THE RADICALISED RABBI is a blog on Judaism and its very useful ideas and the blogger a Secular Koranist and a revolutionary. You don't have to be Jewish to find Jewish ideas very useful in tidying up your thinking and turbo-charging your powers of reasoning to the extent that you can even predict most events and disasters. The West is heading for disaster with its insane policy of Transnational Progressivism, turning our global village into Sodom and Gomorrah attracting the same punishment.
28:00 If Secular Koranism were ever adopted in a non-Muslim majority country, its judiciary would be the body identifying, listing and numbering the Commandments of Allah capable of being made into legislation.
50:00 I have exhausted myself attacking Rake's ideas!
52:00 BHARAT joins.
53:00 Yazidis
58:00 RAKE joins.
59:00 Aleister Crowley
GROK:
Aleister Crowley’s references to the Yazidis (often spelled "Yezidis" in his works) are limited and indirect, as he did not extensively write about them in a systematic way. However, his interest in the Yazidis likely stemmed from their unique religious traditions, which blend elements of pre-Islamic beliefs, Zoroastrianism, and other ancient influences—subjects that fascinated Crowley due to his broader exploration of esoteric and pagan traditions.
One notable connection appears in discussions around The Book of the Law, dictated to Crowley in 1904 by an entity he called Aiwass. Some scholars and occultists have speculated that Aiwass, whom Crowley described as a "minister of Hoor-paar-kraat" (Horus), might be linked to Melek Taus, the Peacock Angel revered by the Yazidis as a central figure in their cosmology. Melek Taus is often misunderstood by outsiders as a "Satanic" figure due to his association with pride and refusal to bow to Adam, a narrative that parallels certain Western occult interpretations of Lucifer or Satan—figures Crowley also engaged with symbolically. Crowley himself never explicitly confirmed this connection, but his fascination with such parallels suggests he may have seen the Yazidi deity as an archetype resonating with his own Thelemic philosophy.
In his broader writings, Crowley occasionally referenced Middle Eastern and pre-Christian religious traditions, including those of the Yazidis, as part of his interest in uncovering hidden spiritual truths. For instance, in his exploration of deities and their symbolic roles, he might have viewed Melek Taus as an embodiment of divine will or individualism—key themes in Thelema, where "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law" emphasizes personal sovereignty. However, no direct quote from Crowley explicitly details his thoughts on the Yazidis or their practices.
It’s worth noting that Crowley’s engagement with such groups was often more philosophical or symbolic than anthropological. He was drawn to systems that challenged conventional morality or offered alternative visions of the divine, and the Yazidis’ reputation as a misunderstood, esoteric sect likely appealed to him on that level. Without a specific, well-documented statement from Crowley about the Yazidis, any attribution would be speculative, based on his known interests rather than a definitive record.
If you’re looking for a precise quote, none stands out in his major works like Magick, The Confessions, or The Book of the Law that directly names the Yazidis. His commentary on them, if it exists, would likely be buried in lesser-known correspondence or passing references in his vast body of work, reflecting his tendency to synthesize diverse traditions into his own worldview.
1:06:00 Ancient Egypt
1:07:00 Ghetto world order
1:08:00 Muslims say the Koran trumps the Torah of the Jews.
1:09:00 No churches will be destroyed.
1:10:00 Jews
We are all the slaves of our government.
1:11:00 Usury
1:12:00 "The Roman curse"
Divided Jews invited Romans to settle their disputes and were taken over by Romans.
GROK:
The Jewish invitation of Roman intervention occurred during the late Second Temple period, specifically in the 1st century BCE, amid internal divisions and power struggles within Judea. The key moment came during a civil war between two Hasmonean brothers, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, who were vying for control of the throne and the high priesthood.
Around 63 BCE, after years of conflict following the death of their mother, Queen Alexandra Salome, the brothers’ rivalry escalated. Hyrcanus II, supported by the Pharisees and an influential figure named Antipater (father of Herod the Great), was losing ground to Aristobulus II, who had backing from the Sadducees and military strength. In a desperate bid to regain power, Hyrcanus and Antipater appealed to the Roman general Pompey, who was campaigning in the region after conquering much of the eastern Mediterranean.
