The Rebbe - believed to be Moshiach by many of his followers
The Failed Messiah blog carry this post which may give more of a background understanding at the fire-storm response at Rabbi Boteach’s book Kosher Jesus.
Boteach is a Chabadnik, who on his own profession thought The Rebbe was the Moshiach, until Schneerson died.
Many in Chabad face accusations to heresy from the wider Jewish world so it is important for many Chabadniks to take the opportunity to come out against their Chabad comrade Boteach and calm their own insecurities about the Meshichistim tendencies that swept Chabad for years.
The Failed Messiah post states:
A famous Jewish convert to Christianity says Chabad and Christianity are so close, only a tiny spark is necessary to cause mass conversion of Chabadniks to Christ.
A 19th century convert to Christianity, Joshua George Lazarus, wrote a book about his life and Eastern European Jewish society – with a large dose of missionary propaganda thrown in, as well.
The book, Ebenezer, has a chapter on Chabad.
Lazarus knew the Chabad’s second rebbe, Dov Bear Shneuri (later changed to Schneersohn), known as the Mittler Rebbe.
Lazarus writes contemptuously of the mitnagdic (anti-hasidic; the disciples of the Vilna Gaon) complaints about Chabad, and takes Chabad’s side in that conflict.
Instead, he writes there is much good about Chabad – especially one very good thing Christian missionaries should take note of.
The doctrine of Hasidism and Christianity are very much alike, Lazarus claimed, and he wrote:
“The fuel is ready, and a living spark is only needed to kindle the fire [i.e., for Chabad hasidim to convert to Christianity].” [As quoted in David Asaaf's Untold Tales of the Hasidim, Brandeis University Press, 2010, p.58.]
Interestingly, Rabbi Moshe, a son of Chabad’s first Rebbe, Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the Baal Hatanya, converted to Christianity – although that may have been due to mental illness.
At any rate, a Jew born to a mitnagdic family, raised as a scholar, and who snuck off to Lubavitch to join Chabad, staying there for months, meeting personally with the Mittler Rebbe and speaking to him at length about hasidic doctrine and customs, became an apostate.
And while blasting much of Eastern European Jewry for its theology and behavior, as an apostate he defends Chabad – not because their behavior was significantly better in Lazarus’s eyes, but because Chabad theology, presented as the authentic theology of the Maggid of Mezeritch and the Bal Shem Tov, is so close to Christianity, one spark will cause Chabad hasidim to convert.
This is fascinating, because what we have seen in the last 20 years is Chabad publicly adopting tenets of Christianity long rejected by Jewish communities and scholars worldwide – most notably a messiah that will come from dead, a second coming.
And this (only on the nature and theology of Chabad) proves Lazarus right.
You gotta love history.
Yep you really do!
ChaBaD is of course an acronym:
Chokmah – Wisdom
Binah – Understanding
Da’at – Knowledge
On these we can most definitely agree.
actually Orthodox Jews, Orthodox Christians (at least the Russian, Greek and Armenian variety) and religious Muslims all wear roughly the same heavy black garb when they walk around old city of Jerusalem. Even when its 35 degrees or hotter.
luckily a relationship with Yeshua, isn’t a religion and hes accepting of everyone who follows him.
It seems the religious Jews who called other Jews whom they considered unorthodox “Christian” weren’t doing it to convey approval, but rather to characterize as heretical in the most extreme terminology.
So much for your theory that religious Jews consider any expression of Judaism “identical” to Christianity.
Of course it is not a compliment to say Chabad is like Christianity, it is a way of seeking to stigmatise and silence the Meshichistim elements within Chabad.
I see what you’re saying. The claim that one knows the messiah has come, even though the prophetic keys to identifying the messiah remain unfulfilled, is inimical to the Jews’ Bible-based heritage and outlook.
Yet I perceive a paranoia, an irrational persecution complex, behind your comments. Unlike the Christian censors, the Jewish community has never possessed the will or the means to silence anyone. Even your Jew-targeting proselytism cult is welcomed by Jews in the public discourse, and Jews reserve their right to respond to your various deceits by properly identifying you as Christians, your funding sources as Church-based, and your beliefs as old-fashioned Protestantism.
Takath On it is a bum deal that you feel the need to change your name from Fil A. Bussdar, I can see you using the same IP address.
You think that I own a proselytism cult just because I am not afraid to express my opinions and defend my faith… interesting!
Relax, Gev. No one is accusing you of being anything more than a pawn controlled by the missionary kingpins (your paymasters). They order you not to reveal that you aren’t a Jew, and you comply with total obedience.
And yes, it is a pity that you enforce changing anonymous screen names as the only way to circumvent your censorship regime.
Pawn, kingpin, paymasters, hidden identities… you been reading too much Spiderman Ram Blom/Takath On/Fil A. Bussdar!
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I could understand if you were to quote from an official CHABAD website that publicly acknowledges the link between Chabad ideology and Christianity
I could also understand if you were to base your assertion on the famous speech by Rabbi Shach who equated Chabad with Christianity – ( he was also fighting the turf war begun 200 or so years earlier between the 2 major branches of Judaism at the time)
But to built your BLOG upon one who scours the tabloids for any dirt he can find on any individual who is connected to Orthodox Judaism ( including Rabbis from the centrist Religious Zionist Organization ) – speculates upon the speculations of others and offers his conclusions as fact on the ground would appear to undermine any sense of impartiality.
We had predictions 15 years ago by these very same experts of a mass outflow from Chabad into various Christian sects – seems they got things wrong then and will continue to get things wrong in the future.
Yes, Chabad as all outreach movement have discovered, has its lunatic fringe. Unfortunate, it is the antics of this lunatic fringe that make the headlines in HARETZ ( a ragsheet from ISRAEL ) and the FORWARD – a semi ragsheet that lost its BUNDIST readership and resurfaced as reflecting mainstream secular Jews in NewYork
And by the way – no respectable Chabad would set up shop in such a hovel as shown in your accompanying photo.
@Shmuel Slodowitz “We had predictions 15 years ago by these very same experts of a mass outflow from Chabad into various Christian sects – seems they got things wrong then and will continue to get things wrong in the future.”
Yes, but that is the point, this is all a bit over the top to claim masses of Chabadnik will convert to Christianity because they believe the Rebbe is Moshiach.
The photo is not claiming to be a Chabad set-up shop, it is one of the many posters proclaiming veneration of the Rebbe that are still to be found plastered around Israel. This one is by the park in Rishon LeTzion.
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Response to the Pingback: It is just that that the Messiah is Divine. A human Messiah will only lead to idolatry. PERIOD. Take it or leave guys, warning you.