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Habad’s dead Messiah

A review of The Rebbe, the Messiah and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference, by David Berger

Printed in Judaism magazine - Winter, 2002
Written by Arnold Jacob Wolf

On a Simhat Torah eve about thirty years ago I brought a brilliant young woman journalist from a Marxist kibbutz in Israel to Crown Heights to witness Habad’s celebration of the joyous holiday of Simhat Torah. There were several thousand Hasidim present, singing and chanting and dancing around their Master, the late Rebbe Menahem Mendel Schneerson. After hours of watching from a high and partly covered woman’s gallery, my friend joined me to return to Manhattan. “The Rebbe was talking to me,” she said. “The Rebbe was looking at me.” I had some doubt that, amid the multitudes present, she had been singled out, but I realized first-hand what charisma could do even to a radical feminist of quite distinct commitments.

A few years ago, after the Rebbe’s death, I was served a Shabbat kosher meal in Venice by a group of young Lubavitcher Hasidim who were sent there to minister to American Jewish visitors while studying in a small Habad yeshivah. After the luncheon, the students began to chant, “May the Rebbe live forever, our Lord and our Creator, our Messiah.” I had come upon a powerful example of what was by then widely described in the Jewish press as a messianic fervor that, far from disappearing with the death of the Rebbe, had expected his resurrection immediately to complete the messianic work that he had promised in his lifetime but not fulfilled.

David Berger, an Orthodox rabbi and professor of history at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, and a former president of the Association for Jewish Studies, has recently published an important study of this unprecedented Hasidic messianism in a book called The Rebbe, the Messiah and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference. In this important volume, Berger tells us:

As I write, two propositions from which every mainstream Jew in the last millennium would have instantly recoiled have become legitimate options within Orthodox Judaism:

1. A specific descendent of King David may be identified with certainty as the Messiah even though he died in an unredeemed world. The criteria always deemed necessary for a confident identification of the Messiah--the temporal redemption of the Jewish people, a rebuilt Temple, peace and prosperity, the universal recognition of the God of Israel--are null and void.
2. The messianic faith of Judaism allows for the following scenario: God will finally send the true Messiah to embark upon his redemptive mission. The long-awaited redeemer will declare that all preparations for the redemption have been completed and announce without qualification that the fulfillment is absolutely imminent. He will begin the process of gathering the dispersed of Israel to the Holy Land. He will proclaim himself a prophet, point clearly to his messianic status, and declare that the only remaining task is to greet him as Messiah. And then he will die and be buried without having redeemed the world. To put the matter more succinctly, the true Messiah’s redemptive mission, publicly proclaimed and vigorously pursued, will be interrupted by death and burial and then consummated through a Second Coming. (1)

Berger is incensed not only that these quasi-Christian notions have taken hold in many Habad communities and publications, but that Orthodox Judaism, in all its many forms, has permitted the outrageous claims to go unanswered and without condemnation, by and large. As a dedicated student of Jewish polemics against Christianity in the middle ages, Berger is especially aware of how these ideas not only contaminate, but actually discredit Jewish resistance to Christian missions. His book is largely the record of a failed attempt to rouse traditional Jewish leadership to denounce this newest Shabbetai Zevi movement, one that recapitulates and extends the false messianism of previous Jewish generations. He writes:

Judaism is remarkably vague about our messianic expectations.

Jews throughout the ages have believed in the Messiah, but the precise contours of that faith remained exceptionally fluid.

