About the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Of Blessed MEMORY
This article on CrownHeights.Info makes me want to cry in light of an email I received not too long ago.
A young man in California said that he was Jewish, and was becoming more interested in Judaism. Of course, I'm always eager to help someone on their path towards G-d (as opposed to away from Him) , so I emailed him back. He asked me two strange questions:
One, could one "be a religious Jew" even if they didn't accept the Lubavitcher Rebbe as the Messiah, and two, where could one go to become religious if they didn't.
I was flabbergasted. How could it have gotten to this point -- that this young man thought that the only way to be a religious Jew would be to accept this man as Messiah? I wrote to him adamantly that he should seek a mainstream Orthodox yeshiva and detach himself from whichever Chaba"d house he was associating with -- whichever shaliach was running the place was obviously doing more harm than good in his life.
And now we have this.
A few months ago I was walking in Times Square in New York City and there were two Chabadniks handing out literature proclaiming that the Rebbe, Menachem Schneerson, was the Messiah (Moshiach). They were in competition with a guy up the street with a sign proclaiming the end of the world and that Jesus will save us if we believe in him.Being a curious person, or maybe just a contentious one, I approached the Chabad-Lubavitchers and asked how the Rebbe could be the Messiah since he died in 1994 and was buried in Queens? They responded that he really wasn't dead and that the person buried in the grave in Queens was his father-in-law. I walked away amused and a little irritated that these jokers were there in the name of Judaism.
Last month my wife, Lynne, and I were in the subterranean 42nd Street subway station and another Chabad Chasid was distributing literature. Not to offend him, heaven forbid, I took what he was offering. It is this handout that I want to discuss. Hold on to your seats, because this stuff is amazing (that's a polite adjective for ludicrous).
“America's efforts to safeguard peace around the world are critical elements in actualizing the redemption, as proclaimed by the prophet of our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe king Messiah (Moshiach) shlita (who lives forever)... America can be proud...in meriting the blessing of exceeding success with which the Rebbe king Messiah shlita blessed the U.S. armed forces in their holy mission in Iraq.”
I usually refer to these people colloquially as "the Rebbe, shlita people". The people who hold on to the erroneous (Rebbe's personal physician's words, not mine) belief that the Rebbe is still alive, breathing physical oxygen made out of oxygen atoms, on this planet, Earth, living in area code 718.
It, of course, doesn't stop there:
There's more: On Jan. 31, 1992 the United States and the Soviet Union signed a bilateral nuclear disarmament treaty. The next day the Rebbe declared this the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy of peace. Most important, “the Rebbe king Messiah shlita (who lives forever) stated that the decision of the superpowers to abolish nuclear armament production and establish a new world order based on justice was a direct result of the rabbinic ruling” (by the Rebbe).It gets even better: The treaty was signed at the United Nations building in New York City “which is the world capital and headquarters of the Rebbe king Messiah shlita.”
Really? When did the Rebbe -- of blessed memory (ztvk"l) -- declare the UN as "his world capital and headquarters"? Where were all the UN farbrengens? Was Boutros-Boutros Gali there?
I love Chaba"d. It was a dream of mine as a child to have a Lubavitch conversion overseen by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztvk"l. He was the closest thing I could imagine to a "holy man" of old, the Chassidic masters whose students lapped up their teachings thirstily as those teachings contained the word of the Living Creator.
It is written that the righteous people can do more from the Next World than they ever could have accomplished in physical bodies. Why restrict the Rebbe -- he is in a far better place now, petitioning for klal Yisra'el with fiery entities in a much nicer neighborhood than Brooklyn has to offer.
The administration in 770 needs to end this now. Chaba"d's outreach work -- unsurpassed in the Jewish world -- is doing far too much good for the Jewish people to allow it to be marred by rogue shlichim.
And the sad thing is, one day, on one of those trains, a Jewish kid from Iowa or Idaho could be riding thinking, "yeah, I'm Jewish, but I don't believe in the religion, I don't believe the Messiah lives in Brooklyn." And he won't do mitzvos. And he will remain disengaged from the Jewish people.
And there will be nothing but a rogue shaliach -- and his black & white copied pamphlets -- to blame.
