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Menachem Mendel Schneerson

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Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (April 18, 1902 - June 12, 1994) Jewish Orthodox rabbi who was the 7th Rebbe of the Lubavitch hasidim. He is one of the most controversial rabbis in 20th century Judaism, and is regarded by some as being the creator of a new form of messianic Judaism. He is one of the best known rabbis of modern times due to his movement's on-going advertising and activities.

In 1950, upon the death of his father-in-law and cousin Rabbi Joseph Isaac (Yosef Yitzchok) Schneersohn, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (known as "The Rebbe ", MaMaSh ) became the last Lubavitcher rebbe , or paramount spiritual leader, of the Chabad (from the Hebrew acronym for "Knowledge, Understanding, and Wisdom"), sect of Hasidic Judaism.

Early life and education

Born in Nikolaiev, Ukraine, he received mostly private tuition. He was enrolled in the secular Yekaterinoslav University for part-time study of mathematics at the age of 16. His father Rabbi Levi Yitzchok, who was the "Chief Rabbi" of Yekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk) from 1907 -1939 was his primary teacher.He also intensively studied Talmud and rabbinic Judaism, including the hasidic view of mysticism and Kabbalah. He married Chaya Mushka in 1928 and went to live in Berlin, Germany, and study philosophy at university . During this time he forged friendships with two other young rabbis studying in Berlin : Joseph Soloveitchik and Yitzchok Hutner. In later years Rabbi Soloveitchik disassociated himself from Rabbi Schneerson, supposedly because he was dismayed by Schneerson's apprarent messianic pretensions, saying that "He thinks he's the messiah." Nevertheless close to the end of their lives, Soloveitchik openly attended a farbrengen honoring Schneerson with his presence.Soloveitck was fond of telling people that his first formal tutor was a Lubavitcher who illicitly taught him their classic text the Tanya .

In 1933 Rabbi Schneerson moved to France. According to histories authorized by Lubavitch, he studied at the Sorbonne in Paris where he received degrees in "higher engineering", though official school records show that he attended a technical school. He learned to speak French which he put to use in establishing his movement there after the war. The Chabad movement in France attracted many Jews who immigrated there from Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.

In later life, scientists who came to talk with him, such as Herman Baranover, professor of physics at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer-Sheva, Israel, noted that for a rabbi (i.e. a non-scientist) he had an unusually good grasp of scientific issues. Baranover himself, a Russian-Israeli authority on solar energy, is an active member of the Lubavitch sect.According to his wealthiest disciple, the billionare mining magnate Joseph Gutnick of Australia , it was Rabbi Schneerson who personally called upon him and pointed to the exact geological points on a map of Australia to commence mining for gold. He was also given guidelines in his search for diamonds . Gutnick was subsequently appointed by Schneerson as his main representative to the Isreali government,and was instrumental in the election of Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel in 1996. He is also the chief Lubavitch lobbyist against the Oslo Accords .

America and leadership

In 1941 Schneerson escaped from France, and joined his father-in-law in New York City. They began building a Jewish educational and hasidic outreach empire. There was some question who would inherit the title from the previous Rebbe, who had no sons, and the movement almost split over those who were loyal to Schneerson and those who were loyal to his brother-in-law, Shemaryahu Gurary. According to what is now a folk legend, the previous Rebbe settled the dispute from his death-bed by confering his streimel (the fur hat worn by many hasidic Jews) on Gurary and the title of Rebbe on Schneerson. Metaphorically, Gurary received the "crown" and Schneerson received the "title". What is known is that followers of Lubavitch abandoned wearing a streimel with the ascension of this Rebbe in 1950.

Schneerson intensified the outreach program ( kiruv rechokim in Hebrew) of the movement, bringing in new followers from all walks of life, and aggresively sought the expansion of the Baal teshuva movement.Other Orthodox Jews were bothered by the fact that Lubavitch outreach efforts extended to them as well as to non-affiliated Jews, and as early as the 1970s, began behind closed doors to call Lubavitch a cult. By the time of Schneerson's death in 1994, he had overseen the training of thousands of young Chabad rabbis and their wives, and sent them all over the world as shlichim ( "emissaries" in Hebrew ) to spread his vision of Judaism.