Pompey saw an opportunity to expand Roman influence. Both brothers initially sought his favor—Hyrcanus asking for reinstatement, Aristobulus trying to secure his own position—but their appeals effectively invited Roman arbitration. Pompey sided with Hyrcanus, likely because he appeared more pliable, and marched on Jerusalem. Aristobulus resisted, leading to a siege of the city. After a three-month standoff, Pompey’s forces breached the Temple Mount, killed many of Aristobulus’s supporters, and entered the Holy of Holies—an act that shocked Jewish sensibilities.
The outcome was the end of Judea’s independence as a Hasmonean kingdom. Pompey installed Hyrcanus II as high priest but stripped him of the royal title, making Judea a client state under Roman oversight. Aristobulus and his family were taken as prisoners to Rome. This marked the beginning of direct Roman domination, which later evolved into full provincial control under figures like Herod and, eventually, Roman governors like Pontius Pilate.
The divisions among the Jews—between Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, and more broadly between factions like the Pharisees and Sadducees—created the opening Rome exploited. Historian Flavius Josephus, in his works The Jewish War and Antiquities of the Jews, provides the primary accounts of these events, describing how internal strife and appeals to Rome handed the Romans a foothold. While the Jews didn’t invite Roman conquest outright, their request for mediation backfired, leading to subjugation. By 63 BCE, Judea was effectively under Roman thumb, setting the stage for further unrest, including the revolts decades later. So, yes, the statement holds historical weight, though it condenses a messy political saga into a single cause-and-effect.
1:13:00 Jewish emancipation began with Napoleon.
1:15:00 Dreyfus Affair
Pogroms
1:16:00 Ban usury
1:17:00 War finance
1:18:00 If the Jews cannot have blood purity, who can?
1:19:00 Culture is downstream of religion.
The Abrahamic God was what attracted Romans to Christianity.
1:20:00 Apollo is not Zeus.
The Abrahamic God gets the Holy Spirit and angels to do His work.
1:21:00 Koranic principles warfare
1:22:00 Ban usury with Islam.
1:24:00 TIM joins.
1:25:00 Edward Miliband
DR NIK joins.
1:27:00 The American Empire controls the world.
1:28:00 VINCENT rejoins to say he allows homophobes on his space.
1:31:00 Ban usury to defeat "Jewish power".
1:32:00 Napoleonic Wars
1:33:00 Ireland
1:34:00 BHARAT talks about the Yazidis.
1:35:00 Peacock demon
1:36:00 Jesus, Shiva, Trinity
1:38:00 Muslims and Christians are devil-worshipers, says BHARAT.
1:39:00 The Trinity
Brahman blah blah
1:46:00 Bharat admits to being 100% anti-Muslim.
1:48:00 Culture
1:49:00 Pakistanis are not Arabs.
1:50:00 Prefix and suffix
Indian Christians
SBBX joins to discuss culture.
1:51:00 Generational identity crisis
1:52:00 Indian surnames are Rajput names.
1:53:00 Catholic confirmation
1:54:00 Evangelical confirmation
1:55:00 The Reformation
1:56:00 Henry VIII
GROK:
Henry VIII’s determination to avoid leaving his kingdom to a female heir wasn’t explicitly tied to a single "bad queen" from history as a cautionary tale in his mind—at least not in a way directly documented. His obsession with securing a male heir stemmed more from practical, dynastic, and cultural concerns of his time than from a specific historical figure haunting him. However, we can explore the context and possible influences that might have shaped his mindset, including any queens (good or bad) he could have had in view.
In the early 16th century, England had never had a reigning queen regnant—a woman ruling in her own right—since the Norman Conquest. The closest precedent was Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I, who fought for the throne in the 12th century during the civil war known as The Anarchy (1135–1154). Matilda’s attempt to rule after her father’s death led to chaos, as her cousin Stephen of Blois seized the crown, sparking nearly two decades of conflict. Her failure to consolidate power wasn’t due to incompetence (she was a formidable figure), but rather to resistance from nobles who balked at a woman wielding authority, compounded by her perceived arrogance. Henry VIII, a keen student of history via his tutors, likely knew of this episode. It wasn’t that Matilda was "bad," but her reign-that-never-was became a symbol of instability tied to female rule, possibly reinforcing Henry’s fears of a kingdom fracturing under a daughter.
