extreme acts, or intolerance, or slander and defamation are justified) is a different discussion, and it is better not to enter into it here.

Source (forum ‘Stop Here, Think’): http://www.bhol.co.il/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=3013062&forum_id=1364