Methodology and critique

Many of them worked through a system of "mitzva campaigns"; these encouraged Jews to be keep kosher, observe Shabbat, learn more Torah, help in writing a Torah scroll, taught women to observe the niddah laws of Jewish family purity (laws pertaining to menstruation and ritual immersion afterwards in a pool of water known as a mikveh ), accepting a belief in Moshiach (the Jewish messiah). They went out to street-corners, and rode in "mitzva tanks", mobile outreach centers, welcoming Jews in for a drink of wine and say lechaim (Hebrew, "to life"). These campaigns strongly stressed the centrality of Rabbi Schneerson himself often displaying huge posters of his face.

He was accused by outsiders of virtually creating a cult of personality.His followers had an extremely high level of devotion to him. They believed implicitly in his vision,that he had supernatural powers of insight, prophecy, and possibly other powers as well.

He hardly ever left his home in a building in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn at 770 Eastern Parkway which became known as "770" - "Lubavitch World Headquarters", except for regular lengthy visits to his father-in-law's grave, the ohel ("tent"), in Queens.

It was from "770" that he directed his emissaries' work. He would hold court around the clock involving himself in every detail of his far-flung movements' developments. People making appointments to see him would be summoned at all hours of the night. He did not sleep much. The highlight of his public role would be displayed during special celebrations called farbrengens on Sabbaths, holy days, and special days on the Chabad calender when he would lead the packed hall with long talks called maamorim or sichos , and with songs called nigunim , that would last all night. They would many times be brodacast via satellite to Lubavitch branches all over the world.

He oversaw the building of schools, community centers, youth camps, college campus centers (known as Chabad houses,) and reached out to the most powerful Jewish lay leaders and non-Jewish government leaders wherever they found themselves.His followers believed that they were succesful atfundraising for their causes due to their rebbe's blessings. His followers have lobbied the United States Congress and President to issue annual proclamations declaring that the Rebbe's personal birthday, usually a day in March or April that co-incides with his Hebrew calendar birth-date of 11 Nisan (a Hebrew month), be observed as Education Day in the United States.

Political activities

Politicians of all stripes came to see him, regardless of their party political affiliations.Be they Democrats or Republicans, they sought his support. Generally, Lubavitch tends to support more conservative politicians such as those who back school prayer , are anti- abortion , pro- Israel , and are genrally supportive of Bible values, about which Rabbi Schneerson was very publicly vocal.Aspirants for the job of mayor, governor, congressman, senator, in the states of New York and New Jersey would come calling and have their pictures with the rebbe published in newspapers with large Jewish readerships and voters. Towards the end of his life, thousands of ordinary people would line up to receive a dollar bill from him personally, which was to be donated to charity, and a quick blessing from him.


Following the death of his wife in 1988 he withdrew from some public functions as a sign of mourning, and became generally more reclusive, particularly having survived two previous serious heart attacks all of which served as a reminder of his frailty and very real mortality. He said to some that he is "no longer the rebbe", but no-one accepted this.At a subsequent gathering he stated that : "I have done everything I can do to bring Moshiach, now I am handing over to you (his followers) the keys to bring Moshiach. " A final campaign was started to bring the messianic age through acts of "goodness and kindness" and massive advertising in the mass media such as many full-page ads in the New York Times , covering the New York metropolitan area where the greatest numbers of Jews reside, urging everyone to open themselves to the messiah's imminent arrival.

Rabbi Schneerson paid close attention to, and rejoiced in, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe starting in 1989.Under the Bolsheviks his father-in-law had been imprisoned and tortured and had his massive collection of writings confiscated, and the movement banned on pain of exile to Siberia .Once the Iron Curtain fell, he wasted no time in flooding the former Soviet Union with hundreds of new shlichim, young rabbis who actually established themselves as the new "chief rabbis" of various former Soviet republics. During the Desert Storm war against Iraq in 1990 - 1991, messianic fever ran high as Rabbi Schneerson interpreted events in the light of Torah and , declaring that : " Moshiach is already here, all we need to do is to reach out to see and feel him."

Israel and politics

Rabbi Schneerson never visited the State of Israel , where he had maany admirers and critics. One of Israel's presidents, Zalman Shazar , was a religiously observant person of Lubavitch ancestry and his visit to Schneerson was a reunion of sorts. Prime Minister s such as Menachem Begin and Benjamin Netanyahu also paid visits and supposedly sought advice. In the elections that brought Yitzhak Shamir to power, Rabbi Schneerson publicly cajoled his followers and the Orthodox members in the Knesset to vote against the Labor aligment leading to articles in Time and Newsweek and many newspapers and TV programs.

