Criticism of Binyamin Aharon Shapiro From The Perspective of The Torah

The critique of Binyamin Aharon (“Ben”) Shapiro is perplexing topic. Ben Shapiro has knowledge on a wide array of intellectual topics. Ben Shapiro promotes the significance of Biblical morality as one of the pillars of Western society. However, we need to understand some of the flaws behind this idea.

Philosophy

When Ben Shaprio makes comments saying that Christians should go back to Church or trying to overtly show the Jewish influences in Catholicism, Shapiro is creating a social atmosphere which incentives excessive relations between the two (as if to imply that there is some type of mutual relationship between them). Of course, Ben Shapiro acknowledges the Pogroms done by older generations of Christians, but what Ben Shapiro should realize is that there are disproportionally less educated Christians that remain religious or [at least] remain in a denomination that emphasizes the theological partnership.

Shapiro and his listeners should also be aware of the fact that Jews spent almost two thousand years dealing with problems started by the Christian world. I don’t have the mention the blood libels, forced debates, expulsions, and inquisitions that took place in the name of Christianity.

It is true that many Christians want to connect to Hashem, but the fact that an unfair percentage of Christians collectively hate the religion practices having a direct connection with Hashem says a lot about these Christians.. Shapiro and his Neo-Orthodox Jewish colleagues might use terms like “Judeo-Christian”, but there’s little evidence that Christians use such a term. Why? Because why would they give up their dominance in Western society? Christianity is still the biggest religion in the West despite the growth of Islam in almost every Christian majority country including Russia…

Also, Christians don’t see themselves as being equal to Jews. That idea became popular among the Co-Religionists during the Enlightenment Era where the Christians were becoming more progressive. The Co-Religionist culture has always led to Jews having to surrender the entirety of their Judaism for fake Co-Existence which is rarely long-term…Is this any different than claiming a co-religionist stance with Islam and then coining the term “Judeo-Islamic values”?

From my personal experiences, a fair number of educated Christians would denounce the trinity, if given logical evidence of its fallacy, because it doesn’t make any logical sense. In fact, many Christians have a hard type grappling with the concept of the trinity.

Ideally, he should be telling them to become Bnei Noakh, but what Shapiro is doing is telling people to actually embrace something which is logically and theologically wrong. The least that he could so is to tell people to believe in the G-d that gave the Torah to Moshe Rabbeinu.

Praising Christianity is a very problematic notion because he is praising a religion built on the philosophical notion that Torah Sh’Baal Peh is wrong even though the Christians believe the Torah Sh’beKhtav. The religion that Ben Shapiro is praising is a religion built on a hatred for those that preserved the Tradition of Yisrael.

When Ben Shapiro has a formal event with an Akum (idolater), he is demonstrating his association with them as being strong and friendly. This is something that Yehudim have to be aware of. Shapiro is involved with the culture of the Akum, and thus, he is associating himself with a fair number of disgusting people even if he himself is an Ish Yehudi.

Theology and Hashkafa

Where does this mentality come from? Well, it might be a good idea to simply analyze who the current Rabbi of Ben Shapiro is.

Yes, Shapiro follows a Rabbi. He does hold by the letter of the law albeit an interpretation of the law that many of us and our Rabbanim do not agree with. However, the Rabbi of Ben Shaprio is a peculiar figure. Rabbi Efrem Goldberg is an Orthodox Rabbi in a higher-end Jewish neighborhood in Boca Raton, FL who’s written for Mishpacha magazine as well as Aish.com and more Liberal sites. He is very involved with the political atmosphere of the Nation of Israel which ranges from AIPAC to meeting [then] President Obama. Nevertheless, Efrem is an Observant Jew with more than 6 kids. He is or was associated with the RCA and OU.

On his own site, he claimed that he is not Modern-Orthodox. In fact, Efrem can already be seen as a diverse figure who doesn’t want to limit himself to the ideological confines of Modern-Orthodoxy. Now, it is good to not be confined to a label. However, in the case of Efrem, there is an issue with allowing and justifying having an active Akum involving himself in the Synagogue including inviting the Akum to speak to the Synagogue (in public). And yes, barukh Hashem, the event was cancelled after many people voiced their concern and anger about the potential incident that would have led to a khillul Hashem (חילול השם) – a desecration of G-d’s name.

Now, why would this be a חילול השם? Afterall, there are stories of the Akum that are frequently referenced by Jews in regards to the nature of certain stories. But the case of the Synagogue of Efrem is different because a Synagogue is a Beit Knesset where Jews gather to associate with each other, and thus, bringing an Akum into the Synagogue as a host would imply a gesture which is more friendly than forming an alliance that’s purely business and/or political. Now, a business venue or a political would be a different, but a Synagogue is a gathering place meant for something holy.

Ben Shapiro is a Jew that leans towards Modern-Orthodoxy which has slowly leaned towards having more association with the Akum. In context, we are mostly talking about Christians. Shapiro claims to be fine with many of the things that the Christians do although he (Shapiro) doesn’t believe in the concept of Gehenom. Shapiro claims that the Jews adopted the concept as a way to deal with Missionaries. This sounds very strange and ironic when the Talmud itself mentions the concept of Gehenom…

The concept of Gehenom and Gilgulim imply that a tainted Neshamah can still merit good things via the complicated spiritual journey of the Neshamah. If not for this, then being Karet (cut off from the next world) would mean that such a person would cease to exist. Now, this is claimed by the Rambam, and the Rasag didn’t believe in Gilgulim, but from what I was told, by many learned people, is that the Rasag lacked the sefarim (books) that mention the concept of Gilgulim. Likewise, I would assume that the Rambam lacked the sefarim that mention Gehenom.

Antisemitism

The other significant issue that pertains to Ben Shapiro is the following. Because of the popularity and influence of Ben Shapiro and Dennis Prager, a certain woman became a popular host among those who listen to Conservative opinions. She denounced Hitler and Stalin. She was not promoting Antisemitism.

Now, at this time, this woman was not promoting Anti-Jewish opinion. but later, she married a Christian Antisemite, and eventually, she accepted his theology in Nissan 5784. She is now a Holocaust denier who claims that Ashkenazi Jews aren’t actually Jewish, blames them on the war with Russia and Iran, blames them on the abuses in the Church, and believes that Leo Frank was guilty of committing a ritualistic murder for the sake of having blood in the wine on Passover…She also believes that AIPAC is responsible for assassinating President JFK. Jr. even though he was the most Pro-Israel president since Israel had been established.

Now, had it not been for Ben Shapiro and Dennis Prager, would we have this level of Antisemitism? Because Shapiro and Prager associate themselves with Akum, they are causing such Akum to gain public attention.

One would think that with the rise of Antisemitism that a Yehudi would not associate himself with Akum. However, what we’re seeing from these popular news/podcast hosts is the opposite.

Yehudim should not be befriending those who are steeped into Avodah Zarah and Kfirah. Yehudim should not be trying to gain “sympathy” from the people who live wicked lifestyles and openly hate us.

A Jew should look at the lifestyle of an idolater as being filthy and disgusting. It is disgusting that a learned Modox Yid associates himself with such people.