Moshe Aryeh Friedman

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Editing of this article by unregistered or newly registered users is currently disabled. If you are prevented from editing this page, and you wish to make a change, please discuss changes on the talk page, request unprotection, log in, or create an account.

This article has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality.
Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page.

Rabbi Moshe Aryeh Friedman (left)

Moshe Aryeh Friedman of Vienna, Austria is a political activist who often attends high profile anti-Israel demonstrations and conventions. He is known as the founder of various anti-Israel causes, the latest being the small group he now leads whom call themselves 'The Orthodox Anti-Zionist Society of Austria'. While often called by the title of Rabbi in the media, Friedman has never received the Semicha (Rabbinic ordination) required to officiate rabbinical duties and go by the title.^[1] This has led to a controversy and his status as a Rabbi has been challenged by the Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel.

Friedman publicly decries the creation of the state of Israel. He holds that the Israeli government should disband, and the Palestinians should take over and rule over the Jews. His views are akin to those of Neturei Karta and Satmar though he has been disassociated from them due to his extreme views. He grew up in the Satmar community of Williamsburg, Brooklyn from whom he has since been disassociated from. Friedman is avoided in person by the majority of Jews in Austria and banned from attending Orthodox synagogues throughout Europe and New York.^[2]

Controversy

Friedman's views appear to be similar to the Satmar view on Zionism, though he has no affiliation with this group. Satmar's anti Zionist view is based on the Satmar Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum's book on Zionism, titled Vayoel Moshe which calls for Orthodox Jews to decry the existence State of Israel. Friedman has stated that "behind-the-scenes individuals and financial backers as well as perpetrators of some World War II crimes had been Zionists themselves."^[3]

On December 11, 2006 Friedman actively participated in the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust held in Tehran from the 11th-12th December 2006, which was sponsored by Iran's Foreign Ministry Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS) for the purpose of "reviewing the Holocaust". He embraced and kissed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.^[4]Friedman spoke on at a forum hosted by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to discuss The Holocaust. President Ahmadinejad has previously said that the Holocaust was a "myth" created by the West. Friedman was quoted by the media as claiming that the Holocaust is, "a successful fiction".^[5]

In May 2006 Friedman met with Atef Adwan of Hamas and an acting Palestinian Cabinet Minister in Stockholm, Sweden - where Adwan was attending a conference.^[6]

Friedman also is known to have an association with the far right Freedom Party of Austria. A far right politician and Holocaust Denier attended his son's Bar Mitzvah.^[7]

Friedman is considered a social and political outcast even in the ultra-Orthodox anti-Zionist world. According to Rabbi Yona Metzger, Chief Rabbi of the State of Israel, Friedman is also "not a rabbi," implying that according to Metzger, Friedman does not have rabbinical ordination.^[8] Metzger also announced that he himself had violated Jewish law by declaring a form of a cherem on Friedman and the others who went to Iran, even though Jewish law requires a beth din, a panel of at least three judges, for such a decision.^{[citation needed]}

In December of 2006 after the 'Holocaust conference' in Tehran, Friedman was said to be worried that he would be arrested by Austrian authorities for his comments which were quoted in the media as saying the Holocaust was a "successful fiction", this because Holocaust denial is against the law in Austria. Friedman reportedly has delayed his return to Austria due to this worry.^[9]

The board of the Jewish Community of Vienna voted unanimously to excommunicate him. They also accused him of desecrating Sabbath on various occasions.^[10]His wife has filed for divorce due to his misdeeds.^[11]

On March 11, 2007, while on a visit to Poland, members of the Israeli Jewish-Orthodox organization ZAKA attacked Friedman. Their leader, Yehuda Meshi Zahav, who has just returned from a memorial service at the Auschwitz concentration camp, spotted Friedman in a crowd and attacked him, breaking his glasses and removing his hat and coat. The reason for this was, according to Meshi Zahav, that this garb is unique to Orthodox Jews, a group from which Friedman has removed himself on account of his Holocaust denial. The Polish authorities asked Friedman to leave the area, encouraging him to board a train for Vienna.^[12]