The Answer, My Friend, Is Blowing In The Luft...

Been having some emails about Rabbi Luft...

Nechama wrote:

Do you have written somewhere on your blog, about the Nazi song that became Moshiach, Moshiach ..... ? I would like to send someone that information.

I responded:

I'm pretty sure this is the song you're looking for.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_esCf2GSTI

It is NOT a Nazi song. It is a German pop song from the late '70's about the Mongolian warrior Gengis Khan. Mordechai Ben David recorded it on the album Jerusalem Is Not For Sale as "Kumt Aheym" (Yidden).

She wrote back:

Eeeek! Thanks for the clarification. But I heard Rabbi Luft interviewed on a particular radio show that made it clear that the MBD song was such. Where does the discrepancy come from? Are you sure that this German group didn't get it from the Ns?  Not to doubt your expertise, just a confusion of sources.

My response:

I have written a lot about Rabbi Luft on my blog, including a complete review of his book “The Torah Is Not Hefker”, which you can find here:

http://blogindm.blogspot.com/2009/02/in-review-r-ephraim-lufts-torah-is-not.html

This link is for my concluding post, but there are links to the previous posts in the series at the bottom.

In short, Rabbi Luft can not be trusted on anything he says on music or on Torah as it relates to music. His entire approach is based on distortions, misrepresentations, ignorance, racism, and outright lies. I know this sounds strong, but I’ve amply documented it on my blog, and his activities have and are creating chilul Hashem on an international scale.

“Genghis Khan” is an original song that was written for the Eurovision contest in 1979. Any claims that it is a Nazi song are simply false. (The lyrics glorify Genghis Khan and aren’t exactly appropriate, as it were. But that’s a separate issue.)

I also received the following email from a reader who asked me to withhold his name:

in your blog you attack R. Luft for using the phrase "Cretinous goons" on p.25

the phrase is italicized because it is a quote from the Sinatra quote on page 18

My response:

I’m not really sure what your point is...

Frank Sinatra is not a ben Torah. Neither are the rockers he was referring too.

Rabbi Luft, on the other hand, professes to follow halacha, and the people he describes by that term are frum Jews.

I stand by my critique.

It's quite interesting to me that I've published quite specific criticisms of Rabbi Luft's book -- which I believe he is aware of -- and there has been no rebuttal excepting the pointless email above. Telling, I think!