Another figure he might have considered was Queen Joanna of Castile, known as "Joanna the Mad," a contemporary of Henry’s youth. Joanna inherited Castile in 1504 after her mother, Isabella I, died, but her mental instability—real or exaggerated by her father, Ferdinand II, and later her son, Charles V—led to her being sidelined. By the time Henry was king (1509 onward), Joanna was confined, her rule nominal, while male relatives governed in her name. This could have struck Henry as a warning: a queen regnant might be vulnerable to manipulation or incapacity, leaving the realm directionless. Though not "bad" in a moral sense, her fate underscored the risks of female succession in a male-dominated world.
Henry’s own context offers clearer insight into his motives. His father, Henry VII, had won the crown through conquest in 1485, ending the Wars of the Roses—a dynastic struggle that left England wary of weak succession. Henry VIII saw a male heir as essential to cementing the Tudor dynasty and avoiding a return to civil war. The prevailing view, rooted in medieval tradition, held that women were unfit to rule alone; they were expected to marry, and their husbands might dominate or drag England into foreign entanglements. When his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, produced only a surviving daughter, Mary (later Mary I), Henry grew desperate. His efforts to annul the marriage and marry Anne Boleyn (hoping for a son) reflect this anxiety—culminating in the birth of Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I) and, finally, Edward VI with Jane Seymour.
No surviving letters or records show Henry citing a specific "bad queen" as his bogeyman. His actions—divorces, executions, the break with Rome—suggest a broader dread of instability rather than a pinpoint historical phobia. If anything, Matilda’s turbulent legacy or Joanna’s tragic irrelevance might have lingered in the background, but his real terror was the absence of a son to carry the Tudor name. The irony? Both Mary I and Elizabeth I, his daughters, ruled as queens regnant—Mary with infamy, Elizabeth with brilliance—proving the very outcome he feared wasn’t inherently disastrous. Still, no evidence pins his paranoia to one notorious queenly exemplar. It was the specter of a fragile dynasty, not a single "bad queen," that drove him.
1:57:00 Warlords and divine authority
1:59:00 Heretic burning
2:00:00 The Roman imperial cult was replaced by Christianity because no one believed in it any more.
The Conversion of Constantine and Europe by A H M Jones
2:01:00 Arian-Athanasian split at the Council of Nicaea
1:40:00 Economic migrants will be economic migrants.
1:41:00 Meritocracy
1:43:00 Christianity and idolatry
1:44:00 The worshhip of Mammon is idolatry.
1:46:00 The Trinity
1:49:00 Monotheism
1:50:00 Confusing beliefs
1:52:00 The Third Principle of Judaism
1:53:00 The Noahide laws
1:57:00 Pagan holidays and statues of Jesus
1:59:00 Government is reluctant to argue that Christianity is not idolatry and does not think there is any foolproof way of arguing against the fact of Christian idolatry.
2:00:00 Avatar
2:02:00 Vincent Bruno encourages Government to become a Noahide.
2:03:00 The prohibition against eating an animal while it is still alive.
2:04:00 Liking confusion is liking mumbo jumbo.
2:06:00 The Trinity
2:07:00 Heretic burning
2:08:00 Idolatry and blasphemy attract the death penalty.
2:10:00 There should be no laws against idolatry and blasphemy but that was stated in the Torah.
2:15:00 Any 21st century Westerner would reject God after being told that the penalty for idolatry and blasphemy attracts the death penalty.
Vincent tells Government that he would raise his IQ if he became Noahide.
2:17:00 Atheists tend not to believe in the afterlife or support the death penalty.
2:19:00 Hindu says Hinduism contains many wisdom people nowadays take for granted.
2:20:00 Saints from all over India
2:21:00 Principled rigour is an organisational force.
2:22:00 Majapahit Empire
Codified principles
2:23:00 Why no one understands Hinduism
2:24:00 Hindus still exist.
2:25:00 Modern Hindu leaders
2:26:00 Legal principles based on the divine commandments
The quote "The strong do what they will, the weak suffer what they must" comes from the ancient Greek historian Thucydides, in his work History of the Peloponnesian War. Specifically, it’s from the Melian Dialogue (Book V, Chapter 89), written around 411 BCE. Thucydides doesn’t attribute it to one speaker verbatim but paraphrases it as part of a conversation between Athenian envoys and the leaders of Melos, a small island the Athenians were pressuring to join their empire during the war against Sparta.
