Chabad's Lost Messiah - part 3 (Notes)

[malenkiyscot]

Notes
1. For more on this issue, as well as on the theological intimations
included in the eulogies for the victims of the attack, see Avishai
Ben-Haim, “Sanctifying God’s Name Through Death? Not Enough,” nrg Maariv,
December 28, 2008, www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/831/694.html [Hebrew].
2. It is difficult to obtain accurate information on the size of the
Chabad movement, as the definition of membership is somewhat amorphous.
According to rough estimates, the movement has between 40,000 to 50,000
followers. Considering that Chabad had only a few thousand adherents when
Menachem Mendel Schneerson became its leader, these estimates give a good
indication of the enormous impact he had on the movement.
3. Avishai Ben-Haim, “Rabbi Shach: Is He Really the Outstanding Rabbi of
the Generation?” Ynet, November 2, 2001,
www.ynet.co.il/articles/1,7340,L-1268268,00.html [Hebrew].
4. Quoted by Alon Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms’: The Messianic
Doctrine of Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (The Lubavitcher Rebbe),”
(Ph.D. diss., Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 2006), p. 245, note 161
[Hebrew]. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef ’s declaration was made in response to
Schneerson’s claim that the Chabad Rebbe (i.e., himself) is the “substance
and essence” of God. See Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Likutei
Sichot/Collected Talks, vol. 2 (Brooklyn: Karnei Hod Hatorah, 5752), p.
511 [Hebrew]. In addition, there is an audio recording from the 1960s in
which the Rebbe can be heard singing Psalms 63:3, “To see your power and
your glory, as I have seen you in the sanctuary,” to which he then adds,
“to see my power and my glory” (emphasis mine). However, that the Rebbe’s
“substance and essence” remark must be viewed in the light of hasidic
theology in general and Chabad mysticism in particular in order to be
properly understood; those familiar with both these complicated traditions
will realize that the Rebbe did not identify himself simplistically with
God, as a superficial interpretation of his statement might lead one to
believe.
5. David Berger, The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox
Indifference (London: Littman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001), pp.
81-83. In this context it is worth mentioning several websites critical of
Chabad messianism, such as www.FailedMessiah.com, edited by Shmarya
Rosenberg (who was subsequently banished from Chabad for his writings), as
well as http://moshiachtalk.tripod.com, by Orthodox rabbi Gil Student, who
offers proofs that the Rebbe was not the messiah. See Gil Student, Can the
Rebbe Be Moshiach? Proofs from Gemara, Midrash, and Rambam that the Rebbe,
zt”l, Cannot Be Moshiach (Boca Raton, Fla.: Universal, 2002).
6. See Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5750, part 4
(Brooklyn: Lahak Hanachos, 1993), pp. 325-331 [Hebrew]. Here, the Rebbe
refers to the Chabad custom of not sleeping in the sukka, and declares
that whoever objects to this custom is an “instigator of quarrel and one
who injects disagreement and hatred into the Jewish people” (emphasis in
original). The Rebbe adds, “Such a Jew is not a ‘learned person of
Torah,’” and is in fact “fighting the war of the S.M. [Samael, the Devil]
against halacha,” and “delays redemption by our righteous messiah.” The
Jew to whom the Rebbe is referring is none other than Rabbi Shach. See the
full text at www.otzar770.com, a website containing scanned copies of all
the Rebbe’s writings. Chabad’s followers feel a particular malice toward
Rabbi Shach. According to a story—most likely fabricated—that is widely
circulated within the movement, sometime in the early 1960s, Rabbi Shach
wanted to be the head of Tomchei Temimim (“Supporters of the
Innocent”)—the central yeshiva of the Israeli town of Kfar Chabad (“Chabad
Village”)—but was rejected. Chabad’s youth organization, “The Armies of
God,” used to sing a song about Rabbi Shach whose last verse was “The
sacred Tomchei Temimim / Shach wished to be its head / and was shamefully
driven away / due to lack of knowledge / and you shall say death to the
goy (‘non-Jew’) / Lezer Shach, may his name be forgotten.”
7. This issue has remained unaddressed despite the recent publication of
several books on the Rebbe, including Herman Branover, A Prophet from Your
Midst: A Biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe (Kfar Chabad: M.M.S., 2006)
[Hebrew], and Yitzhak Kraus, The Seventh: Messianism in the Last
Generation of Chabad (Tel Aviv: Yediot Aharonot, 2007) [Hebrew]. The
former is pure hagiography, while the latter is an academic analysis of
the Rebbe’s messianic reflections. Surprisingly, both books avoid the
question of whether the Rebbe himself believed he was the messiah and
encouraged others to believe it as well. This avoidance serves to
reinforce the false impression that the eruption of messianic faith among
his followers was not encouraged by the Rebbe, let alone orchestrated by
him.
8. In its original sense, this hasidic-kabbalistic expression refers to
two types of redemptive awakenings among its members: itaruta deletata and
itaruta dele’eila (“awakening from below” and “awakening from above”).
Originally, the first type of awakening was believed to have been
initiated by believers, and the second by God.
9. See Menachem Friedman, “Messiah and Messianism in Chabad-Lubavitch
Hasidism,” in David Ariel-Yoel et al., eds., The War of Gog and Magog:
Messianism and Apocalypse in Judaism—In the Past and Present (Tel Aviv:
Yediot Aharonot, 2001), pp. 174-229 [Hebrew]. The article appears online
at www.biu.ac.il/SOC/so/Chabad-Mashi’ach.pdf.
10. Letter from Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn, the sixth Lubavitcher
rebbe, to Rabbi Avraham Mordechai Alter Magor, quoted in Friedman,
“Messiah and Messianism,” p. 189.