While it was surely desirable to know the details of the messianic scenario, there was special urgency to the question of when the process would begin. With respect to both points, Rambam turned ignorance into a virtue:

Maimonides, the preeminent authority on Jewish messianism, was indeed somewhat vague on the details of redemption, leaving these to the mercy and justice of God. Rambam did, however, prescribe limits of the permissible in Jewish theology. In his authoritative code he says:

As to all these matters. no one knows how they will happen until they happen, because they are all impenetrable matters among the prophets. The Sages too had no tradition about these issues; rather, they weighed the scriptural evidence, and that is why they differed about these matters. In any event, neither the order in which these events will take place nor their details are fundamental to the faith, so that no one should ... spend an inordinate amount of time studying rabbinic statements about these issues ... nor should one calculate the end; indeed, the rabbis said, “Blasted be those who calculate the end.” Rather, one should wait and believe in the general doctrine as we have explained. (2)

If a king arises from the House of David who studies the Torah and pursues the commandments like his ancestor David in accordance with the written and oral law, and he compels all Israel to follow and strengthen it and fights the wars of the Lord--this man enjoys the presumption of being the Messiah. If he proceeds successfully, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, then he is surely the Messiah. He will perfect the entire world so that its inhabitants will serve God together, as it is written, “For then I will make the peoples pure of speech, so that they all invoke the Lord by name and serve Him with one accord.” But if he does not succeed to this extent, or is killed, it is evident that he is not the one whom the Torah promised; he is, rather, like all the complete and righteous kings of Israel who have died. (3)

It is perfectly clear that the Rambam does not allow for just any idea of the Messiah at all to be accepted. The death of a pretender before completion of the task of redeeming the world and making it ready for a last attempt to produce souls worthy of the world-to-come proves that he was not the expected savior of the people. That is why Berger is so outraged and surprised that contemporary Orthodox Jewry can remain silent in the face of Habad’s undoubted heresy. This taste of Christianizing expectation is patently unacceptable. Berger lists both similarities to and differences from Christian messianism that the Rebbe’s adherents manifest:

Among the similarities:

• The creation of new grounds for belief in response to apparent failure.
• Faith in an immediate return which is then postponed.
• The citation of evidence from biblical verses, and, in the case of Sabbatianism and Lubavitch, from rabbinic literature as well.
• The appeal by the Sabbatians and Lubavitch Hasidim to Rambam’s affirmation of ignorance regarding the details of the messianic process.
• The belief (held by some but not all Lubavitch messianists) that the messianic figure is not really dead at all.

Among the differences:

• The exceptional qualifications of the Rebbe.
• The argument before the Rebbe’s death, and in some circles even after it, that the skeptic is obligated to provide a superior candidate.
• The movement’s viability in the absence of its messianic component.
• The belief in a Messiah who, unlike Shabetai Tzevi and perhaps unlike Jesus, never made a formal explicit declaration of his messiahship. Hence--a movement might be described as false messianism without a false Messiah.
• The commitment to the full observance of Jewish law.
• The availability of a vast library of videotapes which can preserve a sense of the departed Messiah’s physical presence.
• The pluralistic environment. (4)

There is something almost touching about Berger’s shocked regret that followers of the Rebbe have besmirched his reputation by making unwarranted claims for his messiahship. Berger, more than many earlier critics of the movement, applauds the tenacity and self-sacrifice of its members in disseminating Torah and in faithfully serving Jewish communities around the world. There is no question about the hard work and successful propaganda of the movement, but one need not concede that the Rebbe was “one of the great leaders of the twentieth-century Jewry” (5) rather than a spokesman and a media personality with inordinate personal ambition. In any case, the precise claim made for him, by at least some of his followers, remains shocking:

In the Sichas Kodesh [holy discourse] of Parshas Shoftim [Deuteronomy 16:18-21:9], the Lubavitcher Rebbe established as halacha [Jewish law] the fact that this generation has a prophet and we must listen to him, as codified in the Rambam [Maimonides’ code], Hilehos Yesodei HaTorah [Laws of the Foundations of the Torah], Chapter 7.

These are the Rebbe’s holy words: We must publicize to all people of the generation that we have merited to have Hashem [God] select and appoint someone with the power of free choice, who is personally incomparably greater than the people of his generation to be “your judges” and “your advisors” [Isaiah I:26] and the prophet of the generation, to give directives and give advice regarding the service of all the Jewish people... including the main prophecy of “immediately to Redemption” and immediately “behold this (Moshiach) comes.”