The context is brutal and pragmatic. The Athenians, flexing their military dominance, argue that power dictates reality—justice only matters between equals, not when one side can crush the other. They tell the Melians to submit or face destruction, since resisting a stronger force is pointless. The Melians, hoping for fairness or Spartan aid, refuse. Spoiler: Athens wipes them out, kills the men, and enslaves the rest. Thucydides uses this to show the raw, unfiltered logic of power politics, not to cheer it on but to lay it bare.
He wrote this during a 27-year war that tore Greece apart, reflecting a worldview shaped by chaos and human nature under pressure. Some think he’s channeling a cynical take on imperialism; others see it as a neutral observation of how strength bends morality. It’s stuck around because it’s stark—people still debate if it’s a resigned truth or a critique of might-makes-right.
16:00 It didn't end well for Athens.
17:00 WW1 and WW2 were the 21st century equivalents of the Peloponnesian War. In the same way Athens and Sparta became a province of Rome, Europe has become a province of America.
18:00 Revolution is a natural reaction against injustice.
19:00 Women cannot be expected to lead revolutions.
20:00 Hallucinogenics and King Leonidas
23:00 Alexander the Great
24:00 To go into battle or be peaceful?
26:00 Pagan pantheons
27:00 Thor is the same as Ares.
29:00 Transgenderism
Time machines
30:00 Superman and warlord
31:00 Religion assigns us gender roles.
32:00 Gender roles facilitate marriage and married parenting.
33:00 The blood, sweat and tears of previous generations are what the current generation is resting on.
39:00 Going through the motions and ticking items off the list
40:00 Shallow, boring, superficial and stale
Mike Malzahn
41:00 Stephen J James
42:00 A failure of comprehension and communication
43:00 Vincent Bruno
44:00 Antisemitism is the new religion.
45:00 Religion and sacred cows
46:00 "We're all Team Colours."
47:00 The nature and purpose of religion
48:00 Religion as an organising force
49:00 Religion is having moral principles.
50:00 The Lord's Prayer
51:00 The Noahide laws
52:00 Idolatry
To be an idolater is not to have a rule book that you take seriously.
Even if Jews and Muslims don't follow their religious principles as well as they could, they have the strongest sense of identity as well as a higher status than all of the other religions.
53:00 Privileging married parents over non-parents and treating unmarried parents as sex offenders.
1:10:00 Philosophical arguments for belief in God using rationalism and empiricism
1:28:00 CLAIRE KHAW speaks on Descartes objective in making God accessible through reason alone.
1:30:00 Descartes did not make the transcendental argument, apparently.
Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative and his principle of universalisability.
1:33:00 Empiricism and rationalism is contingent on God.
1:35:00 To win the argument, the theist or atheist has to show their morality is superior to the other.
1:40:00 Presupposition
1:41:00 Socratic questioning
1:42:00 Ontology and epistemology
My presuppositions:
(i) The Koran is the best available guide to humanity.
(ii) God is useful to Man in his government, morality and spirituality.
(iii) If all religions are created by wise men, it would be wise to choose to wisest religion of all.
1:43:00 Ethical monotheism is superior to polytheism.
1:44:00 My agnosticism
The teleology of God
1:46:00 Deductive logic is rationalism, inductive logic is empiricism.
1:47:00 Valid and sound arguments
1:48:00 Black swan event
1:49:00 Inductive logic is about probability.
1:50:00 Deductive logic is about being able to tell the truth of the assertion ab initio.
1:51:00 Valid arguments that are unsound.
1:52:00 Socrates is a man. All men are mortal. Therefore Socrates and Jesus are mortal.
1:54:00 The probability of Californians enjoying surfing.
1:56:00 Everything created has a purpose.
1:59:00 Evolution or divine creation?
2:02:00 Did God create the Universe?
2:03:00 The definition of evolution
2:06:00 The Uncreated Universe according to Greek philosophers
Several Greek philosophers entertained the idea that the universe was eternal and uncreated, rejecting the notion of a distinct beginning or a creator. One of the most prominent was Aristotle (384–322 BCE). In his works, particularly Physics and Metaphysics, Aristotle argued that the universe was eternal, with no beginning or end. He posited that motion and time are perpetual, driven by an "Unmoved Mover"—a timeless, unchanging cause that sustains the cosmos without creating it in a singular event. For Aristotle, the idea of something coming from nothing was illogical, so the universe had to exist eternally.