11. The story of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok’s rescue from Europe would make for
a good suspense novel, and is documented in Bryan Mark Rigg’s book Rescued
from the Reich: How One of Hitler’s Soldiers Saved the Lubavitcher Rebbe
(New Haven: Yale, 2004). In order to smuggle him out of occupied Warsaw in
1940, the rebbe’s followers pressured U.S. president Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, who in turn pressured American officials with connections to
German officers in Poland. Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, head of German
intelligence, coordinated the operation, and sent Ernst Bloch, an
outstanding (and part-Jewish) Werhmacht officer to search for the rebbe
and bring him to safety.
12. See Dahan, “‘Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 23.
13. Yosef Yitzchok Schneerson, “The Truth About the Present Jewish
Disaster,” Reading and Holiness 9 (June 1941), p. 7.
14. The Rebbe addresses the significance of “polishing the buttons” in a
talk given on January 13, 1987. It can be viewed at

tmwww.chabad.org/multimedia/livingtorah_cdo/aid/604933/jewish/Polishing-the-Buttons.h.



15. See Avirama Golan, “Messiah of Flesh and Blood,” Haaretz, February 11,
2007, in which she interviews Menachem Friedman, who discovered these
facts through meticulous research. The article is available online at
www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=824394.



16. Friedman, “Messiah and Messianism,” p. 219. Alon Dahan, however,
rejects this idea. He also reveals that after the death of Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchok and prior to Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s assumption of Chabad’s
leadership, the latter took it upon himself to learn two tractates, one
for himself and one for the former rebbe, who was “about to merge into
him.” Menachem Mendel likely believed this “merging” was necessary in
order to guarantee that there would be ten hasidic leaders between himself
and the Baal Shem Tov, ten being a number of great messianic significance.
This illustrates not only the degree of intimacy between Menachem Mendel
and his predecessor, but also the extent to which messianism permeated his
consciousness even before he assumed leadership of Chabad. This belief may
well be what convinced him that he—and not Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary—would be
the next rebbe. See Alon Dahan, “Inheritance Struggles in Chabad
Hasidism,” Kivunim Hadashim 17 (January 2008), pp. 213-214 [Hebrew].
17. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 12.
18. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 83.
19. Kraus notes, “His writings from the year 1951 have served as the
central motif of his teachings, starting from the beginning of his tenure
as rebbe up until his last discourse in the year 1992.” Kraus, Seventh, p.
35. The entire sermon can be read in Menachem Mendel Schneerson, “Maamar
Basi Legani: The First Hasidic Discourse,” in Basi Legani: Hasidic
Discourses, ed. Uri Kaploun, trans. Sholom B. Wineberg (Brooklyn: Kehot,
1990). The text is available online at www.hebrewbooks.org/15611. The
title is a reference to Song of Songs 5:1: “I have come into my garden, my
sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten my
honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O dear
ones, and drink, drink deep, O loving companions.”
20. Song of Songs Rabba 5:1. Emphasis mine.
21. Schneerson, “Basi Legani,” p. 99.
22. Leviticus Rabba 29:11.
23. Schneerson, “Basi Legani,” p. 87,
www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/115098/jewish/Chapter-3.htm.
24. Kraus points out that “the perception of redemption as a deterministic
process serves as a crucial element in Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s
teachings… consistent with this idea humanity acts, generation after
generation, according to the plan, and its zenith—the cosmic
redemption—will be manifested in the creations’ recognition of the
absolute unity of the creator.” Kraus, Seventh, p. 29.
25. According to the kabbalistic teachings of the sixteenth-century Jewish
mystic Isaac Luria, God had to “constrict” or “contract” himself in order
to create the space necessary for creation. This is referred to as the
tzimtzum (“constriction” or “reduction”). The Torah is seen as a
manifestation of the heavenly light that emanated into the space vacated
by the divine essence. In kabbalistic terms, then, the Rebbe’s insistence
on bringing the primordial light of the divinity—the essence of God
himself—into the world would be a reversal of the tzimtzum. Chabad
mysticism, unlike other mystical doctrines—including Luria’s—does not see
this act as the nullification of the material world and a return to the
divinity, but rather as a lowering of the divine presence to Earth, and
its unification with worldly reality, for the divine essence yearns for a
“dwelling in the lowly realms.” This idea reflects the prominent monistic
aspect in Chabad theology, which sees God in everything and views the
separation between the divinity and the earthly world as an illusion that
will be dispelled when redemption comes. This pantheistic view, which
strives for the merger of the Creator and the created as the zenith of the
“unity of opposites” (“Coincidentia Oppositorum”), was formulated by Rabbi
Shneur Zalman of Liadi and his brilliant student, Rabbi Aharon Halevi
Horowitz from Strashelya. See Rachel Elior, The Paradoxical Ascent to God:
The Kabbalistic Theosophy of Chabad Hasidim, trans. Jeffrey M. Green
(Albany: State University of New York, 1993). The Rebbe expanded upon this
doctrine, deepening its messianic aspects. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the
Lowly Realms,’” pp. 12-27.
26. Chabad defines a “generation” as the duration of each rebbe’s
leadership.
27.Schneerson, “Basi Legani,” pp. 88-89,
www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/115098/jewish/Chapter-3.htm.
28. Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn, known as the hasidic Maharash Rebbe, is the
sixth rebbe in the Chabad rabbinical dynasty, which traces itself back to
the Baal Shem Tov.
29. Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5711, part 1 (5754), p. 106. For an
English translation, see Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Proceeding Together:
The Earlier Talks of the Milubavicher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson,
vol. 3 (Tishrei-Teves 5711/1951) (N.Y.: 778 Eastern Parkway, 1999), pp.
