Satirical videos of UOS and chief ‘beyond disgusting’, say rabbis

The South African Rabbinical Association has strongly condemned two community-made spoof videos which have been circulating on social media that depict Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein as Adolf Hitler. The videos also depict members of the Union of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS), its kashrut department, and other high-ranking rabbonim as his Nazi generals.

Apparently intended as satire, the videos have backfired, sparking revulsion and disgust in members of the Orthodox rabbinical community.

In a strongly worded letter of condemnation, the SA Rabbinical Association last Friday said that the videos made use of movie footage featuring infamous Nazi characters “to malign senior rabbinic leaders in our community”.

“The videos are offensive to all our sensitivities. They constitute a total affront to Torah and its scholars. Its creators must be denounced outright. We cannot remain silent in the face of such disgraceful behaviour, to which we object in the strongest terms.”

Rabbi Yossy Goldman of Sydenham Shul and president of the rabbinical association, told the SA Jewish Report this week that the creators of the videos should be “revealed and reviled”.

In response to an article in last week’s SA Jewish Report, which highlighted the first video, the creators – hiding behind the platform captiongenerator.com – produced another spoof video along the same lines.

The videos were created by local Jewish community members well versed in the goings on in the Johannesburg religious community. Captiongenerator.com enables people to create memes using humorous foreign language or silent-movie scenes with unique English subtitles.

The second video mocks the rabbinical association by quoting from its letter of condemnation.

Both videos show Hitler in an absolute froth ranting in German at his generals who cower in his presence. The English subtitles cover a range of serious issues that have been raised in the community in recent years in a bid to make light of them.

The videos are in response to animosity within certain sections of the frum community over the cost of kosher food, the increase in kosher certification fees, and the alleged lack of corporate governance at the UOS, which includes the office of the chief rabbi.

The videos, which may have been intended to be funny, have in many people’s minds over-stepped the mark.

A disgusted Goldman told the SA Jewish Report, “I may be a rabbi, but I have a very healthy sense of humour. Sadly, I see nothing funny whatsoever in the Hitler spoof on kashrut and the Beth Din. You don’t have to be a child of a Holocaust survivor to find the whole attempt absolutely disgusting and worthy of total revulsion. Hitler is not a joke!

“If a non-Jew did this he would be roundly condemned and hauled before a human-rights tribunal. On top of that, to use it to ridicule our leading rabbi/s is pathetic and sickening. Very disquieting, too, were the communal protests which, thus far, have been insipid at best.”

Rabbi Yossi Chaikin, the rabbi of the Oxford Synagogue Centre and chairperson of the rabbinical association, says that 2020 has been an interesting year. “It has brought out the best in us in so many ways and there are some amazing stories of selflessness, caring, and resilience. Sadly, there’s a lot of ugliness as well, and the past couple of months have shown some horrible behaviour. The recent satirical video was really painful.”

When he viewed the second video, he said it left him “shaking”.

“It took me a while to compose myself. I was personally beyond disgusted by the news that a second video, along the lines of the first, was now doing the rounds on WhatsApp. Comparisons to Nazis and the Holocaust are always odious and an affront to the memory of the six million. Using such imagery in relation to fellow Jews is an insult that our community cannot tolerate, and I hope that everyone condemns it in the strongest terms.”

Earlier this week, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies also said in a statement that it condemned the satirical videos.

“The utilisation of Holocaust themes or analogies to make political or other statements, including as a vehicle for satire or humour, is offensive and hurtful to many. Holocaust analogies as a source of amusement are unacceptable.”

The letter by the Rabbinical Association was signed, “With hope for shalom and respect in our community”.