Another key figure was Parmenides (born around 515 BCE), a pre-Socratic philosopher. He suggested that reality is one, unchanging, and eternal. In his poem On Nature, he argued that "what is" cannot come into being or perish because that would imply it emerged from "what is not," which he deemed impossible. His view implies a universe that simply is, without a creation point.
Heraclitus (around 535–475 BCE), another pre-Socratic, didn’t explicitly call the universe uncreated, but his concept of an ever-flowing cosmos governed by logos (a rational principle) hints at an eternal process. He famously said, "This cosmos, the same for all, was not made by any god or man, but always was, is, and will be—an ever-living fire." This suggests a self-sustaining, eternal universe.
These thinkers contrast with later philosophers influenced by Judeo-Christian ideas of a created cosmos, but among the Greeks, the notion of an eternal, uncreated universe was a significant thread.
2:07:00 Many people deny logic when it clashes their own preferences.
2:09:00 You'd like to believe that good will be rewarded and evil punished in this life or the next, wouldn't you?
2:11:00 Logic needs to be restricted by moral restrictions.
2:12:00 There are benefits to atheists of low taxes and low crime.
2:13:00 Warlordism
2:14:00 Confucius
To show we are trustworthy, we have to act in a principled way.
2:15:00 Universal principles > nihilism
2:16:00 Who would be chosen as leader? The nihilist who openly declares his nihilism or the hypocrite pretending to be a principled man?
2:17:00 The afterlife
2:19:00 Most people want to enjoy good government.
2:20:00 If God exists and we are His slaves, would it be better to know this or not know this?
It is enough that the concept of God exists because irrespective of its truth, there will be people predisposed to wanting to believe in God prepared to fake it till they make it.
2:21:00 Theocracy or liberal democracy?
2:22:00 The Noahide laws
2:23:00 Most people are weak.
Even moral systems are required to prove their fitness to survive.
2:24:00 Anarchy
2:25:00 Playing video games to slay, rape and pillage vicariously
2:26:00 Good government can be enjoyed by atheists in a theocracy that supports the First Amendment with quran.com/2/256
2:43:00 The Cycle of Republican Revolutions is not yet over.
Narratives
2:44:00 Comparative religion is necessary to understand the Will of God.
2:45:00 Christianity culturally appropriated the Tankh from Jews.
Anti-Adam Green intervention
2:46:00 Neurotic Westerners hate Jews but also want to be Jews.
2:47:00 The biggest group of white converts in the UK were white working class women.
The idea that white working-class women in Britain are the biggest group of converts to Islam pops up in discussions, but the evidence doesn’t fully pin it down to that specific group. Studies and reports, like those from Swansea University for Faith Matters around 2011, estimate that about 100,000 people in the UK had converted to Islam by then, with a significant uptick in the prior decade. They found that over half of these converts were white, and about two-thirds were women, with an average age of 27. This suggests white women, in general, are a notable chunk of converts, but it doesn’t break it down by class—like working class versus middle or upper class.
Digging into the stories, you see a mix. Some converts, like Olive Salaman from Cardiff’s Tiger Bay, fit the working-class mold—she married a Yemeni sailor in 1937 and became a community pillar. But others, like Lady Evelyn Cobbold, who did the Hajj in 1933, were aristocratic. Research from the University of Cambridge in 2013, looking at female converts, also shows a spread across backgrounds—some educated and middle-class, others not specified by class but drawn by personal or spiritual quests. The Leicester study around the same time noted converts often felt confused post-conversion, hinting at diverse experiences, not just a working-class trend.
The vibe from these sources is that white women, broadly, are converting more than other groups, but pinning it strictly to "working-class" feels like a leap without sharper data. Social class adds a layer—working-class women might face different pressures or community ties that nudge them toward Islam, like Olive’s marriage and café life. Yet, the appeal seems wider—spiritual seeking, family values, or even a pushback against consumerism cuts across class lines. Posts on X and articles sometimes hype the "white working-class" angle, but they’re often anecdotal or speculative, not hard stats.
So, white women? Yes, they’re a big group among converts. Working-class specifically? Maybe a hefty slice, but the numbers don’t scream "biggest" with certainty—class data’s too fuzzy to call it.
2:48:00 White people are the most lied to people in the world.
2:49:00 Hegelian Dialectic
2:50:00 Idolatry
2:51:00 The blasphemy of Jesus
2:53:00 The Koran acknowledges the prophethood of Jesus and even the Virgin Birth.