161-162. Available at
www.sichosinenglish.org/books/proceeding-together-3/17.htm.
30. The Baal Shem Tov sometimes represents the sefira of keter, sometimes
the atik deketer (“ancient one of the crown”), and on still other
occasions the sefira of hesed (“compassion”). See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in
the Lowly Realms,’” pp. 201-206. Dahan also notes that according to every
counting method, the Rebbe was supposed to be identified not with the
sefira of malchut, but rather with the sefira of yesod (“foundation”). The
reason for this is that the Rebbe was actually the ninth generation since
the Baal Shem Tov, not the tenth. The Rebbe found an interesting
theological solution to this problem: He claimed to have “merged” with his
father-in-law, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. As a result, the Rebbe was,
mystically speaking, two rebbes simultaneously. Dahan explains that this
“merging” was necessary in order for Menachem Mendel to embody the sefirah
of malchut according to the line of rabbinical succession. See Dahan, “‘A
Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” pp. 211-214, 256-262. In this way, the
Rebbe ensured that his father-in-law, Yosef Yitzchok, had in effect held
the leadership during two sequential periods—first during his life, and
then after his death, as a result of his unification with Menachem Mendel.
In terms of Chabad mysticism, then, Yosef Yitzchok would be identified
with both the sefira of hod (“sincerity”) and the sefira of yesod. His
successor, Menachem Mendel, could thus legitimately be identified with the
sefira of malchut. Dahan writes that “Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s
action was unprecedented and bold. The double appointment of Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchok Schneersohn and, in addition, the simultaneous existence of two
generations—the ninth and the tenth—was utterly mystifying. More than once
I have asked myself the obvious question: Why did Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneerson act in such a way? I must admit that I was able to find but one
answer: The tenth, malchut, generation is the generation of redemption;
and one who precedes the time of the tenth generation and at the same time
declares that it is currently occurring, simultaneous with the ninth
generation, and that two rebbes are serving in parallel—Yosef Yitzchok
Schneersohn through Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and Menachem Mendel
Schneerson himself—is one who desires to precipitate matters and expedite
redemption. Furthermore, the appointment of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok
Schneersohn as leader of the ninth generation turns Menachem Mendel
Schneerson into the leader of the tenth generation, and, according to the
messianic dynasty model, into the messiah himself.” See Dahan, “‘A
Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 214 (emphasis mine).




31. In kabbalistic literature it is customary to view the sefirah malchut
as a symbol of the passive female, which absorbs the plenitude that
descends from the male sefirot above it.
32. Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Sichos in English vol. 43, Rosh Hashana
(5750), part 2, available at
www.sichosinenglish.org/books/sichos-in-english/43/01.htm.
33. Chabad Hasidism initially favored reason over emotion. In the Tanya,
for instance, Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi emphasizes that “the brain
rules and reigns over the spirit that is in our hearts.” Tanya: Likkutei
Amarim (Brooklyn: Karnei Hod Torah, 5744), ch. 12, p. 34 [Hebrew]. Under
the leadership of Rabbi Shlomo Dovber Schneersohn, however, this began to
change, mainly as a response to the Lithuanian yeshivas’ emphasis on
scholarship, as well as the emergence of the haskala and secularization.
During this period, Chabad began to place increasing emphasis on the
“interiority of the Torah,” that is, the kabbalistic interpretation of the
sources, which was considered more important than the plain study of the
halacha. Gradually, the internal logic of the Kabbala became the only
paradigm through which Chabad could perceive reality. The Rebbe’s embrace
of the messianic conclusions derived from this logic appears, therefore,
to have been inevitable.
34. See Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,
trans. Talcott Parsons (London: Ruskin House, 1930), pp. 102-128. A
prominent example of this phenomenon is Gush Emunim, a political and
messianic movement that seeks to establish Jewish settlement in the
biblical lands of Judea and Samaria (the modern-day West Bank). In his
doctoral thesis on the subject, Gideon Aran writes: “From the long history
of the social, religious or political movements that possessed a clear
messianic quality, we can infer that, surprisingly, a worldview
distinguished by optimistic determinism… is in fact related to radical
activism. Obviously, one might assume that absolute knowledge of future
events, and the confidence that things will occur in a way that is both
necessary and desirable, would lead to a passive inclination—that is, to a
calm and inactive anticipation. However, it appears that [deterministic]
faith nearly always stimulates decisive action and an attempt to take an
active role in the course of events, while crudely violating existing
restrictions and harshly imposing new rulings upon the individual and
society as a whole.” See Gideon Aran, “From Religious Zionism to a Zionist
Religion: The Roots of Gush Emunim and Its Culture” (Ph.D. diss., Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, 1987), p. 453 [Hebrew].
35. Berger, Rebbe, p. 22.
36. It is not possible here to give a complete analysis of the theological
logic that drives Chabad’s widespread missionary activity, but one example
may serve: When asked to explain the necessity of worldwide religious
activism, the Rebbe quoted a famous letter from the Baal Shem Tov to his
brother-in-law, Rabbi Gershon of Kitov, in which he described a
conversation between himself and the messiah. The Baal Shem Tov asked the
redeemer, “When will you arrive, sir?” and the messiah replied, “When your
wellsprings overflow outward.” The Lubavitchers, viewing themselves as the
elite of the hasidic movement (and Judaism as a whole), interpret this
answer as a commandment to disseminate their teachings. In accordance with
the biblical passage, “And you shall spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the south” (Genesis 28:14), their goal is
to spread their “seed” over the globe, providing a taste of it to every
human being on earth. Although this is an eschatological form of activism,
in that it clearly seeks to hasten the redemption, I have chosen in this
essay to focus on the specific projects the Rebbe initiated in order to
reveal his messianic identity to the world.
