Q&A: The Video That Shocks the Rabbis?
The Video That Shocks the Rabbis?
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi,
I am writing you this email out of deep frustration that I have regarding a certain YouTube channel, iGod.co.il
This is a channel I came across not long ago, whose goal is to turn Jews away from the "rabbinic religion," as it is called there, toward a religion-free faith in Jesus the Messiah.
The channel publishes daily videos portraying the rabbis as corrupt people seeking control, power, and enrichment at the expense of the people through the "myth" of the Oral Torah, and by means of slick wording that draws in the viewer ("the secret they hid from you for two thousand years"), they persuade him to deny Judaism.
My frustration would have been much less severe if the channel had not blocked the option to comment on or like/dislike their videos, but they blocked every possibility of criticism.
The people on the channel speak in a persuasive tone that sweeps along thousands (!) of Jews. I am attaching several of their videos so you can see their claims for yourself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3Vg6ACARQM On the myth of the rabbinic "Oral Torah" – the video that shocks the rabbis!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChpU28nHdzI The status of women in rabbinic Jewish law versus the Messiah's revolutionary attitude
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IlYeqDkWHE "Love your fellow as yourself" – who fits the definition better, Jesus or Maimonides?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxJ9Y14nCAs Why do the rabbis really reject and hate Jesus?
If you really watch these videos or others, you can see that the channel, by bringing half-passages and tearing them out of context, gets tens of thousands of views, all without any possibility of criticism.
It is also important to note that the channel pays YouTube to promote their videos, so they are available to almost every Israeli who goes onto YouTube.
I searched all over the web for criticism of them, but unfortunately I found none.
I have already heard about several friends of friends who, Following these videos, became non-religious.
I wanted to ask you to address the subject in one of your columns on the site, so that there will be solid criticism of this channel.
The channel covers various topics, and I, in my smallness, do not know how one can address all of them in a single article, but I believe that the honorable Rabbi is capable of it.
If you do not want to address the matter, I would be glad to hear the reason for that, or perhaps to receive an explanation for myself as to what evidence and arguments can be made against those who claim that the "rabbinic religion" was driven at the time of its formation by power and a desire for control (of course I am not convinced by this foolish claim, but I do not know how to disprove it clearly).
Thank you very much and have a good day,
Answer
These videos have already come up on my site several times, and I do indeed see that there are people who take them seriously. I saw the first video, and it really is not especially impressive demagoguery. My initial thought was to write an orderly response at least to one video, in order to teach the principle and show the flaws in their arguments. But that raises a few problems:
1. A well-organized response on my site will not benefit from search promotion and will not be widespread enough to provide an answer to everyone who sees those videos.
2. One also has to think about the format of the response. If I write a response article to a video, that is not efficient, since there are no real-time notes there for the viewer.
Therefore it seems to me more correct to create a response that accompanies the video and points out its flaws. But I do not have the means for that.
I need to think about what can be done and how.
Thank you,
Discussion on Answer
Here is what I found. I think there are more places. But no real discussion developed, since I did not watch the videos.
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%AA%D7%95%D7%A9%D7%91%D7%A2-2/
https://mikyab.net/%D7%A9%D7%95%D7%AA/%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%90%D7%95%D7%AA/
A., my friend, I am as frustrated as you are, and therefore I invested many hours in preparing a video that exposes the missionaries' lies and great ignorance.
The video responds to the video against the Oral Torah (the long one), since that is their central one.
We uploaded it to YouTube, and within a week it was removed on a copyright claim; they themselves contacted YouTube (because we used their video and responded to each segment). We did not give up, and we uploaded it to a Facebook page we opened: "Exposing the Lies of Internet Missionary Activity."
Link here:
https://m.facebook.com/%D7%97%D7%A9%D7%99%D7%A4%D7%AA-%D7%A9%D7%A7%D7%A8%D7%99-%D7%94%D7%9E%D7%A1%D7%99%D7%95%D7%9F-%D7%94%D7%90%D7%99%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%A0%D7%98%D7%99-1839126669639811/videos/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1
You are welcome to watch the video and spread it as much as you can, because unfortunately it is not gaining enough traction.
Best regards.
By the way, how would the Christians answer the claim that Jesus acted out of a desire for honor and control?
There is no way to establish that this was not so, and there is no need to. Speculations and conspiracies can be spun from here to no end. The burden of proof rests on them in the strongest possible way.
As I said, watch the video I made, which answers the arguments.
Hello,
I intend, God willing, to deal with the matter here on the site later on. Within this framework I will also watch Y's video that was brought here.
Thank you very much, honorable Rabbi.
I know you do not have the means, but it would be an enormous help to the Jewish people if you could really think seriously about some solution that would convey what you have to say to the viewers. Maybe a response video that presents their video in real time and resolves the problems it raises. The video about the "rabbinic myth" has already passed half a million views! Even if only one percent of all the viewers really took it to heart, that is at least 5,000 Jews who were taken captive, and that is no small number…
I hope the matter truly will not be neglected,
and again thank you very much for your willingness to respond.
A., did you look at the video I linked to?
Hello Y.
True, I am not a lawyer and it would be worthwhile to check this legally, but I think they misled you. There is no legal impediment to using various materials in order to study, review, analyze, and criticize them. That is the law in Israel. True, you must cite the source and the author in order to preserve moral copyright. But there is no grounds here for a lawsuit over copyright infringement. It is worth checking.
As stated, later on, God willing, I will also watch your film and post an orderly response.
Thank you, Rabbi. I checked superficially, and it seems to me that they indeed have the right to request removal of a video, and on the other hand it also seemed that there is a form of permitted use in the case of criticism. I will look into it more carefully.
In any case, the decision to remove the video cannot be appealed (it involves legal proceedings), so if it seems this is lawful, we will upload it again and hope for the best.
Thank you for taking the time for this!
The link above is for viewing on a phone; here is the link for a computer:
Thank you very much for the willingness and responsiveness!
I have to say about the video that although it raises correct arguments, its length may cause most viewers not to want to invest their time in it. It seems to me that if there is a possibility of shortening it (removing unnecessary editing sections, etc., or inserting things that were said directly onto their video), that would definitely help.
And to Rabbi Michael: I will definitely send this article to people I know who were influenced by the video and ask them to spread it. I hope it will have the same impact and more. Again, huge thanks.
There are more follow-up pieces that will be published soon. I have only just started with this video.
Hello Rabbi, and thank you for the quick response,
Could you please point me to the times on the site where these videos were brought up? I would be happy to see the discussion about them, if there is one.