After generating controversy for his assertions that only one million Jews perished during the Holocaust, while the other five million may not have been considered Jews according to halacha due to rampant assimilation and pervasive intermarriage, Rabbi Yossi Mizrachi, an incredibly inspirational kiruv rabbi and lecturer issued an apology.
The video in which he made these remarks was from an address he delivered in Queens several years ago. After surfacing last Tuesday, the video went viral and could be seen all over social media as well as You Tube. In it, Rabbi Mizrachi stated, “This is how it was in Europe, 80 percent of the Jewish people were assimilated and intermarried with non-Jews many generations before the Holocaust.”
Subsequently, the reaction of the masses concerning Rabbi Mizrachi’s statements grew ever more critical and elicited angst from a wide segment of the Jewish population.
In an e-mail apology sent to the Yeshiva World News web site, Rabbi Mizrachi said: “I wish to apologize for my incorrect statement regarding the six million Kedoshim (holy ones) that were tragically murdered in the Holocaust.”
Mizrachi, who has posted thousands of popular outreach lectures online, said in the apology that he had been “shown the accurate statistics and I realize that those that were not halachically Jewish were a very small, minimal number.”
“The Kedoshim of the Holocaust need to be remembered and sanctified in the most honorable way possible,” Mizrachi continued. “My goal was to wake up our nation to the silent holocaust that is happening now which is the increasing intermarriage cases in the U.S.A. and the rest of the world.”
Mizrachi added that his words were taken out of context since only part of the video was broadcast, according to a report in Ha’aretz.
“It has never, ever been my intention to offend any of the Holocaust survivors or their family members,” he said.
After serving in the IDF in his native Israel, Rabbi Mizrachi moved to New York City in the late 1980s. In 1994, Rabbi Mizrachi made a concerted effort to bring Torah true Judaism to the hearts and minds of those totally disconnected with their heritage. Thusly, he began delivering captivating addresses and seminars to secular Israelis in the New York/New Jersey area. His straight forward and refreshingly honest style immediately caught one and his audiences rapidly grew. They now included Americans; both observant and non-observant and people of all ages and backgrounds.
In 1997, he began learning Torah full time and obtained a position teaching gemara at Yeshivas Ohr Yisroel in Monsey.
According to a YWN report, as of 2011, Rabbi Mizrachi has delivered over 4000 lectures worldwide as well as participated in many weekend seminars, radio shows and other Hebrew and English events in which he enriches the knowledge and awareness of Judaism among thousands of Jews who are devoid of such knowledge.
In 2004 he started his website, http://Divineinformation.com/ that has over 700 lectures of videos and audio with viewers from more than 50 countries around the world.
Original article published HERE.