37. Matthew 21:4-5. This passage is actually based on a misreading of
Zechariah 9:9, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of
Jerusalem, behold your king comes to see you, he is just, and victorious;
humble, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass.”
There are several other incidents described in the Gospels in which Jesus
attempts to enact messianic prophecies from the Bible. For example, when
he is captured by the Romans, he tells Peter not to resist, saying,
“Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my father, and he shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the
scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” (Matthew 26:53-54). Jesus’
passivity in the face of arrest is likely based on his expectation that he
will thus enact Isaiah’s description of the suffering messiah: “In truth,
he has borne our sickness, and endured our pains, yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded because of our
transgressions, bruised because of our iniquities; his sufferings were
that we might have peace, and by his injury we are healed” (Isaiah
53:4-5). Interestingly, some of the Rebbe’s followers quoted the same
verses regarding the stroke that left their leader incapacitated. See, for
example, Long Live the King Messiah (Bnei Brak: The Institute of the
Messiah’s Doctrine, 5766), p. 61 [Hebrew], available at
www.shluchimcenter.org/kvatzim/yechi.pdf.
38. Sanhedrin 98a, “He [R. Joshua Ben Levi] asked him [Elijah the
Prophet]: When will the messiah come? Go ask him yourself, was his reply.
[R. Joshua asked:] Where is he sitting? [Answered Elijah:] At the entrance
[to Rome]. [R. Joshua asked:] And by what sign may I recognize him?
[Answered Elijah:] He is sitting among the poor lepers: All of them untie
[their bandages] all at once and rebandage them; whereas he unties and
rebandages each separately, [before treating the next], thinking, should I
be wanted, [it being time for my appearance as the messiah] I must not be
delayed. So R. Joshua went to the messiah and greeted him: Peace upon you,
master and teacher. Peace upon you, O son of Levi he replied. When will
you come, master? asked R. Joshua. Today, was his answer. On R. Joshua’s
return to Elijah, the latter inquired, What did he say to you? Peace upon
you, O son of Levi, he answered. Thereupon he [Elijah] observed: Thereby
he assured you and your father of [a portion in] the world to come. He
rejoined: He spoke falsely to me, stating that he would come today, but he
has not. He [Elijah] answered him, This is what he said: ‘today even, if
you will only hearken to his voice’ (Psalms 95:7).” The Lubavitchers
assumed that the Rebbe did not venture out of Crown Heights, Brooklyn—and
definitely would not make aliya to Israel—because he was required to dwell
“at the entrance to Rome.” See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’”
p. 336.
39. In one published discussion with the Rebbe, the notes (approved by
him) clarify that Maimonides is the final adjudicator on this matter, and
no one is permitted to disagree with him. Schneerson, Likutei Sichot, part
5 (5749), p. 149, note 51 [Hebrew]. Additional evidence of the vast
importance attributed to Maimonides’s opinion on the issue of messianic
criteria is a well-known halachic ruling, sanctioned on Shavuot in 1991 by
numerous Chabad rabbis, in which they acknowledge that the Rebbe was the
messiah. The halachic justification for this ruling was based on
Maimonides’s writings. To read the ruling, see www.psakdin.net/en.
Scholar of Jewish thought Aviezer Ravitzky refers to Chabad’s adherence to
Maimonides’s halachic rulings as proof that there is no similarity between
Chabad messianism and Sabbatianism. He writes, “The laws and the norms of
the Torah themselves constitute the laws and norms of the redemption; the
messianic process is completely subject to the halachic criteria and
guidelines set down by Maimonides in the final section of his Mishneh
Torah.” See Aviezer Ravitzky, Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious
Radicalism, trans. Michael Swirsky and Jonathan Chipman(Chicago:
University of Chicago, 1996), p. 202.
40. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Laws of Kings and Their Wars 11:4. The
sentence in brackets appears in this place in the censored version. In the
complete text, it appears slightly later. Regarding the statement itself,
it is not surprising that Chabad embraced a messianic vision in which “the
world goes on its usual way.” According to the Rebbe’s interpretation,
Maimonides’s writings refer only to the era preceding the messiah’s
arrival. After the redemption, the Rebbe claimed, the laws of nature will
change—a development that Maimonides does not take into account in the
above-mentioned text.




41. See, for instance, Schneerson, Likutei Sichot, part 18 (5750), pp.
276-284, in which the Rebbe examines Maimonides’s rulings in detail. For
an example of a Chabad publication on Mishneh Torah that came out before
the Rebbe’s death, see the halachic ruling discussed in note 39, above.
For an example of a publication that came out afterward, see Long Live the
King Messiah, pp. 13-14 and 42-58, which describe Maimonides’s messianic
criteria and explain how they were fulfilled by the Rebbe.
42. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 221, note 76.
43. The claim of the Rebbe’s “kingship” is based on the belief that he
embodied the sefira of malchut, which rules this world. Berger points out
in reference to this claim that “by ‘king,’ Maimonides surely meant a
temporal ruler with genuine powers of compulsion who fought real wars, not
someone who is king only by virtue of the rabbinic dictum that rabbis are
called kings, nor was Maimonides thinking of a man who persuades a few
thousand Jews to observe the Torah and whose battles are fought with
‘mitzvah tanks’ and soldiers belonging to a youth movement named ‘the
armies of the Lord.’” Berger, Rebbe, p. 9.