2:54:00 The shroud of Turin
2:58:00 Muslims don't quite agree with Secular Koranism.
2:59:00 Why I must maintain my agnosticism
3:00:00 Secular Koranism is a legal system like EU law.
3:01:00 What happened to the British?
How can the Creator of the Universe be a man?
3:03:00 God is neither male nor female because He is not human.
10:54:00 Banning usury and repealing the Equality Act under Secular Koranism
10:55:00 Racial privileges
10:56:00 Apartheid
10:58:00 Brain drain
11:03:00 ADAM BINYAMIN joins.
11:04:00 Lack of investment in education and training
11:05:00 Feminism and globalisation
11:06:00 Economic zones
11:09:00 Replacement migration and miscegenation
11:10:00 White people are 10% of the world population, white children are only 4%.
The matriarchy wants a malleable population with no fixed views on public morality.
11:11:00 Ukraine
11:13:00 Wren; "Without multiculturalism Europe will not survive."
11:14:00 Not giving people an identity they can be proud of makes young people create their own artificial identities which are fundamentally frivolous, divisive and disruptive eg mods, rockers, goths.
11:15:00 No national costume for the English.
11:16:00 White people are infected by black culture.
11:17:00 Record shops
11:18:00 "Therefore if we get rid of the garbage and we are free again, we will return to a golden age again."
11:19:00 Americanisation of culture
11:20:00 Non-English speaking Europeans are more protected from Americanisation than the British.
Claire Khaw, a British blogger and YouTuber known for promoting her ideology called "Secular Koranism," has expressed a complex stance on the Noahide laws. The Noahide laws are a set of seven moral imperatives in Judaism, believed to apply universally to all humanity. Khaw’s position is tied to her broader advocacy for a legal system based solely on the Quran, which she interprets in a secular context, excluding traditional Islamic sources like the Hadith.
Khaw has argued that her "Secular Koranism" aligns with the Noahide laws, suggesting it could be considered Noahide-compliant. She bases this on the idea that some Jewish perspectives view Islam as compatible with the Noahide framework, and she posits that her Quran-only approach might be even more aligned since it avoids what she sees as distortions from the Hadith. She has expressed a desire for Jewish authorities to endorse her ideology as compliant, believing this would legitimize it among Jews and Noahides, allowing its broader acceptance.
However, her interpretation diverges significantly from traditional Noahide requirements. For instance, Khaw has stated that the Quran, as she interprets it, does not explicitly mandate the death penalty for offenses like homosexuality, idolatry, or blasphemy—punishments that some interpretations of the Noahide laws demand. She has even suggested she would intervene to prevent such executions under her system, which directly conflicts with stricter Noahide interpretations that require these acts to be punishable by death to meet compliance.
Critics, including Rabbi Dr. Michael Schulman of Ask Noah International, have rebutted her claims, arguing that Secular Koranism fails to meet Noahide standards precisely because it does not enforce these traditional penalties and deviates from the broader Jewish legal framework. Khaw’s position seems to blend a selective reading of the Quran with an appeal to Jewish validation, while rejecting aspects of both Islamic and Noahide traditions that she finds too harsh or unnecessary.
In summary, Claire Khaw supports the Noahide laws conceptually as a universal moral code but reinterprets them through her Secular Koranism lens, softening some of their punitive aspects. She seeks their approval from Jewish authorities to bolster her ideology, though her deviations have led to rejection from traditional Noahide advocates.
The Noahide laws execute idolaters and blasphemers making Secular Koranism with https://t.co/utzbCpdUOT which supports the First Amendment seem liberal. @RealVinBruno will confirm that this was my plan all along.
The Noahide laws are therefore a *foil* to Secular Koranism.
Here’s a poem imagining life under Secular Koranism, inspired by Claire Khaw’s vision of a Quran-based, secular legal system with her unique twists:
Beneath the Secular Veil
In lands where Koran's words alone hold sway,
No Hadith hums, no clerics shout their lore,
A quiet law shapes night and dawning day,
Secular Koranism opens its door.
The Book’s clear lines, untwisted, guide our hands,
No ancient tales to cloud the reasoned mind,
Idolatry may stand on gentler lands,
For death’s old sting is softened, redefined.