The Rebbe said in the sicha of Parshas VaYeira [Genesis 18-22], 5752... all obstacles and hindrances have been nullified in our days etc. Since this is so, there is [not only the reality of Moshiach, but] also Moshiach’s revelation, and now we must only greet Moshiach Tzidkeinu [our righteous Messiah] in actuality.

In the sicha of Parshas Mishpatim [Exodus 21-4], 5752, the Rebbe says, “This is the psak din [ruling] of the Rabbanim [rabbis] and teachers of Yisroel [Israel] that the time of redemption has arrived, ‘a king has arrived from the house of David etc., be’chezkas [with the presumption] that he is Moshiach,’” and the Rebbe added these words to this psak din, “to the state of ‘this is certainly Moshiach.’” Moreover, in this sicha the Rebbe clearly hinted to his being Melech HaMoshiach [the King Messiah].

We (the undersigned) are establishing in this psak halacha according to the halacha of our holy Torah-based on the halacha in the Rambam, Chapter 7, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, Halacha 1; Chapter 9, Halacha 2; and Chapter 10, Halacha 1--that the Rebbe Melech HaMoshiach has the halakhic status of a prophet, and it is explicit in the holy sichos that he alludes to his being a prophet (and it is understood from his sichos that he is Melech HaMoshiach, and he encouraged the singing of “Yechi Admur MH"M L'Olam Va'ed” [May our Master, Teacher, and Rabbi, the King Messiah, live forever]), and he already predicted, before all Jews and before the entire world, things that have come to pass in their entirety during the Six-Day War, the Gulf War, etc.

Therefore, we are obligated to listen to everything we are told (by the Rebbe) as an obligation to listen to a prophet, including the fact that the Rebbe is Melech HaMoshiach and will immediately be revealed to us. (6)

In answer to such incredible assertions, the mainstream Orthodox Rabbinical Council of America produced a tepid resolution:

In light of disturbing developments which have recently arisen in the Jewish community, the Rabbinical Council of America in convention assembled declares that there is not and never has been a place in Judaism for the belief that Mashiach ben David will begin his Messianic mission only to experience death, burial and resurrection before completing it. (7)

Contrast this to an extravagant document published by a Habad layman with a doctoral degree who supports the most far-reaching claims for his Rebbe:

A certain Lubavitcher Rov [rabbi] was chiding a certain Lubavitcher Chasid about his continuing faith in the Rebbe as Melech ha-Moshiach [the King Messiah]. The Chasid bit the bait and, in the ensuing banter, commented that if the Rebbe was wrong, then all Chasidus [Hasidism] is disqualified all the way back to the Baal Shem Tov. The Rov became serious and said, “No, my friend. All the way back to Moshe Rabbenu” [Moses, our Rabbi].

So, being stuck with Moshe Rabbenu means being stuck with the Rebbe which means being stuck with the absolute truth of all their statements, including those statements about what is Rebbe. For example, that Rebbe is the “Essence and Being [of God] enclothed in a body,” that a Rebbe is by nature “omniscient” and “omnipotent,” that all material and spiritual blessings flow from the Rebbe.

These are radical statements that many would like to sweep under the rug of normative Judaism. However, they are neither wild exaggerations nor poetic parables. Rather these ideas are facts of life which help us understand how a “human being” like the Rebbe can foresee and control and coordinate the finest details of someone’s personal life effecting his powerful blessings over many years and many miles removed. In other words, there is nothing shocking about the Rebbe’s powers given that his nature is above the limitations of nature... he delivers... a symphony of countless harmonized details of particular divine providence and... has, in effect, past present and future all in his pocket....

