Was the Lubavitcher rebbe really the messiah?
Messianic anticpation has been central to Chabad since its late-18th-century origins.
By The Forward and Lawrence Grossman Tags: Chabad Jewish World Israel newsThe Lubavitch branch of Hasidism, known also as Chabad, is the most successful and most controversial movement in American Jewish life. Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson, born in 1902, ascended to the leadership after his father-in-law's death in 1950. From his headquarters in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, Schneerson developed a ramified network of shluchim (emissaries) across the United States and around the world that has continued to grow even after he died, childless and without a designated successor. Other Jewish groups marvel at and strive to emulate Chabad's success in reaching the "unsynagogued," even as they deplore Chabad's opposition to Jewish religious pluralism, refusal to countenance any Israeli territorial concessions and maintenance of a cult of personality that is literally of messianic proportions.
Schneerson's message that the messiah was nigh became the leitmotif of the movement in 1991, when the rebbe suddenly and urgently began advocating a series of programs to induce the redeemer to reveal himself. His followers identified him, at least potentially, as the long-expected messiah, and were sure he saw himself in that light. But the rebbe's exact intentions were still unclear when he suffered a debilitating stroke the next year, and passed away in 1994. Many Lubavitchers - how many is a matter of dispute - continue today to view him as the messiah who either is not actually dead or will return from the dead. The notion of a resurrected messiah, uncomfortably reminiscent of Christianity, has led some Jewish critics to pronounce Chabad messianists to be heretics.
Such biographical, political and sociological aspects of Chabad are of little direct concern to Elliot Wolfson, the Abraham Lieberman Professor of Hebrew and Judaic Studies at New York University and arguably the leading American scholar of the Jewish mystical tradition. In his new book, "Open Secret," Wolfson is interested in the rebbe's messianic doctrine as formulated in his hundreds of discourses available in written form, which Wolfson examines within the context of earlier kabbalistic and Chabad teachings, parallels from other mystical traditions - especially Buddhism - and postmodern thought. But even these most recondite of theories have real-world implications.
Wolfson shows that intense messianic anticipation, far from being a quirk of Schneerson's in his old age, has been central to Chabad from its late-18th-century origins. Its founding premise was that spreading Chabad teachings would hasten the End Time, a doctrine that assumed accelerating urgency when traditional Judaism came under attack from secularism during the next century, and even more so when the Nazi assault on the Jewish people forced the sixth rebbe, Schneerson's father-in-law, to flee Europe and resettle in the United States. In succeeding his father-in-law, Schneerson became the seventh, a number whose sabbatical identification suggested he was also the last (some even say that this theory motivated him to remain childless by choice).
Schneerson sought new audiences for Chabad's message - women and non-Jews. While this was in line with the original plan of continually spreading the doctrine, it also indicated awareness that modernity (he had attended European universities before the war) and the American environment necessitated some rapprochement with feminism and universalism. He developed earlier teachings about the mystical role of God's feminine side and the ultimate breakdown of barriers between Jew and non-Jew in the messianic era, and championed teaching Chabad texts to women and urging gentiles to practice the universal laws of ethical conduct traditionally associated with the biblical Noah.
The discussion of Chabad messianic thought in "Open Secret" is tough reading for people used to linear thinking and clear writing. The problem is not just Wolfson, but also the subject matter. Simply put, language is inadequate to convey how an infinite power - called ein sof (literally, without boundary) in Kabbalah - can generate our finite and bounded reality and, in reverse, how the messianic experience can enable us to break through to the infinite. Our logical faculties paralyzed by the human inability to comprehend the divine, we must make do with the metaphors, paradoxes and contradictions that abound in this book. Wolfson writes that "language is stretched to the limit of the inarticulate."
The author himself is the biggest contradiction. An exemplary objective scholar, Wolfson is at the same time heavily invested, in a deeply personal way, in the mystical teachings he analyzes. The book begins with the announcement that he was born on Friday night, November 23. Years later, he would learn that at the moment of his birth in 1956, Rabbi Schneerson was delivering a learned discourse on kabbalistic themes to mark the 19th day of the Hebrew month of Kislev. This was the Lubavitch "Day of Redemption," the date in 1798 when Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first rebbe of the sect, was freed from prison. The Lubavitcher who apprised Wolfson of the significance of this coincidence told him, "Pay attention, this day bears your destiny."
