This book is a history, an indictment, a lament, and an appeal, focusing on the messianic trend in Lubavitch hasidism. It records the shattering of one of Judaism's core beliefs and the remarkable equanimity with which the standard-bearers of Orthodoxy have allowed it to happen. This is a development of striking importance for the history of religions, and it is an earthquake in the history of Judaism. David Berger describes the unfolding of this historic phenomenon and proposes a strategy to contain it.
'Years from now, this work will likely be seen as a primary text that formed part of the internal Jewish debate.' ~ N. R. Deutsch, Choice --- 'Passionate, powerful, brilliant...This is simply the most important book of Judaism - not about Judaism but of Judaism - to appear this year, and the most urgent in decades.' ~ Jacob Neusner, Jerusalem Post --- 'Throughly engrossing book...Berger's abiding Orthodox religious commitment, deep familiarity with religious texts and ideas, and specialized training in historical scholarship have singularly positioned and qualified him to embark on this defense of Judaism...Astute historian that he is, he offers trenchant and compelling explanations for this lack of aggressive Orthodox reaction to this latest false messianism...an articulate, thoughtful, and passionate book.' ~ Benny Kraut, Shofar --- 'Compelling...imperative reading, as it carefully and systematically documents the true nature and scope of contemporary Lubavitch missionary work.' ~ Al
The focus of this text is the messianic trend in Lubavitch hasidism. It demonstrates how hasidim who affirm the dead Rebbe's messiahship have abandoned one of Judaism's core beliefs in favour of adherence to the doctrine of a second coming. At the same time, it decries the equanimity with which the standard-bearers of Orthodoxy have granted legitimacy to this development by continuing to recognize such believers as Orthodox Jews in good standing. This abandonment of the age-old Jewish resistance to a quintessentially Christian belief is a development of striking importance for the history of religions and an earthquake in the history of Judaism. The book chronicles the unfolding of this development.
Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 34. Chapters: Chabad messianism, Crown Heights riot, Public menorah, The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference, Likkutei Sichos, Mykolaiv, 770 Eastern Parkway, Oholei Torah, Kol Menachem, Chaya Mushka Schneerson, 3 Tammuz, Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, Mitzvah tank, Ohel, Montefiore Cemetery, 11 Nissan, Niggun Shamil, Hayom Yom, Igrot Kodesh. Excerpt: Chabad messianism, or Lubavitch messianism, is a term used to describe a spectrum of beliefs within the Chabad Hasidic movement regarding their late leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his purported position as the Messiah. While some believe that he died but will return as the messiah, others believe that he is merely "hidden." A small minority believe that he has God-like powers, or is the "creator" while a few negate the idea that he is the messiah entirely. The prevalence of these views within the movement is disputed, though very few will openly say that Schneerson cannot be the Messiah. The belief that Schneerson is the messiah can be traced to the 1950s; it picked up momentum during the decade preceding Schneerson's death in 1994, and has continued to develop since his death. The response of the wider Haredi and Modern Orthodox leadership has been almost universally antagonistic to this belief. The issue remains controversial within the Jewish world. The Chabad messianist flag. The Hebrew word is "Mashiach," meaning "Messiah." The Messianist Flag in JerusalemBefore Schneerson's death in 1994 a significant body of Chabad Hasidim believed that he would soon become the Messiah by ushering in the Messianic Age and constructing the Third Temple. Books and pamphlets were written containing arguments for the Rabbi's status as Messiah, some of which Schneerson opposed, but some he also encouraged on occasions. During the later years of his life...
Menaḥem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994) was the seventh and seemingly last Rebbe of the Habad-Lubavitch dynasty. Marked by conflicting tendencies, Schneerson was a radical messianic visionary who promoted a conservative political agenda, a reclusive contemplative who built a hasidic sect into an international movement, and a man dedicated to the exposition of mysteries who nevertheless harbored many secrets. Schneerson astutely masked views that might be deemed heterodox by the canons of orthodoxy while engineering a fundamentalist ideology that could subvert traditional gender hierarchy, the halakhic distinction between permissible and forbidden, and the social-anthropological division between Jew and Gentile. While most literature on the Rebbe focuses on whether or not he identified with the role of Messiah, Elliot R. Wolfson, a leading scholar of Jewish mysticism and the phenomenology of religious experience, concentrates instead on Schneerson's apocalyptic sensibility and his promotion of a mystical consciousness that undermines all discrimination. For Schneerson, the ploy of secrecy is crucial to the dissemination of the messianic secret. To be enlightened messianically is to be delivered from all conceptual limitations, even the very notion of becoming emancipated from limitation. The ultimate liberation, or true and complete redemption, fuses the believer into an infinite essence beyond all duality, even the duality of being emancipated and not emancipated an emancipation, in other words, that emancipates one from the bind of emancipation. At its deepest level, Schneerson's eschatological orientation discerned that a spiritual master, if he be true, must dispose of the mask of mastery. Situating Habad's thought within the evolution of kabbalistic mysticism, the history of Western philosophy, and Mahayana Buddhism, Wolfson articulates Schneerson's rich theology and profound philosophy, concentrating on the nature of apophatic embodiment, semiotic materiality, hypernomian transvaluation, nondifferentiated alterity, and atemporal temporality.
The grandson of a Jew, whose Jewish relatives converted to Christianity, whose allies played down his Jewish origins just as fervently as his enemies played them up, V.I. Lenin makes for a fascinating case study of the many complexities associated with 'Jewish question' in Russia.
On her thirteenth birthday, Sarah wakes up inside the mysterious Victorian dollhouse she has wished for, and spends the day there alone in an atmosphere of doom.
"Every day," writes Rabbi Meir Kahane, "the Arabs of Israel move closer to becoming a majority. Are we [Israel] committed to national suicide? Should we allow demography, geography, and democracy to push Israel closer to the abyss? According to Rabbi Kahane, Israel can only be sustained by a permanent Jewish majority and a small, insignificant, and placid Arab minority. But the Arab population continues to grown quantitatively and qualitatively. They feel no ties for a state that breathes Jewishness. They mockingly accept moneys from the National Insurance Institute for medical services, tuition, and social welfre; yet they pay little or no tax. Even worse, they openly vow to destroy the Jewish state - not with bullets or bombs, but with the democratic vote. Is there a solution? Rabbi Kahane insists, "Yes." In this explosive manifesto Rabbi Kahane sets forth the only plan to save Israel. Israeli Arabs would be given the options of accepting noncitizenship, leaving willingly with compensation, or being forcibly expelled without compensation. Controversial? Yes. Could the Arabs be convinced to leave? "We will not come to the Arabs to request, argue, or convince," says Kahane. "For Jews and Arabs in Israel there is only one answer - separation. Jews in their land, Arabs in theirs. Separation. Only separation." They Must Go was written in 1980 while Rabbi Meir Kahane was jailed in Ramle Prison by the Israeli government under an unprecedented administrative detention order that imprisoned him without a trial, without his being informed of any specific charge, and without opportunity to know or to question any alleged evidence or witness. His crime: his philosophy concerning the danger that exists to the state of Israel by the very presence of its large and growing Arab population. Rabbi Kahane's ideas were suppressed, twisted, defamed, and subjected to emotional and hysterical diatribes by people who were too frightened to consider them intelligently or to debate them intellectually. Is there a time bomb ticking away relentlessly in the Holy Land? Can Arabs and Jews ultimately coexist in a Jewish-Zionist state? Rabbi Kahane's only answer: "They Must Go."