So who [is] Elokeinu [our God]? Who Avinu [our Father]? Who Malkeinu [our King]? Who Moshianu [Redeemer]? Who Yoshianu V’Yiglaeinu Shaynis B’Karov [will save and redeem us once again shortly]? The Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach. That’s who. (8)

Berger is a faithful and courageous Jewish ecumenist who reaches out to non Orthodox Jews in holding that their ritual transgressions are hardly the fault of Reform Jews, who are as ignorant as if they were raised by non-Jews and, of course, sometimes were. Though he has criticized non-Orthodox theology in categorical terms, he recognizes that great areas of mutuality and cooperation are still possible. Similarly, he would like to embrace all varieties of Orthodox Judaism, which is precisely why he is outraged by extreme Habad thinking that cannot be considered a truly authentic Judaism. In the end, he cannot accept even the otherwise binding legal decisions of such a dissident movement. Halakhic consequences are serious:

It is evident, then, that the belief that the Rebbe is literally God and that lie should be the object of prayer has entered mainstream Lubavitch. In the terminology of Jewish law, this is avodak zarah, or idolatry. (The dispute among rabbinic authorities as to whether or not Christianity constitutes idolatry for Gentiles has no relevance where the worshipper is a Jew.) One who teaches this theology and urges that it be ritually expressed is an inciter to idolatry (mesit umadiah), not an admirable educator or practitioner of outreach. One who supports an institution in which it is taught violates a prohibition so severe that there is a requirement to die rather than transgress. If a believer in this theology slaughters an animal ritually, it has the status of a non-kosher carcass (nevelah) which can undermine the kashrut of a restaurant or home. A divorce document signed by such a believer and a Torah scroll or tefillin written by him are invalid. A non-Jew who converts to this sort of Judaism remains a non-Jew. (9)

There has been some retreat from messianic claims for the Rebbe, especially by the not very influential, so-called Executive Committee of the Central Committee of Habad Lubavitch Rabbis in the United States and Canada. But so fine a scholar and traditional Jew as Professor Martin Lockshin thinks that the Habad precedent can lead Jews for Jesus to take their place among legitimate Jewish denominations. He fears that if Habad is unpunished, anarchy will develop in all of present-day Judaism. (10)

Berger summarizes his own deep concern in measured terms:

I consider this issue [especially] serious for roughly the following reasons: (1) It involves a key element in the fundamental understanding of one of the ikarei ha’emunah (fundamentals of faith). (2) Comparable movements throughout Jewish history have been thoroughly, vehemently, angrily delegitimated by kelal yisra’el [the Jewish collective]. I refer both to the movements that persisted because their posthumous survival was unthinkable. (3) Denial of such a belief has been a part of the very definition of Judaism in innumerable confrontations with the Christian mission. Accepting it as a harmless enthusiasm awards victory to Christianity on a fundamental matter of principle. (4) It has led to avodah zarah in both past instances and shows signs of doing it again. (11)

If Habad messianism is idolatry it must be contested in every way possible. Berger hopes that it is not too late, so that his book can be “a eulogy, and obituary and an epitaph.” (12) For us non-Orthodox Jews, it becomes clear that heresy and dangerous theology are found not only among us weak-kneed liberals. All Jews are now in the same boat, and if our craft springs a leak, we will surely all go down together.

 

Endnotes

(1) David Berger, The Rebbe, the Messiah and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference (London/Portland, OR: Litman Library of Jewish Civilization, 2001), pp. if.

(2) Mishneh torah, Laws of Kings 12:2; Berger, p. 19.

(3) Mishneh torah, Laws of Kings II:4, in the uncensored version, Berger, p. 21.

(4) Berger, pp. 28f.

(5) Berger, p. 30.

(6) Berger, p. 56f.

(7) Berger, p. 69.

(8) Berger, p. 83.

(9) Berger, p. 93.

(10) See “Judaism, Christianity and Jewish Christianity: What the Future May Hold,” in Cult and Culture: Studies in Cultural Meaning, Les Cahiers du CICC 8 (July 1999): 137-148.

(11) Berger, p. 142.

(12) Berger, p. 149.