Is the Rebbe Messiah? by Lyle and Lev

The idea of a messiah, a savior who will redeem the people of a religion is an essential element in both Judaism and Christianity. To Christians, the messiah is Jesus; Jesus came once and will return to save humanity. Every Christian agrees that Jesus will be their savior. To most Jews the term messiah is defined as someone who will come in the future but to a select group of Jews it means Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson of the Lubavich movement.

In Judaism, the messiah is an important religious figure. The messiah will bring about “the culmination of God’s original plan for creation.”[1] Since the messiah is one of the foundations of Judaism, how can there be a disagreement as to who the messiah is? Due to the Lubavich belief, this debate is especially relevant today in the Jewish world.

The rise in popularity of the Lubavich movement has brought to light their views regarding their leader or “rebbe.” The Lubavich movement feels that their rebbe is the messiah of the Jews or the “Moshiach.” This bold declaration has caused much consternation and debate in Jewish circles. Even more astounding is that their enthusiasm has not been diminished by the passing of their Rebbe.

One must first understand the Jewish view on messiah. The term messiah is literally translated as “one who is anointed with oil.”[2] The messiah’s purpose is to signal the end of history, restore all Israel to its Land, and preside over the resurrection of the dead, and inaugurate the final Kingdom of God.[3] Many rabbi’s have argued over time what will take place in the time of the messiah and what will happen when he comes. Rambam, a 12^th century Rabbi, wrote much concerning the messiah. Since his time it is impossible to discuss the subject of the messiah and the Era of the Redemption without direct reference to the last two chapters of his monumental halachic code, the Mishneh Torah.

Rambam states in the Mishna Torah:

In future time, the King Mashiach [1] will arise and renew the Davidic dynasty, restoring it to its initial sovereignty. He will rebuild the [Beis Ha]Mikdash and gather in the dispersed remnant of Israel. Then, in his days, all the statutes will be re-instituted as in former times. We will offer sacrifices and observe the Sabbatical and Jubilee years according to all their particulars set forth in the Torah.[4]

Rambam then goes on to describe how Jews should act with the knowledge that messiah will arrive shortly. It is also told to us what the criteria are for someone to be considered to be the messiah and then more criteria for someone to actually be the messiah. His work has brought much to the discussion of the messiah and for the most part people do not argue with his statements. People do disagree on the explanation of what he says. For example, Rambam talks about who can be the messiah. He brings in the example of King Ben Koziva, otherwise known as Bar Kochva.

One should not entertain the notion that the King Mashiach must work miracles and wonders, bring about new phenomena within the world, resurrect the dead, or perform other similar deeds. This is [definitely] not true.

A proof can be brought from the fact that] that Rabbi Akiva, one of the greatest Sages of the Mishnah, was one of the supporters of King Ben Koziva, and would describe him as the King Mashiach. He and all the Sages of his generation considered him to be the King Mashiach until he was killed because of [his] sins. Once he was killed, they realized that he was not [the Mashiach]. The Sages did not ask him for any signs or wonders.[5]

Even this seemingly simple statement has brought many disagreements, rabbi’s disagree if Rambam means that Mashiach could indeed be dead. This disagreement is especially prevalent today because Rabbi Schneerson is dead. The Lubavich hold that the messiah can indeed be dead, as they say, Rambam does not disagree. Others maintain that Rambam clearly says that messiah must be alive. They all disagree on the wording. One could take what the Rambam means as when the King was killed for his sins, he was no longer considered to be messiah. But one could also say, once he died he was no longer considered to be the messiah. We will discuss this later on in the paper.

Rambam holds that Jewish tradition affirms at least five things about the Messiah. He will: be a descendant of King David, gain sovereignty over the land of Israel, gather the Jews there from the four corners of the earth, restore them to full observance of Torah law, and, as a grand finale, bring peace to the whole world. Concerning the more difficult tasks some prophets assign him, such as Isaiah's vision of a messianic age in which the wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the calf with the young lion,[6] Rambam believes that Isaiah's language is metaphorical (for example, only that enemies of the Jews, likened to the wolf, will no longer oppress them). A century later, Nachmanides rejected Rambam’s rationalism and asserted that Isaiah meant precisely what he said: that in the messianic age even wild animals will become domesticated and sweet tempered. There are many other Rabbi’s that have written countless books and responses as to what messiah will do and how we should act. For the most part, Rambam’s thoughts have been held, few Rabbi’s differ on how we should act and what messiah will bring in the future, but the views of Rambam are generally held firm.

All the views put forth so far have been of the orthodox tradition. The reform and conservative Jews differ in what they belief from the orthodox stand point.