Whether personal or scholarly, Wolfson's spiritual quest is contagious, and the intrepid reader will brave the many difficult passages in order to follow him in search of the rebbe's deepest feelings about the messiah, the surprising "encrypted message" that is the "open secret" of the title. I will not divulge it, but if Wolfson is right, the rebbe's messianic vision will comfort neither his followers, who completely misunderstood their leader, nor his detractors, who fail to appreciate his genius. Even as he calls "postmortem apparitions of the seventh Rebbe" indications of "a profound spiritual blindness," Wolfson apparently agrees with Schneerson that the messiah has come "and all that is necessary is for people to open their eyes in order to greet him" - but he also acknowledges that to grasp the meaning of this "involves cultivating a modification in consciousness."
People like me, who find such modification difficult, have no choice but to wait.
Why Facebook Connect?
Comment on Haaretz.com articles with your Facebook login, and share your thoughts on your own wall.
- Latest
- Most Viewed
- Most Rated
- Open all
This right is reserved for another one.
Where is the messianic era? The Rebbe, if he had intended that his followers view him as the Messiah, was a heretic. Any Jew who views the Rebbe as the messiah is a heretic. With over half the Lubovitcher movement caught up in a false messiah fervor, how can they be qualified to serve as mohalim, mashgichim, etc. for the rest of the Jewish community? Sorry, but even the most limited afternoon Hebrew school student learned the story of Shabtai Zvi. And we all know the story of Jesus. How can they even think that he was the messiah? Just all the more evidence that Chasidism is a cult.
I've read the article and everyone's comments. The point is that we as individuals, as part of our respective nations, are here to work on our characteristics and improve them, Judaism calls it striving to be a Tsaddik, it can only serve to improve our relationships with others and decrease strife in the world. - And let's open our eyes, as everything, EVERYTHING that we need is right in front of our nose, we just can't see it ! Rabbi Menahem Mendel Schneerson has changed the world as we know it. He worked on his characteristics greatly, we owe ourselves that much.
The citations you give prove nothing. If any of them do happen to fit the story of Jesus, the explanation is that those who wrote the story of Jesus as it appears in the Gospels worked them into their story.
Of course messiah is a psychological archetype that is an essential part of a family and of a person. It is not one person. Unfortunate that so many people try so hard to be 'obedient' to the law that they ignore its mandatory freedom. All the talk of finding someone else's messiah is as if the bible said "god is father" and one person then said "my father is god" and another said "no, my father is god, it says in the bible" etc.
Genesis 3:15 is G-D talking to the serpent in Eden. Are you saying that Jesus was a serpent? And Isaiah does not mention Jesus. If you are refering to the "suffering servant," Isaiah clearly identifies him as the Jewish people. It is in the text -- at least the original Hebrew text. If you are refering to the virgin birth, that is not in the original Hebrew text.
Uh, Zechariah, Malachi, Isaiah, and Psalms are not part of the Torah.
I am not a follower of Rabbi Schneersohn, but I do believe the he is one of the great Jews of the 20th Century, and I do accept his message that chessed, acts of lovingkindness, and tzedakah, charity, will speed the coming of Moshiach. Rabbi Schneersohn said that he did all he could to bring Moshiach, and now it was our turn. Some twisted his words to mean he claimed to be Moshiach. Not true! He was only challenging us to take up his cause, and act with kindness and charity towards others. He even said once that he was not Moshiach. When asked again, he refused to answer. He answered the question once, and that was enough. Some took his refusal to answer twice as a "yes."