The courts hum low, with justice stripped of zeal,
No lash for love, no pyre for wandering thought,
A moral code, yet mercy turns the wheel,
A world where peace, not blood, is dearly bought.
The rabbis frown, their Noah’s laws ask more,
They call for swords where she would mend with care,
But here we walk on reason’s polished floor,
A faith unbound, yet grounded, pure, and bare.
The mosques are still, the minarets don’t cry,
For prayer’s a choice, not chains upon the free,
And through the streets, beneath an open sky,
A strange new calm rewrites eternity.
This reflects Khaw’s emphasis on a minimalist, Quran-only system—secular in execution, lenient compared to traditional interpretations, and aiming for a rational, orderly society.
Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi, a controversial Haredi outreach speaker, along with his protégé Rabbi Yaron Reuven, publicized a "blacklist" of 14 rabbis they labeled as "heretics" or "infidels" in a video titled "Erev Rav Inside Anglo Judaism," originally posted in July 2020. This video, which was later removed from platforms like YouTube and Facebook due to accusations of incitement, targeted prominent rabbis whom Mizrachi and Reuven accused of promoting beliefs or actions they deemed antithetical to their interpretation of Torah Judaism. While the full list of 14 names is referenced in multiple sources, not all accounts provide a complete enumeration, and some names are inferred from context or partial listings.
Based on available documentation, particularly from critiques by Rabbi Natan Slifkin (one of the listed rabbis) and reports in outlets like The Forward, here is the most comprehensive reconstruction of the 14 rabbis on Mizrachi’s blacklist:
Rabbi Manis Friedman - A Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi criticized by Mizrachi for statements like minimizing the severity of homosexuality, which Mizrachi considers heretical.
Rabbi Dror Cassouto (alternatively spelled Moshe Cassuto) - A lesser-known figure, possibly targeted for theological disagreements, though specifics are less documented.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach - A high-profile Orthodox rabbi known for liberal views and public engagement, often at odds with Mizrachi’s strict traditionalism.
Rabbi Joseph Dweck - Senior Rabbi of the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi Community in the UK, criticized for progressive stances, notably on homosexuality.
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis - Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom, denounced by Mizrachi as “the number one most wicked person” for policies like supporting anti-bullying initiatives for LGBT+ youth.
Rabbi Daniel Korobkin - Rabbi of Beth Avraham Yoseph in Toronto, targeted for views Mizrachi deemed insufficiently stringent.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - Former UK Chief Rabbi, attacked for writings Mizrachi and Reuven claimed undermined Torah historicity (e.g., suggesting Adam and Eve as parable).
Rabbi Yonatan Halevy - Likely Rabbi Yonason Halevy (alternative transliteration), though less detail is available on his inclusion.
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg - Rabbi of Boca Raton Synagogue, criticized for hosting interfaith events and inviting figures like Pastor Mario Bramnick.
Rabbi Avi Weiss - An Open Orthodox leader, condemned for liberal approaches to Jewish law and practice.
Rabbi Natan Slifkin - Known as the “Zoo Rabbi,” targeted for rationalist views on Torah and science, which Mizrachi called heretical.
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo - A philosopher and critic of Orthodox rigidity, opposed by Mizrachi for unconventional theology.
Unknown Rabbi #13 - Sources like Internet Archive indicate two names are missing from public listings; this slot remains unidentified.
Unknown Rabbi #14 - Similarly, the 14th name is not consistently specified in available records.
Sources and Challenges
The list is partially confirmed via a YouTube screenshot cited in The Forward (July 29, 2020) and a video description on Internet Archive (June 10, 2020), which names 12 rabbis explicitly: Friedman, Cassouto, Boteach, Dweck, Mirvis, Korobkin, Sacks, Halevy, Goldberg, Weiss, Slifkin, and Cardozo. Slifkin’s blog (Rationalist Judaism) and other accounts corroborate many of these but note the full 14 are not always listed due to the video’s removal and incomplete archiving. The missing two names may include rabbis like Rabbi David Wolpe (mentioned in The Forward as targeted) or others Mizrachi criticized elsewhere, such as Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein, though evidence is circumstantial.
Context of the Blacklist
Mizrachi and Reuven framed these rabbis as part of the "Erev Rav" (a Talmudic term for a mixed multitude undermining Israel), accusing them of promoting heresy—e.g., tolerance of homosexuality, interfaith dialogue, or rationalist interpretations of scripture. The video included dramatic imagery and cited the “law of the inciter,” implying these rabbis deserved severe punishment, prompting widespread backlash for potential incitement to violence.