The conservative movement, according to Rabbi Jermone Epstein[7], believes that as a Jew, we must believe that the coming of the Messiah does not depend on our belief that he will come, nor does it rest solely in God's hands, but it remains our task to bring the Messiah -- that he will arrive only when we are in a state of readiness to bring him, to welcome him, to appreciate him. Salvation must be earned. And thus it is what we do, as Jews, that will determine the time of the Messianic arrival. Again, within both conservative, reform and Orthodox Judaism there are disagreements

The reformed movement has a different opinion of messiah. The reform believe that instead of believing that messiah is a person or a divine being, they believe it refers to Utopian age that mankind is progressing towards.[8] There are individual Reform Jews who believe in resurrection of the dead or m'chayey hameytim; however, the Reform movement does not have any creed which would require such a belief. By changing m'chayey hameytim to the more generic m'chayey ha-kol or a redemption of everyone, the Amidah becomes equivocal. This allows the believer in resurrection to understand the prayer as resurrection while allowing those with the more conventional Reform belief to relate to the prayer with intellectual integrity.[9]

In order to understand why the Lubavich feel the way they do, one must first understand the Lubavich and how they got started. Lubavich Hasidism began in 1773 in Lithuania under the leadership of Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812), a child prodigy and student of Rabbi Dov Baer, a Hasidic scholar. Upon Dov Baer's death in 1772, Rabbi Zalman was sent to Lithuania to head the community. He spent the rest of his life in Lithuania and Russia, teaching and writing. His works include the Likutic Amanan better known as the Tanya the essential text of the Chabad as his teachings became known. The Rebbe, or head of the movement was handed down to the son of the previous Rebbe.

Lubavich work in North America began in the mid-1920s when Rabbi Schneerson, the seventh son in this dynasty, formed the Agudas Chassidas Chabad of the United States of America and Canada. He visited the United States in 1929, during which time he met with President Herbert Hoover. He had settled in Warsaw after World War I, when his life was threatened by the Nazis, the Rebbe was finally persuaded to migrate to the United States. The arrival of Schneerson in New York in 1940 signaled the rebirth of Hasidism in the New World. Based on belief in one God, Creator of the universe, who revealed His divine pattern for life for all mankind through the Torah, given to Moses and the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. Commitment to these laws contained in the written and oral Torah transcends time, place, or circumstance. The ever living God and Infinite Creator is both transcendent and immanent; He is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. He hears prayer, and anyone may commune with Him directly without any intercessor. Man is free and not tainted with Original Sin. Judaism affirms life as good and seeks to endow it with spiritual and moral worth. The Jewish affirmation of faith that emphasizes God's unity is expressed in the Sh'ma: "Hear, O Israel, The Lord Our God, The Lord is One." Chabad is a combination of the initials of "Chochmah Binah," and "Daath," the highest virtues of the intellect. Daath (knowledge), Chochmah (wisdom) and Binah intelligence) are three sephirot on the Kabbalistic tree. Faith and belief in God share an insistence on intellectual study and understanding of religious truth. The emphasis on truth has made education basic to the Lubavich program. The love of one's fellow Jew (Ahavas Yisroel) is an emphasis of Lubavich to an openness to the entire Jewish community, in contrast to most other Hasidim, who generally isolate themselves from their non-Hasidic brethren.

Rabbi Schneerson started what was to be the greatest kiruv[10] effort ever in Judaism. He told his followers to go out into the world and get people to be more Jewish. Never before has there been such a push by a Rabbi, and never before has the response been so great. If one were to travel around the world, one could stop in almost every country in the world and find a Chabad house – it is truly amazing.[11] Throughout his life the Rebbe was always available. The Rebbe was especially approachable by layman, something very rare by a man of his stature and following.

His follows began to think of him as the Messiah because he fulfilled all of the requirements that were set out by the Rambam. For many years, people were waiting for him to proclaim himself as the messiah and affirm their beliefs. Later in his life, he had a stroke and for the rest of his life he was unable to communicate as he was before. In 1994, two years after his stroke, he passed away. The Chabad leadership decided that he would be the final Rebbe, as he had no sons. This decision sparked much speculation and expectation that Schneerson was the Messiah. Many felt that the Chabad movement would dwindle and collapse after his death, but just the opposite occurred. The movement only was propelled to due more of the work that the Rebbe did during his lifetime in order to hurry in the age of the messiah.[12]

While the Rebbe was alive, many orthodox people felt that was possible that Rabbi Schneerson was the messiah, but when he passed away that possibility was no longer. They pointed to Rambam and explained that Rambam himself agrees that when the Rebbe died, he is no longer “in the running.” The Lubavich point to the same Rambam and say the only reason why Bar Kochva was not considered to be the messiah after he died is because he was killed for his sins. If he just died, then he too could be a candidate. The debate goes further. In the Talmud[13] there is a discussion about the messiah. A Rabbi says if he had to pick someone who is the messiah today he would say that it is living - Rav Bava, dead – Nehemiah. This seemingly suggests that the messiah can be someone who is dead. The Lubavich use this as one of the proof texts as to the possibility that the Rebbe is the messiah. The other Rabbis say that we hold by what the Rambam says, what he says is the law. Of course then we are back to the first disagreement.