44. Dahan explains that “an essential difference between the rebbes of
Chabad and the rest of the tzadikkim is that both the Chabad rebbes and
their followers viewed themselves [the rebbes] as the exclusive leaders of
Israel… in their view, the tzaddikim, especially those from Galicia and
Poland, do not constitute the general soul of the Jewish people, but only
that of their followers… only the rebbes of Chabad absorb the heavenly
plenitude.… Chabad perceives itself as the essence of Judaism, and not
just as another movement or a stream therein.” Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the
Lowly Realms,’” pp. 238-239.
45. Indeed, when Zalman Shazar, then-president of Israel, wished to meet
Menachem Mendel Schneerson, he had to go to the Rebbe’s Crown Heights
residence since the Rebbe refused to visit him in the New York hotel in
which he was staying. The Rebbe also refused to refer to him as
“president” (nassi in Hebrew, which also means “prince”), because the
Rebbe considered himself the only true “prince” of Israel. Not
surprisingly, the page dedicated to Shazar at Chabad’s online
encyclopedia, Chabadpedia, uses the English transliteration of
“president,” rather than the Hebrew term, to make clear that his title
referred to a strictly mundane office. See
www.chabad.info/Chabadpedia/index.php?title=%D7%A9%D7%96%22%D7%A8
[Hebrew].
46. Yaakov Ariel, a professor in the department of religious studies at
the University of North Carolina, points out that there was no massive
Jewish repentance movement before Chabad embarked on its missionary
activism. In the 1950s, the first two emissaries sent to address Jews who
were no longer observant were Rabbi Zalman Shachter-Shalomi and Rabbi
Shlomo Carlebach. Missionary activities were expanded only as a result of
their achievements—about which their leaders were in truth quite
ambivalent. Later emissaries, however, were more loyal to the hasidic
movement’s ideological stance. The success of these enterprises inspired
the establishment of the Diaspora Yeshiva in Israel in 1967, headed by
Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein. The Ohr Samayach and Aish Hatorah yeshivas
appeared shortly afterward, and drew in many of the newly observant during
the 1970s. One may conclude, therefore, that Chabad was present at the
onset of the modern phenomenon of the “return” to observance by secular
Jews. For more on this topic, see Yaakov Ariel’s May 21, 2008 lecture at a
conference at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev titled, “Kabbala and
Contemporary Spiritual Revival: Historical, Sociological and Cultural
Perspectives,” available as an abstract at
http://hsf.bgu.ac.il/cjt/files/SpritualityConference-Abstracts.htm#Yaakov_Ariel.
47. For example, a severe public condemnation was delivered by the Satmar
Rebbe, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, in his book On Redemption and Change
(Brooklyn: Jerusalem Publishing, 1967) [Hebrew]. After the Six Day War,
Teitelbaum criticized religious Jews who “drag” after the Zionists and
“call out that God has delivered great, mighty miracles” (p. 88).
Teitelbaum further declared, “Some observers of the Torah and mitzvot have
until now recognized the impurity of Zionism, whose actions and ruses and
successes are all but the Devil’s acts meant to incite and expel many of
the Jewish people, and suddenly they have changed their mind and they
speak like typical Zionists and marvel at the success of the wicked” (p.
186). Although the Satmar Rebbe did not mention Chabad or its Rebbe by
name, it is clear that he is referring to them: Chabad initially objected
to Zionism but later changed its position and came to see the State of
Israel as a positive development in the process of redemption. Teitelbaum
also referred directly to the mitzvah of tefillin and wondered why his
unnamed rivals “specifically focus on [it],” an implicit criticism of
Chabad’s “mitzvah campaigns.” The Rebbe apparently understood Teitelbaum’s
intentions and replied to the accusations, albeit without mentioning his
name, immediately following the release of his book. See Schneerson,
Likutei Sichot, part 6 (5750), p. 271. More details of the debate can be
found in Kraus, Seventh, pp. 167-174.
48. One must distinguish between the encouragement of tshuva and the
“mitzvah campaigns.” The purpose of Chabad’s tefillin stands, for example,
is first and foremost to get Jews to perform one mitzva, not necessarily
to bring them to complete ritual observance, although clearly this is the
most desirable outcome. According to Chabad theology, “the act is the main
thing,” and the redemption cannot be brought about simply by contemplating
the radiance of the divine spirit. Instead, one must perform actual
mitzvot and encourage others to do so as well. This is done in order to
create a “dwelling in the lowly realms” for God—that is, to bring the
divinity into this world. According to the Rebbe, it is the Jewish
people’s role to prepare this “dwelling,” and no Jew can escape this
mission. “There is no doubt,” he said, “that in preparing this home for
God in the lower world, all of us need to be involved, and all of the
Jewish people, each and every one, needs to fulfill his mission himself.”
Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5711, part 1 (5754), p. 213. From this
point of view, it is unnecessary and even forbidden to wait for all Jews
to repent, because redemption is in any case extremely near. Precisely
because salvation is so close, however, it is necessary to convince more
and more Jews to perform mitzvot, even if only on random and isolated
occasions, because every single mitzvah has the potential to breach the
last barrier separating us from redemption. This outlook is obviously
influenced by the kabbalistic teachings of Yitzhak Luria, according to
which the fulfillment of the mitzvot raises the divine “sparks” confined
in the olam haklipot (“world of husks”). Only when all of the sparks have
been liberated and returned to their divine origin will redemption be
attained.
49. The Rebbe described the Four Species, the plants waved together on the
holiday of Sukkot, in a particularly militaristic way: “The etrog is a
sort of ‘bullet’ or ‘shell;’ the lulav is like a ‘gun,’ and the hadas is
like a ‘knife’ and so forth.” Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5744, part
1 (5750), pp. 268-269. Quoted by Kraus, Seventh, p. 215.