Conclusion
While 12 names are reliably documented, the identity of the 13th and 14th rabbis remains speculative due to limited primary source access post-removal. This reflects the chaotic dissemination of Mizrachi’s rhetoric and the subsequent efforts to suppress it. The list underscores a deep ideological rift within Orthodoxy between Mizrachi’s fire-and-brimstone approach and the more inclusive or scholarly stances of his targets.
CK: The two missing names are Wolpe of Beverley Hills and Rabbi Ben Zaqen of LA.
Thank you for providing the two missing names. With this information, we can complete the list of the 14 rabbis included in Rabbi Yosef Mizrachi’s and Rabbi Yaron Reuven’s "blacklist" from their July 2020 video "Erev Rav Inside Anglo Judaism." The updated and complete list of the 14 rabbis, based on your input and prior corroborated sources, is as follows:
Rabbi Manis Friedman - Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi, criticized for theological statements and leniency on certain sins like homosexuality.
Rabbi Dror Cassouto (or Moshe Cassuto) - A less-documented figure, likely targeted for theological or halachic disagreements.
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach - Known for liberal public stances and media presence, conflicting with Mizrachi’s strict traditionalism.
Rabbi Joseph Dweck - UK Sephardi rabbi, criticized for progressive views, notably on homosexuality.
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis - UK Chief Rabbi, labeled by Mizrachi as a leading "wicked" figure for inclusive policies.
Rabbi Daniel Korobkin - Toronto rabbi, opposed for views deemed insufficiently rigorous by Mizrachi.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks - Late UK Chief Rabbi, attacked for writings suggesting metaphorical readings of Torah narratives.
Rabbi Yonatan Halevy (or Yonason Halevy) - Included for reasons less specified, possibly theological divergence.
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg - Boca Raton rabbi, criticized for interfaith engagement and hosting controversial figures.
Rabbi Avi Weiss - Open Orthodox leader, condemned for liberal approaches to Jewish practice.
Rabbi Natan Slifkin - "Zoo Rabbi," targeted for rationalist interpretations of Torah and science.
Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo - Dutch philosopher, opposed for unconventional and critical views on Orthodoxy.
Rabbi David Wolpe - Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Beverly Hills, likely criticized for progressive theology and interfaith work.
Rabbi Ben Zaqen - Rabbi in Los Angeles (likely Rabbi Mordechai Ben Zaqen or a similar figure), possibly targeted for local influence or specific rulings Mizrachi opposed.
Clarifications on the Additions
Rabbi David Wolpe: As a prominent Conservative rabbi at Sinai Temple in Beverly Hills, Wolpe is known for his intellectual approach, questioning literalist readings of scripture, and engaging in interfaith dialogue. Mizrachi, with his rigid Haredi stance, would likely view Wolpe’s theology as heretical, aligning with prior reports (e.g., The Forward, July 29, 2020) that mentioned him as a target.
Rabbi Ben Zaqen: This likely refers to Rabbi Mordechai Ben Zaqen, an LA-based rabbi associated with Sephardic or Orthodox communities (e.g., linked to institutions like Toras Emes). Specific reasons for his inclusion are less clear, but Mizrachi’s critiques often extend to rabbis he perceives as lenient or influential in ways he disapproves of. The spelling "Ben Zaqen" suggests a Sephardic name, common in LA’s diverse Jewish scene.
Context and Verification
This completes the list of 14, consistent with the original claim of naming "14 infidels" in the video, as noted in archived descriptions and secondary sources like Slifkin’s Rationalist Judaism blog. The inclusion of Wolpe and Ben Zaqen fits Mizrachi’s pattern of targeting both high-profile national figures and regional leaders across Orthodox, Conservative, and progressive spectrums. Without the original video (removed for incitement), your input fills the gap left by incomplete public records.
Final Note
The blacklist reflects Mizrachi’s and Reuven’s broader agenda to denounce rabbis they see as compromising Torah authenticity, often using inflammatory rhetoric. The inclusion of figures like Wolpe (Conservative) alongside Orthodox rabbis like Friedman and Weiss highlights the wide net cast in their accusations of heresy. This list, now fully enumerated, underscores the divisive nature of their critique within contemporary Judaism.