I think Rebbe Schneersohn may have been a messiah, yes. To me there is no one particular messiah, but perhaps a messiah in each of the eras in Jewish history. My pick for the greatest messiah is Yehuda Maccabi :). As I believe mankind is always looking for a savior, otherwise life would be way too unbearable to think there would not be a hope for something better, all religions seem to have a "messiah." - Jesus, 70 virgins in heaven, nirvana, valhalla, etc. So, it's always good to have hope, and mankind must bring heaven down to earth themselves, collectively. Let's go for it!!! :)
The Messiah, if or when He comes, is expected to accomplish this, that, and the other. Did the respected Rabbi fulfill those expectations? If he did, what evidence is there to demonstrate that? If he did not, how can he still be considered the Messiah?
Was the rabbi a king of Israel? Did he rule the united tribes? Did he herald a messianic age of peace? Not at all! The rabbi didn't rule, he didn't unite, he didn't bring peace. And what about "ingathering of the exiles, restoration of the religious courts of justice, an end of wickedness, sin and heresy, reward to the righteous, rebuilding of Jerusalem, restoration of the line of King David, and restoration of Temple service." Rebuilding Jerusalem, that's arguable, but the rest is silence! The signs of the messianic age simply aren't there. Therefore, the rabbi can't be the messiah. And to call him this, in total absence of evidence, borders blasphemy. Not much different from calling a golden statue an image of god. Pathetic.
Let's see, three miracles you cannot discuss or feeding 5,000 people in front of 5,000 people... I will stick with the carpenter from Nazareth!
Read the Torah to find out what IT says about the Messiah! Micah 5:2, Zechariah 12:10, Zechariah 13:7, Malachi 3:1, Isaiah 7:13-14, Isaiah 9:6, Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12, Psalm 22, Psalm 110:1, etc.
comes to prepare the world for messiah.
The Rebbe was trained as an engineer. He had a smichut which meant he was versed in many subjects. He realized just before the Second World War what calamity was to befall the Jews and urged them to respect the Shabbat, as I saw in a news clip of him offering people Shabbat candles which I will never forget. Perhaps he did not want to have children because he had a brother who was mentally unstable and feared that this might be passed on through him. He had a beautiful voice when he sang niggunim, and the book to read about Chassidus is the Tanya, written by Shneur Zalman of Liadi. Of course, his is an example to emulate, as we are all able to improve upon ourselves through Torah, mitzvot and prayer. What is happeninng now is that all the "bad stuff" in the world is being externalized in order for there to be a cleansing, if you'll excuse my poor understanding, so that the Redemption will occur, though it is not in our power to speculate when that Time will be.
I'm Lubavitcher, and I'm sure that The Rebbe Zt''l never said that he is The Mashiaj. The REAL MASHIAJ will come soon, and all the righteous people like The Rebbe Zt''l will come bak to this world to guide us to Ierushalaim and to rebuild The Temple
He is the light and the inspiration for us, forever. B"H
He was educated outside the Lubavitcher movent. He knew what had to be done to bring more young people back. Ke saw nothing wrong in asking questions. He did see something wrong when our edcators could not answer the quetions. He would be very disappointed to see how many of those that call themselves Lubavitccher act towards other Jews.
Put him in a boxing ring with Jesus. The first one to come back to life and kick the $@$^&% out of the other gets to be "messiah". If he does it in under 13 seconds he should also get some kind of monetary recognition.
Politics aside, has enticed me to seek this book for an interesting read.
Israelis never learn. have you read your torah? In Geneses 3:15, it is clear that Jesus Christ who was crucified was the Messiah! Even in the prophecy of Isaiah, jesus is the only One!
didn't travel in the same circles.
What nonsense. he was a man who died who was a rabbi. As for miracles, even evangelicals perform them on sunday morning tv. Are they the "messiah"? Ye gads, where do we get such drivel? Isn't the 'miracle' from prayer answered?
The Rebbe saved my life when I was born. The doctors at Asaf Harofe said I wouldn't last the first night, but thanks to the Rebbe, I'm still breathing today, 31 years later.
The Rebbe performed 3 miracles for me, my wife and children, which will never be forgotten. Although I cannot discuss them, you can be assured that he was and is the Messiah of our, and all generations. His message still has extreme ramifications for today!