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According to the book "Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel" by Israel Shahak the Lubavitcher Rebbe allegedly said in the 1965 book "Gatherings of Conversations" (Probably mean "Likkutei Sichot"):

"Two contrary types of soul exist, a non-Jewish soul comes from three satanic spheres, while the Jewish soul stems from holiness"

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    Any quotation from Shahak, who is a known and self-admitted liar, can be assumed to be false until proven otherwise. – Meir Aug 3 '20 at 14:32
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    Unless you can point to a valid source in Likutei Sichos this question is a violation of the halacha os shmiras halaxhon – sabbahillel Aug 4 '20 at 1:44
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    @sabbahillel there is value in refuting the words of people like Mr. Shahak who willfully distort and defame Judaism (please click on the wikipedia link provided by @Meir; the claim regarding Mayim Achronim as "worshipping the devil" would be particularly amusing if it weren't done on purpose – Josh K Aug 4 '20 at 3:27
  • Judaism does not believe in the Satan as an autonomous demonic force. That is more of a Christian thing. So it is unlikely that the Lubavitcher Rebbe said that. – The GRAPKE Sep 25 '20 at 0:02
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Hello Adin and welcome to Mi Yodeya.

Without more specific details in terms of the quotation from the Rebbe in Likkutei Sichot, it is difficult to pinpoint what the exact discussion was about.

But it sounds like the Rebbe was quoting and explaining the end of Chapter 1 in the first section of the Tanya (Likkutei Amarim) from the Alter Rebbe which says:

מה שאין כן נפשות אומות העולם, הן משאר קליפות טמאות שאין בהן טוב כלל, כמו שכתוב בעץ חיים-שער מט-פרק ג. וכל טיבו דעבדין האומות לגרמייהו עבדין, וכדאיתא בגמרא (בבא בתרא י ב) על פסוק (משלי יד לד): "וחסד לאומים חטאת", שכל צדקה וחסד שאומות העולם עושין אינן אלא להתייהר כו'.

And which quotes Rabbi Chaim Vital in Eitz Chaim, Sha'ar 49, Chapter 3 which says:

וגם הטמאים עיין פ' פנחס דף ר"מ ובזה תדע נפש הבהמית שבאדם מה הוא והוא יצר טוב ויצר הרע שבאדם ונשמתן של הגוים הם מג' קליפות רוח וענן ואש שכולם רע וכן הבהמות וחיות ועופות טמאים אך נפש הבהמית דישראל ונפש הבהמית דבהמות וחיות ועופות הטהורים כולם מנוגה

The Tanya is not discussing the Satan there, but it is quite possible that Israel Shahak, out of a lack of understanding, may have taken it to mean that because the Angel of Death, Samael is mentioned explicitly in Eitz Chaim.

This is not an innovation of the Rebbe, nor of the Alter Rebbe, but a teaching that comes directly from the Ari z'l via Rabbi Chaim Vital quoting the Zohar.

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  • So what does this passage mean? What does it mean that the souls of non-Jews is "unclean"? – עדין חייקין Aug 4 '20 at 9:47
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    @עדיןחייקין What you ask in your comment is a completely different question. What you want is an explanation of what the Ari z"l is teaching in Eitz Chaim. This isn't really the forum for such a broad subject. What you really need is a teacher to learn this subject privately. But to paraphrase the statement from the Alter Rebbe quoted above, it essentially means that all actions by the nations are done for their effect. Or to put it a different way, there is no altruism amongst the nations. And the consequence of this on a deeper level is division and separation which comes from 'Gevurah'. – Yaacov Deane Aug 4 '20 at 14:15
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Werner Cohn 26 years ago reviewed this book by Israel Shahak and showed how Israel Shahak completely fabricated stuff about what Jews said and did. Read this article showing how Shahak just makes up lie after lie.
http://wernercohn.com/Shahak.html

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