Throughout the ages many people were to be thought of as the messiah. In 16551666, large segments of world Jewry believed that Shabbetai Zevi, a Turkish Jew, was the Messiah, and confidently waited for Turkey's sultan to deliver Palestine to him. Instead, the sultan threatened Shabbetai with execution and the "Messiah" saved his life by converting to Islam. There was also Rabbi Akiva, who ended up being killed by the Romans. There have been other people that many thought were the messiah, many had more followers that the Rabbi Schneerson.

During the lifetime of the Rebbe, while he was able to talk to his followers, people disagree about whether or not he considered himself to be the messiah. The Lubavich followers today disagree about this issue, as we will see in interviews we had.

In order to get a better idea of what orthodox people think today, we spoke to four different Rabbis. Two of them are orthodox, but not Lubavich, (Rabbi Samuels and Rabbi Simkovich) and the other two are orthodox and Lubavich (Rabbi Posner and Rabbi Polak). We asked them all the same question, “Is the Rebbe messiah?” Each had a different response.

When posed with this question, Rabbi Polak shook his head and said no. He brought the example of Rambam and said that once the Rebbe died, he is no longer eligible for the position. When we asked how he could say this when the majority of Lubavich think he is, he disagreed with that statement. He believes that only a vocal minority truly believes this. He also says that when the Rebbe was alive, the Rebbe himself said that he is not the messiah. Rabbi Polak claims that he heard this from a person who learned with the Rebbe everyday. We then asked Rabbi Polak if he believed if the Rebbe was messiah during his lifetime, he was vague. When pressed for an answer he agreed that it was possible that he could have been while he was alive.

We then asked Rabbi Samuels, a rabbi in Newton, he said something similar to Rabbi Polak. He agreed that while the Rebbe was alive, he could have been the messiah but once he died, he loses that possibility. He was, though, much quicker to add that the possibility was very great that during the Rebbe’s lifetime that he was the messiah.

When we spoke to Rabbi Posner, we asked him directly if he thinks that the Rebbe is still the messiah. He said that he only is saying yes to us due to the fact that he spoke to us before. His position is that you can’t just say yes or no, one must first explain the position. He said he would take someone who asked the question to him and show him sources, and then explain why he thinks that the Rebbe is indeed the messiah. When I told him what other Lubavich Rabbis think, he disagrees. He thinks that the vast majority of Lubavich people and Rabbis think that the Rebbe is indeed was and still is the messiah. When we asked about the Rambam, which says once the king dies he was no longer considered to be the messiah, Rabbi Posner sees this passage differently. He says that Rambam only says that the person was only not messiah only because he was killed for his sins. If he died a good man, then he would still be considered the messiah.

We then asked Rabbi Simkovich, a Rabbi who lives in Philadelphia, he agreed with everything that Rabbi Samuels said. He only disagreed with the emphasis placed on the Rebbe actually being the messiah. He believes that one should not spend time debating this as if he is, then we will know. He thinks people are wasting much too much time on this question.

Both of us agree that the Rebbe had the possibility of being the messiah during his lifetime, but once he passed on, he is no longer considered. When speaking with the orthodox rabbis, all of them agreed that in each generation there is someone who you could point to and say “He could me the messiah.” When the Rebbe was alive, people pointed to him. Once he passed away, people no longer point to him and now they point to others. For us, the Messiah has not yet come; but we continue to long for him. At each B'rit Milah -- and often when a girl is named in modern times -- we set a chair aside for Elijah, the Prophet who, according to tradition, will usher in the Messiah to the world. The presence of that chair at the naming signifies the hope that each new child might be the one to fix the world. Thus, each one of us might be the potential Messiah. A sober reading of Jewish history, however, indicates that while the messianic idea has long elevated Jewish life, and prompted Jews to work for tikkun olam (perfection of the world), whenever Jews have thought the Messiah's arrival to be imminent, the results have been catastrophic.[14]

Regardless, believing the Messiah will arrive is an important facet of Judaism and it is important for every Jew to believe in the coming of the Mashiach and to strive for his arrival.

[1] Corrigan, Denny, Eire, and Jaffee (P. 80)

[2] Corrigan, Denny, Eire, and Jaffee (P. 78)

[3] Corrigan, Denny, Eire, and Jaffee (P. 80)

[4] Rambam’s Mishna Torah, Hilchot Melachim Ch. 12

[5] Rambam’s Mishna Torah, Hilchot Melachim Ch. 11:3

[7]http://www.uscj.org/scripts/uscj/paper/Article.asp?ArticleID=645

[10] the effort to bring non-observant Jews closer to Judaism

[12] http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/Lubavitch_and_Chabad.html

[14] http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/messiah.htmlime