Hungary – In an interview with The Algemeiner, Rabbi Shlomo Koves, the Hungarian Chabad Rabbi who was challenged to a debate this week by Gabor Vona, leader of Jobbik, a Hungarian nationalist, Neo-Nazi party, has outright declined the request.
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“Here is a party which makes openly anti-Semitic comments,” he said, “what is there to debate about.”
“They say they want to have an open talk, but in every debate you need a point of agreement, I cant have a mathematical debate if you don’t agree that 1 and 1 is 2 and 2 and 2 is four,” he continued, “they consider certain extreme ideas as facts than what should I debate them on?”
“Why should I respond and give them a platform to say that ‘the rabbi says they are not anti-Semitic’” he concluded.
Koves implied that he would be open to the idea of discussion, if the party publicly expressed regret for anti-Semitic comments that have been made in its name, and resolved to cease from bigoted statements in the future, “If they send a letter that says that they regret their anti-Semitic comments from before, then there may be something to discuss,” he said.
Maybe if we ignore them they will go away. Just as I believe Jews should never set foot in Germany, Poland or Spain, I believe that Jews should leave Hungary because the neo-nazis are comfortable enough to feel that there are myriads of people who suport their anti Semitic vitriol. My great grandparents are buried there and sadly I feel too scared to go to their graves.Of course, I can not visit my grandparents graves because their Hungarian gentile neighbors turned them in to the nazis. Some things never change.
The rabbi should challenge this nice man to a charity square off to raise funds for sickness, poverty and community needs and see how this fellow does in a campaign to actually improve society.
Koves made the right choice. Vona would turn such a debate into a circus.