London – A petition condemning the visit to Britain of a rabbi who has expressed controversial views has sparked uproar in the UK that led to the launch of a petition against his arrive, according to The Jewish chronicle.
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Rabbi Yosef Mizrahi has roused controversy over his views including his proclamation that autism and Down Syndrome are consequences of sins in a previous life.
As of Monday morning, more than 500 people had signed the petition titled “Protest the hateful views of Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi” on the website Change.org in protest of the rabbi’s slated upcoming visit due to his “highly offensive, bigoted and hateful views,” as was written on the website.
Mizrahi was born in Israel and after his IDF service immigrated to the US.
He has previously stated that Ashkenazi Jews were in part responsible for the Holocaust due to inter-marriage and their secular lifestyle, according to the Jewish Chronicle.
He told the outlet that he was not sure if he would arrive to the UK as he does not yet have a date. However, following the launch of the petition, references on his website to the pending UK visit were removed.
In 2015, the rabbi apologized for saying that only one million Jews were murdered in the Holocaust and not six million.
Another one of his claims is that breast cancer and cancers of male and female genitalia is caused due to “sinning” with those organs, comparing woman who have lost their virginity to an open bottle of cola, claiming they were were virtually nothing.
Mizrahi previously visited the UK in 2014 where he reportedly spoke at multiple Sephardi synagogues and at Jewish secondary schools.
These people would be protesting Moshe Rabbeinu for the Torah too.
Why is it that this statement is offensive? Can this be a possible truth? We layman Don’t know “kabala” , maybe it says something like this there?
Here we go again! It’s so hard to keep going through all the awful things this man has said.
Does anyone have a better explanation? Many other rabbis feel the same way. They feel that, that is what reincarnation is all about, correcting previous lifetime sins. So all you great “talmeeday chachomim” (ahm boating) go argue with that!
Wow, he understands things that no-one else in the universe does. Idiot.
It had been said “those people who know the reason for why these things happened ,they do not say why they happened.And those people who say that they do know what happened they do not know.”
what a distasteful and insensitive thing to say publicly, not to mention a complete hillul hashem. as with all of hkb’h’s creations, we do not know the why’s or how’s of any of them. we do know that Hashem’s Down Syndrome children possess a higher neshama, and an innocence and love not known to others.
as for this rabbi, he should know that a lot of kabbalistic thoughts are not to be shared publicly (the whole concept of shaydim comes to mind). it is a study geared to the mature man and it is well known that because of kabbalah’s depth and difficulty to comprehend, men often ‘snap’ when they learn it.
looks like this bozo snapped.
This sounds to be a horrible thing to say. Even if that were true, can you imagine how the parents of such people would feel? Where is sensitivity towards others? I am from the yeshiva world and if this is true, why hasn’t other top Roshei Yeshivos said this in public?
What is the basis for his statements? Is it his own feeling, unsupported by any sources? If he has sources, state them.
I wonder if he can tell me why I got an ingrown toe nail.
Why does he have to shoot off the cuff?!?!
this is not the first time that Mizrachi spoke out-of-line.
I stopped listening to him after his disparaging remarks about the Holocaust..
Rabbo Avigdor Miller Zt”L held the same about the holocuast. One thing is for sure Europe was not his heilga place that our rabbeim want us to believe. America in the 21st century is far hollier. Prior to the holocuast there was rampant chillul shabbos across all sects of judaism. Enlightment or haskala was thriving. The reform movement was thriving. People were throwing off yiddshkit like flies. Even many of our frum Hungarian grandmothers wore short sleeves and went mixed dancing. I am not a gadol and cannot predict why the holocaust happen. But we definitely were not too religous in “der alter heim”
I have stopped listening to anything he says–he lost me totally with the Holocaust remark last year. This is beyond the realm!! Even if these are his thoughts, why say such a thing out loud–doesn’t he think first? He reminds me of Trump–just say whatever you want and I don’t give a darn what anyone else says. Maybe he should run for president
He does not look old enough to have lived during the Holocaust!! Where does he come to be such a scholar on it!! I beg to differ on all of his facts!! Where does he get them or is he just dreaming them up!!
I dont know nothing about Rabbi Mizrahi besides from what i read about him.
But in general speaking ANY OBSERVANT JEW who thinks that things “JUST HAPPENS” does not believe in Sechar VaOnesh. The Rambam writes very harsh about people thinking that tragedies “just happens”.
R’ Avigdor Miller writes that he is convinced that the Holocaust happened because Jews in Europe a big portion weren’t observant who were Mechlal Shabbos etc etc.