During the Six Day War in 1967 , and the Yom Kippur War of 1973 , he called in public for the Israel Defence Force s to capture Damascus in Syria and Cairo in Egypt. He was vehemently opposed to any withdrawels by Israel's armies from captured territories, and was against any concessions to the Palestinians. He lobbied Israeli politicians to legislate on Who is a Jew to declare that "only one who is born of a Jewish mother or converted according to halacha (Jewish religious law) is Jewish ". This caused a furor in the United States where members of the Jewish philanthropies began cutting their financial support of Lubavitch.

At the their small village called ''Kfar Chabad'' a Lubavitch enclave near Lod Israel, the Israeli Lubavitchers built an exact replica of Rabbi Scheerson's home at "770" during his lifetime. So that had he moved to Israel he could have lived in a home that he was familiar with in Brooklyn , but this was not to be.

His arch-rival in the Orthodox Haredi world in Israel, was their own parmount leader ,Rabbi Elazar Shach , whowas his fiercest critic, continously denouncing Lubavitch as heretics and their leader as misguided.

Stroke and death

In 1992 he was felled by a serious stroke, having just dealt with a notorious anti-Jewish riot in his home neighborhood of Crown Heights. There was talk of publicly crowning him with a gold crown, but it never happened since he could not give his verbal assent.The stroke rendered him immobile and speechless and he died in 1994. In an odd twist of events, some of his followers actually celebrated his death with a fabrengen, or hasidic festival at his funeral inside "770". Accustomed to believing that he was the Messiah, they believed that another vital step in the drama of Messianic redemption had been played out, and that he would soon return to redeem the world.During the funeral procession many Chabad Hasidim cried, but some danced in joy at what they believed was the signal of the messianic age, which they stated would certainly appear within a few hours, if not a few days. Many of his followers are still waiting for him to appear.

Many openly declared Rabbi Schneerson had not, in fact, died at all; some going so far as to say that he had shed his mortal body or that he was in hiding, waiting for an appropriate time to reveal himself, in keeping with Schneeron's interpretation of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism). While some Lubavitch leaders condemned this, an analysis of their statements indicates that while they believe this themselves, they do not believe the time is ripe to declare these things openly. On the other hand, many important leaders within official Lubavitch organizations now explicitly teach that Schneerson must be venerated as the messiah, and some quietly worship him as literally being God incarnate.

This has caused a large part of the Jewish community to denounce Chabad as being outside the pale of Judaism altogether. Many Orthodox rabbis quietly teach that Chabad Judaism is effectively becoming a new religion, similar in its development to Christianity, but this is an accusation against them. This opposition has not stymied the Lubavitchers; for some it has hardened their resolve to fulfil their rebbe's mission of ushering in the messianic age.

Aftermath : three streams of disciples

Chabad Judaism has in effect separated into three main theological factions (with some overlap). What one factions believes, the others do not, so one must take care to differentiate between them. These differences are theological; for practical purposes, these different groups of Lubavitchers share schools, yeshivot, rabbinical courts for adjudicating disputes, and finances, as well as being tied together by family bonds.

"Traditional" non-messianic Chabad

Traditional Chabad Jews still considering their recently deceased leader as the greatest leader of the generation; however they do not believe that he is or was the Messiah, nor do they believe that he is God. This group is considered by experts to be in the minority of Chabad. The group consists primarily of old-time Lubavitch families, who have been involved in the movement for generations, and whose devotion to Lubavitch date from before this Rebbe.

While they do not consider themselves to be messianic Jews, these Chabad Jews not only pray to god, but also turn to the spirit of their late rebbe for guidance Some examples from the official Chabad website include:

"Tens of thousands of Jews from all walks of life will visit the Rebbe's grave-site in Old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens to pray to G-d and reach out to the Rebbe's spirit. Jewish tradition teaches that the soul, particularly that of a holy person, stays close to the place where one is buried."

