Like other observers of the Haredi world, I have also been wondering over the last thirteen years what is happening to Chabad without its Rebbe.

My impression was that at least from an Israeli point of view, the once vibrant movement was gradually running out of steam. The split between the moderate branch who wanted to get on with the work and the messianic group who refuse to accept the Rebbe's death and even answer their phones by saying "Yechi hamelech" (long live the king) seems to have sapped their strength.

The movement isn't as powerful on the national political scene as it was during the 1990s, in part due to the financial and legal problems of its main backer at the time, Australian millionaire Yossef Gutnik, but it also seemed to have lost presence also on the day-to-day Israeli street.