The Satmar Rebbe in the introductory to his Sefer Vayoel Moshe writes clearly the Holocaust happened ONLY becuase of Zionism. He bases it on the Talmud that it is THE biggest sin to have a Jewish state before the coming of Moshicah
Why do people still listen to this guy?
we are losing sight of the point of this article, people!
this is not about mizrachi’s (this bozo is not worthy of the title rabbi) Holocaust comment. It is about his Down Syndrome ‘peirush’. anyone who agrees with his opinions are seeking the attention that he desperately wants.
the protesters should storm his residence and give him what he deserves
All you protesters are a bunch of idiots, liberalism has been seeping into your veins due to the constant exposure of western culture over so many years..
Every thing someone says today even if true, but if dosnt make you feel good, then you guys do what you do best, first you take the speakers words out of context, and then you hide behind a keyboard and start condemning right and left, exposing thereby unbelievable ignorance regarding Jewish teachings..
What the rabbi is saying is something that every child who ever made it past 6th grade knows, the Arizal revealed that all neshamos in this world especially in these generations are gilgulim, and all of us have to fix what we messed up in previous lifetimes, we all know that may people are born into this world with aliments, or worse etc. And the only explanation for why it is so is the Arizal’s gilgulim concept…
Children with down syndrome are lofty souls, who need to fix something of their previous life, otherwise they wouldn’t come down to this world this way..
Parents of such children have an unbelievable zchus that they were chosen to care for such lofty souls, it is a privilege and not a punishment..
This is judaism, if it dosnt feel good what judaism teaches, perhaps you should try Christianity or some other religion which makes you feel good..
Rabbi mizrachi is a tzadik and needs no validation, he is a man who has given away his 24 hours for klal yisrael over the past who knows how many years..
He speaks non stop divrei torah and words of inspiration, and here people are sitting with microscopes and magnifying glasses, decipher every word he utters, twist it and judge him for it…
You call yourself peace-loving people, and claim that he brings machlokes in klal yisrael, all I can say is woe to me that I live in such a twisted generation…
If any of you want truth, start learning, become familiar with real authentic judaism, don’t confuse studying torah with surfing online or searching in Google for inspirational speeches and feel good Jewish quotes, and if you practice judaism in depth perhaps you will wake up and understand that the torahs ways are peaceful and pleasant…
All of you criticizing him had better be very careful and do Teshuva, especially at this time of year! It specifically says if Daas Torah tells you it’s night when you think it’s day, you’re still not allowed to,question! And it’s certainly assur to be mevazeh talmidei chachamim. Just because what he says may make you uncomfortable doesn’t mean you know more than he, or that he’s wrong! VIN did a real disservice to Klal Yisroel printing this and offering such a tempting snare for Lashon hara right before the Yomim no’raim!
All you protesters are a bunch of idiots, liberalism has been seeping into your veins due to the constant exposure of western culture over so many years..
Every thing someone says today even if true, but if dosnt make you feel good, then you guys do what you do best, first you take the speakers words out of context, and then you hide behind a keyboard and start condemning right and left, exposing thereby unbelievable ignorance regarding Jewish teachings..
What the rabbi is saying is something that every child who ever made it past 6th grade knows, the Arizal revealed that all neshamos in this world especially in these generations are gilgulim, and all of us have to fix what we messed up in previous lifetimes, we all know that may people are born into this world with aliments, or worse etc. And the only explanation for why it is so is the Arizal’s gilgulim concept…
Children with down syndrome are lofty souls, who need to fix something of their previous life, otherwise they wouldn’t come down to this world this way..
Parents of such children have an unbelievable zchus that they were chosen to care for such lofty souls, it is a privilege and not a punishment..
This is judaism, if it dosnt feel good what judaism teaches, perhaps you should try Christianity or some other religion which makes you feel good..
Rabbi mizrachi is a tzadik and needs no validation, he is a man who has given away his 24 hours for klal yisrael over the past who knows how many years..
He speaks non stop divrei torah and words of inspiration, and here people are sitting with microscopes and magnifying glasses, decipher every word he utters, twist it and judge him for it…
You call yourself peace-loving people, and claim that he brings machlokes in klal yisrael, all I can say is woe to me that I live in such a twisted generation…
If any of you want truth, start learning, become familiar with real authentic judaism, don’t confuse studying torah with surfing online or searching in Google for inspirational speeches and feel good Jewish quotes, and if you practice judaism in depth perhaps you will wake up and understand that the torahs ways are peaceful and pleasant…