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"What is perhaps unique about this year's birthday celebrations is that followers, admirers, even people who have had only casual interaction with the Rebbe, are still "living with the Rebbe," following his directives, turning to him for advice, asking for his blessings....Just two months after the Previous Rebbe's passing the Rebbe wrote the following to someone: "You worry that now one cannot ask the Rebbe when he is in doubt how he should conduct himself. If you stand strong in your connection to him... and send your questions to the Rebbe's Ohel , the Rebbe will find a way to answer. Some people fax letters to the Ohel or send in requests via e-mail, some come from near or far to go personally. Others ask one of the Rebbe's secretaries to read the letter at the Ohel. Another way people "live with the Rebbe" is by placing a letter TO THE REBBE in any of the nearly 100 volumes of the Rebbe's Torah teachings or correspondence. This is, in fact, what Chasidim of previous generations did when they were unable to correspond with their Rebbe in the conventional way." This is a procedure akin to something known as a goral a method of flipping about random pages of a Jewish Bible - ''Tanach'' , that is attributed to the arch-rival of the hasidim, Rabbi Elijah of Vilna , known as the Vilna''Gaon''.

Rabbi Schneerson himself spent hours several days every week meditating at the grave-site of his father-in-law. Supposedly he carried with him the personal requests for divine intervention that supplicants submitted. It was during one of his lengthy visits to the grave-site that he suffered a crippling stroke in 1992, losing his ability to speak. This was a confusing time for his followers.

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One website offers stories of prayers to the Rebbe by Chabad Jews, and their claimed results.

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Messianic Chabad Judaism (majority view)

Most Chabad (Lubavitch) Jews believe that the late Rabbi Schneerson is the messiah. They often pray to him in the way described above. They believe that he will soon rise from the dead amongst a general resurrection of all the dead, and bring the messianic era

This faction draws a line between thinking of him as being a messiah, and being God; this faction believes that as messiah, Rabbi Schneerson will have the closest possible relationship to God that a human can have, similar to or the same as that of Moses. However, he definitely is not God (i.e. not part of the Godhead). These claims have been rejected by the rest of Orthodox Judaism, and people who hold these beliefs are said to be outside Judaism.

A list of Chabad books (with much material already online) which teach that the late Lubavitcher Rebbe is indeed the messiah:

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Orthodox rabbis reject claim rebbe was Messiah

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Worshippers of their Rebbe as God incarnate

A small faction within Lubavitch teaches that their late Rebbe in fact is God incarnate. They say that their Rebbe doesn't know the will of God - rather, their Rebbe effectively "is" God. Thus, one no longer prays to God; one prays only to the Rebbe. They refer to the rebbe as Boreinu, "Our Creator". Rabbis in Modern Orthodox Judaism, specifically the Rabbinical Council of America as wel as those of Agudath Israel of America, have denounced these views as being outside Judaism, and as being essentially identical to Christianity. Within many factions of Ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel, such critiques had been aimed at Chabad for many years.

While he was still alive, Rabbi Schneerson had messianic pretentions, and indirectly compared himself to God. Quoting his late father-in-law, Rabbi Schneerson taught that a Rebbe is literally Atzmus unget'n in a guf; the essence clothed/incarnated in a human body. (Source: Likutei Sichos II: p. 510-511). It should be noted however that the "mission" to bring the Messiah is the central "mission" of classical hasidism.

What makes them "tick"? : To put things in a broader perspective, a famous story about the Baal Shem Tov, Rabbi Eliezer ben Yisrael, the founder of hasidism relates that at the onset of his leadership he ascended to heaven in a trance and asked God when he would finally send the Messiah. Supposedly God's reply was : Ad sheyafutzu maayenotecha hachutza - "When the wellsprings of your (teachings) will spread outwards (over the world)". Thus spreading the doctrines of hasidism is every hasid's creed and connection to the original mission of the movement, which explains their single-mindedness.They function under a unique psycho-spiritual mentality.

Rabbi David Berger, an Orthodox Rabbi and professor of history, who specialized in earlier messsianic movements in Judaism, has written essays and a book showing that many followers of the late Lubavitch Rebbe revere him not just a Messiah, but literally as God Himself.

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Rabbi Schneerson died childless and was buried right next to the previous rebbe, his father-in-law.In his will he did not specify any successor whatsoever. This has puzzled many people. One other hasidic group, Breslov has functioned for almost 200 years without a live rebbe, deliberately not choosing one after the death of Rav Nachman (1772-1810). Since no-one was named to succeed Rabbi Schneerson, his followers have adopted a system of delving into his voluminous published correspondence and writings that are examined for there guidance in all situations. This is combined with de rigueur regular visits to his grave in Queens, New York, which has become a shrine to the Lubavitch hasidim.

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