50. Yosef Hartman, Education in Chabad Doctrine (Kfar Chabad: Ohalei Yosef
Yitzhak Lubavitch, 5744), p. 323 [Hebrew]. Quoted in Kraus, Seventh, p.
206.




51. Berger notes, “A distinguished rabbi has told me that he considers
this military terminology, endorsed by the Rebbe himself, to have been
motivated by the desire to fulfill the Maimonidean criteria, and I am
afraid that he is probably correct.” Berger, Rebbe, p. 19.
52. According to Chabad, the Jewish year 5743 (1983), written in Hebrew as
ה'תשמ"ג and in English as tav-shin-gimmel-mem, is interpreted as Tehe
Shnat Gilui Mashiach, or “May it be the year the messiah is revealed.”
53. See Sanhedrin 56a.
54. Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5747, part 2 (5750), p. 614.
55. It is important to note, however, that Chabad does not believe that
Jews and non-Jews share the same amount of responsibility for bringing the
messiah. Ultimately, it is the Jews who will hasten the redemption, both
by adhering to the mitzvot and by awakening the messianic consciousness of
the Jewish people.
56. The Rebbe stated, “This declaration constitutes an apparent sign from
above regarding the necessity of this action [teaching non-Jews the Seven
Noahide Laws] in these times. Simply put—we are, as stated, at the ‘end of
days.’” Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5747, part 3 (5750), p. 68,
emphasis in original.
57. The Rebbe used this expression frequently in his writings. For
example, in Farbrengen, he stated, “In previous generations, the Jews
suffered oppression from the Gentile nations in which they lived and in
the present generation, the opposite is true. Most Jews live in countries
whose governments are generous and assist them in the observance of the
Torah and mitzvot, allowing them to carry out the spiritual service that
will bring about a personal redemption, which in turn will hasten the
coming of the redemption as a whole. Surely, this is true of the country
in which we are living. Furthermore, these countries are also granting
assistance to Jews in the world at large, helping Jews immigrate to Eretz
Yisrael (‘The Land of Israel’).” See Schneerson, Farbrengen / Convening,
5751, part 3 (5753), p. 188. For an English translation, see Schneerson,
Sichos in English, vol. 48, “Shabbos Parshas Acharei-Kedoshim, 13th Day of
Iyar, 5751,” available at
www.sichosinenglish.org/books/sichos-in-english/48/13.htm.
58.T he Lesser Sanctuary Is the House of Our Rabbi in Babylon (Brooklyn:
Otzar Hahasidim, 2004) [Hebrew]. The full Hebrew text of the essay appears
online at www.shluchimcenter.org/kvatzim/malchus/2/034.pdf.
59. Lesser Sanctuary, p. 399, emphasis in original.
60. Lesser Sanctuary, p. 400.
61. Lesser Sanctuary, p. 401.
62. At this point, the original text—approved by the Rebbe—mentions the
Midrash from tractate Sanhedrin according to which the messiah sits at the
entrance to the city of Rome. Chabad interpreted this as referring to New
York City, i.e., the Rebbe’s place of residence. See Lesser Sanctuary, p.
402, emphasis in original.
63. Lesser Sanctuary, pp. 404-405, emphasis in original.
64. Lesser Sanctuary, p. 406, emphasis in original. According to Jewish
numerology (gematria),770 has the same numerical value as the words “house
of the messiah.” The Rebbe noted this in a different discourse.
65. Berger, Rebbe, p. 39.
66. The Rebbe’s most explicit statement on this subject appears in the
quote mentioned on pages 92-93, endnote 32.
67. This was described to me by an eyewitness to the event. The same
person also told me of other incidents during which the Rebbe encouraged
shouts declaring him the messiah by waving his hands. The witness assured
me that the Rebbe’s followers had no doubts about the Rebbe’s confidence
in his messianic destiny, and that this was the motive behind his actions.
To view a short film in which the Rebbe encourages the chant “Long live
our master!” (yehi adonenu), see www.israel613.com/VIDEOS/first-yechi.rm.
For an even more egregious clip, filmed after the Rebbe’s stroke, see
www.israel613.com/VIDEOS/yechi-1kislev5753.rm.
68. Schneerson, The Collected Book of Essays, vol. 1 (Brooklyn: Karnei Hod
Hatorah, 5753), p. 97 [Hebrew], quoted at length in Kraus, Seventh, pp.
69-70. As stated above, Kraus chose not to tackle the question of the
Rebbe’s own belief in his messianic status. As a result of this omission,
the book suffers from some notable flaws. For example, Kraus ignores the
meaning of the term “mamash” as used by the Rebbe.
69. Toward the end of February 1992, a mere week before the Rebbe suffered
the stroke that robbed him of his ability to speak, Micha Odenheimer wrote
in Haaretz about the Rebbe’s “implying indiscreetly” that “an unidentified
person by the name of Menachem, whose name can be abbreviated as M.M.S.
[i.e., “mamash”], and who is the current rabbi and leader of this
generation of Lubavitch, may be the messiah whom all are waiting for.”
Moreover, he had indicated that “flesh and blood in the body of the
messiah, whose name is Menachem Our Righteous Messiah, is present with us
in the synagogue and in this beit midrash.” Micha Odenheimer, “The Days of
the Messiah of Chabad,” Haaretz, February 28, 1992 [Hebrew]. For more on
this subject, see Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” pp. 38,
382-383.




70. The word miyad (“immediately”) is employed here as an acronym for
“Moshe, Yisrael, David,” which refers to Moses, the Baal Shem Tov (whose
given name was Yisrael Ben-Eliezer), and King David, whose descendant will
be the messiah. The same letters can also stand for “Menachem Mendel,
Yosef Yitzchok, Dovber”—the last three Chabad rebbes, in reverse order.
71. Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5752, part 2 (5754), p. 282.
72. According to Dahan, “When Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson crowns the
‘leader of the generation’ as messiah, he may indeed refer to Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchok Schneersohn, but it is clear the crowning applies to himself as
well, at least in the eyes of his followers.” Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the
Lowly Realms,’” p. 47, note 24, and p. 178. Kraus ignores this habit of
the Rebbe’s, which causes certain inaccuracies to creep into his work. He
writes favorably, for instance, of the Rebbe’s modesty, “Although Rabbi
Menachem Mendel Schneerson does not tend to acknowledge his own doings in
his talks, he describes the third period [of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok’s
leadership] in a way that constitutes a summary of his own deeds. This is
manifest even though he paradoxically attributes the period to Rabbi Yosef
Yitzchok Schneersohn.” Kraus, Seventh, p. 54. As Dahan demonstrates,
however, there is no paradox here, nor is this modesty on the Rebbe’s
part. It is, in fact, a theological sleight of hand used to serve the
Rebbe’s messianic agenda.
73.S chneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5752, part 1 (5753), p. 277.
74. Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5752, part 2 (5754), p. 270.
75. Kraus, Seventh, p. 249.
76. Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5752, part 2 (5754), p. 268.
77. See note 39 above. This action can be understood only in light of the
Rebbe’s belief that reality is determined by halacha, and not the other
way around. The motive behind the ruling, then, was to force God to reveal
the messiah. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 55.
78. Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 382. In a discussion
with the then-chief rabbis of Israel, the Rebbe said, “In the Sages’
stories (midrash hazal) we find that our righteous messiah (Elijah the
Prophet) will first be revealed in the Galilee, and within the Galilee
itself, in Tiberius that is ‘fine to look at’; but no one will be strict
if Elijah the Prophet appears abroad, even in Brooklyn, and in the
following day the messiah will come to Tiberius.” Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in
the Lowly Realms,’” p. 384, emphasis in original. On p. 382, Dahan
provides evidence that, under various pretenses, the Rebbe tried to
“erase” part of the talmudic name of the messiah, “Menachem Ben Hizkiya,”
leaving only his own name, “Menachem.”
79. See, for example, Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5743, part 4
(5750), p. 2001: “What is the value of all these arguments and
explanations… when the subject at hand is the need to attempt to hasten
and bring closer the coming of our righteous messiah by a single second!”
See also Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Letters of the Rebbe, vol. 18
(Brooklyn: Karnei Hod Hatorah, 5750), p. 498 [Hebrew]: “Do not scorn a
single day, for there is no means of evaluating even a single act, such as
a young man laying tefillin or a young girl saying the Shema Yisrael
prayer… and every single detail is a condition for bringing closer the
general redemption.” See also Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5748, part
1 (5750),
p. 595: “And perhaps the small act of this young boy will be the ‘hammer
blow’ that will lead to redemption!”; and Schneerson,
Farbrengen/Convening, 5747, part 2 (5750), pp. 624-625: “It is clear that
the act… can be by a single deed alone, but ‘there is none with us who
knows to what extent’ or what is that ‘single deed’ that will actually
lead to redemption. That is why the mission is set upon each and every
one.”
80. Nadav Shnerb, “A Response to the Radicals,” Nekuda 309 (March 2008),
p. 26 [Hebrew].
81. This is in reference to the Rebbe’s custom of handing out dollars to
pilgrims, often in large groups. Clearly, the motive behind this was to
hasten the messiah’s arrival.
82.S chneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5751, part 3 (5753), pp. 118-119,
emphasis in original.
83. This was described to me by eyewitnesses.
84. Some claim that the Rebbe suffered an additional stroke two days
later, but Chabad officially denies this. See Yori Yanover and Nadav
Ish-Shalom, Dancing and Crying: The Truth About the Chabad Movement (New
York: Meshi, 1994), pp. 31-32 [Hebrew].
85. The following recollection by a Lubavitcher hasid reveals how heavy a
blow was that which Chabad suffered upon the Rebbe’s death: “Father’s
illness was a natural thing. Father lived, father gave eighty years to the
world… he passed away normally. But since the Rebbe became ill—I can’t
live. It is something completely different; it is much more sacred than
Father. And I would not want, God forbid, to diminish Father’s praise…
[but] the Rebbe is with me twenty-four hours a day. Now I cannot move…. I
wake in the morning, eat breakfast, get into the car, and drive to work,
and I know the Rebbe goes to the mikveh [ritual bath], goes to 770, and he
connects for me all the things that need connecting. I speak to God, I get
a busy signal. Beep beep, busy. He needs to bring me the line… ‘And they
believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.’ I cannot create this
connection on my own… I need him. When my son is ill… I need the Rebbe the
whole time…. I need to know that he is there and that is what he does and
the problem will be solved no matter what.… Father was Father. And his
honor is still as such. But here it is something a thousand times more
significant. It is everything for me.” Quoted in Yanover and Ish-Shalom,
Dancing and Crying, pp. 51-52. Yanover then asks various followers: “‘And
if this generation will not live to see the coming of the messiah, God
forbid?’ ‘That cannot be,’ a friend insisted. ‘And yet, are you not
raising here a generation of children who expect, expect—and in the end
there will be a colossal fall’… ‘What you are saying is: Imagine there is
no God in the world,’ a friend reprimanded. ‘You are asking us the same
thing. Even more—no, it is the same question. One can never answer such a
question.’ ‘The “what if” does not apply to us,’ said Dorit. ‘So it is all
a lie, it is all a lie,’ the friend interrupted. ‘So there is nothing.’”
Yanover and Ish-Shalom, Dancing and Crying, p. 146.
86. According to one report, residents of Kfar Chabad danced and drank
vodka when they heard the news, crying out, “It is a test! The Jewish
people was also tested at Mount Sinai, where the Devil showed it the
corpse of Moses.… In the media they say that the Rebbe is dead, that he
was wrapped in a shroud, but he will rise, and all those who did not
believe in him will hide in caves…! There are but a few last minutes until
the messiah will be here to make the final decisions in a state of
revelation; we must prepare ourselves!” Ezra Chen, “In Kfar Chabad, They
Celebrated with Vodka,” Davar, June 13, 1994 [Hebrew].




87. This opinion is held, for example, by Rabbi Zimroni Tzik, editor of
the Hebrew-language Web site Hageula (“The Redemption”), www.hageula.com.
Tzik is also responsible for publicizing short films in which the Rebbe
supposedly appears momentarily. The most well-known can be viewed at
www.flix.co.il/tapuz/showVideo.asp?m=1556581. I thank Assaf Lapid for this
information.
88. This recalls a Midrash, alluded to in note 94 below, which claims that
when Moses delayed his descent from Mount Sinai, the Devil used this
opportunity to seduce the Jewish people, causing it to think that their
leader had died. “When Moses went up the mountain, he said to them: ‘At
the end of forty days I will come, within six hours.’ They thought that
the day he went up was included in the number of the forty days, but in
fact he had said to them ‘forty days,’ meaning complete days, including
the night. But the day of his ascent did not have its night included with
it, for on the seventh of Sivan he ascended. Thus, the fortieth day was
the seventeenth of Tammuz. On the sixteenth of Tammuz, the devil came and
brought confusion into the world and showed a semblance of darkness and
confusion, as if indicating that Moses had surely died.” See Rashi’s
commentary on Exodus 32:1.
89. The Rebbe is also supposed to be the first human being to live for
eternity. For more on this, see Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’”
pp. 274-275.
90. In this context, it is important to note that Hasidism ascribes
immense importance to spiritual activity in this world, the purpose of
which is to liberate the divine sparks confined within the “husks” that
comprise the material world. This may be one of the reasons why the idea
of a dead messiah who lives on in the world to come or the world beyond is
so foreign to this tradition.
91. “They have already ‘shined their buttons and so forth,’ and now one
only has to be ready to greet our righteous messiah.” Schneerson,
Farbrengen/Convening, 5752, part 2 (5754), p. 256.
92. Long Live the King Messiah, p. 31.
93. A striking indication of the Rebbe’s messianic awareness is the
astounding fact that he had no children, and thus no natural heir. We know
from his lectures that the Rebbe was well aware of the latest medical
treatments for infertility, and he instructed his followers to make use of
them. Moreover, even if he was incurably infertile, this does not explain
his failure to appoint an heir, especially toward the end of his life. In
an illuminating article, Alon Dahan suggested that the Rebbe was willingly
celibate. If so, it was due to his belief that he was indeed the messiah,
and that in the messianic era—which would, of course, begin during his
lifetime—death would not exist and the lives of all creatures would
continue for eternity. The Rebbe did indicate that eternal life was within
reach and would begin with him:
The most important thing—that it will be “to life and to blessing,” to a
good and long life, according to the various versions of the Blessing of
the Month that are said in holy communities in Israel; to an eternal
life in the upcoming future, souls in bodies, including those still
alive, without a temporary pause [i.e., without having to die before the
resurrection], at the coming of the our righteous messiah from the tribe
of Judah, and Moses and Aaron with them, and the forefathers with them,
and with the leader of our generation at the head. And I will begin—to
life, to life and to blessing.
Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5749, part 4 (5752), p. 148. This
appears to explain why the Rebbe did not feel the need to appoint an heir:
He believed he was going to live forever. Dahan writes,
In light of these things it can be understood why Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneerson, in his mystic allegory, refers to himself along the lines of
the passage, “And David my servant is their leader forever.” As the last
rebbe who seals the dynasty—and without any related descendants or
people in charge—Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson truly believed in the
possibility that already in our generation, which obviously includes him
as the current generation’s leader according to his and his followers’
views, we will all be granted eternal life, and he himself will continue
to be the leader of the generation forever.
Alon Dahan, “A Last Redeemer Without Heirs: Did Rabbi Menachem Mendel
Schneerson Choose Not to Leave Any Related Heirs or People in Charge Out
of Messianic Motives?” Kabbalah 17 (2008), p. 303 [Hebrew].
94. According to Jewish tradition, every generation has someone who is
worthy of being the messiah. Genesis Rabba 56:7 states, “There is no
generation that does not have someone like Moses.” This same person, if
the time is right, and if the entire generation is deserving of it, then
becomes the messiah. This same tzaddik, usually the “outstanding one of
the generation,” is then “assumed to be the messiah,” and simply waits for
his revelation.
95. Ben-Gurion said this in conversation with various writers and other
influential figures on October 11, 1949. Quoted in David Ohana, Messianism
and the State: Ben-Gurion and the Intellectuals Amid a Political Vision
and Theological Politics (Sde Boker: Ben-Gurion University, 2003), p. 115
[Hebrew]. This book is forthcoming in English as Political Theologies in
the Holy Land: Israeli Messianism and Its Critics (Routledge, 2009).
96. Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch attempted to claim the title of
Schneerson’s heir, but was rejected by Chabad, which went so far as to
portray him as mentally unstable. Deutsch now surrounds himself with a
relatively small number of followers. One of the main reasons for his
rejection was theological: Chabad’s belief that the redemption is supposed
to take place in the seventh generation precludes the possibility of
appointing an eighth rebbe. To do so would nullify one of Chabad’s most
essential religious precepts.