It is summer and people still like to go out during a warm summer night. In Jerusalem, many people go to the shopping mall Ben Yehudah; eating ice - cream, Falafel or Shwarma. Near Zion Square is the most action. Some guys play bongo, the Breslover Chassidim either sell their CDs, letters in a new Sefer Torah or books. There are two Breslov stands right next to each other. The Nanas with their white "Nachman MeUman" Kipot and the students of Rabbi Arush. Rabbi Arush used to be a student of the famous Breslover Baal Teshuva Rabbi Eliezer Berland and now has his own Yeshiva.
Not to forget the family selling their illegal CDs and, of course, Chabad. For the past few weeks, the Lubavitcher have been setting up a huge screen showing Rebbe videos. Last night I sat down in the middle of Ben Yehudah and watched one of the videos. We saw the last Lubavitcher Rebbe in different scenes at different occasions. People walking by were not particularly interested in the Rebbe and his video. I think that I was one of the only few really watching.
It must have been between 1992 - 1994, when one of the scenes was filmed. Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson's right arm was covered and only his left hand was visible. He was standing in front of his usual audience. The Chassidim were singing the "Yechi Adoneinu …" song and the amazing thing was that the Rebbe encouraged them anxiously. He himself looked terrible, as in 1992, he suffered a stroke after already suffering a heart attack in 1977. His body didn't really function anymore and all his movements were very limited. But all this limitations didn't stop him from encouraging his Chassidim singing "Yechi Adoneinu …". This song had spread since 1991 and became more and more popular among the Chabad Meshichistim (those who believe that the last Rebbe is the Meshiach).
The whole scene just seemed a kind of strange, not to say ridiculous. There was a terribly ill looking Rebbe letting his Chassidim go wild because of certain messianic ideas. I suppose he did so, as the "Yechi Adoneinu …" song refers to him. By the late 1980s, messianism had become the main ideology in Chassidut Chabad. After the Rebbe suffered his stroke, everything got even worse. Many authors describe the Chabad movement and its messianic ideas. Especially M. Avrum Ehrlich presented some impressing insights in his book "The Messiah of Brooklyn: Understanding Lubavitch Hasidism".
In May 1992, only a few weeks before his stroke, Rebbe Schneerson admitted his failure in bringing the Meshiach. He had done everything and from now on, the Chassidim should continue and complete his mission. Until then, his followers saw him as a true prophet but as soon as he admitted his failure, he became a failed prophet.
The last Lubavitcher Rebbe: Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson in better days.
Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson died at the age of 92 on 12th June 1994.
Two questions remain:
1. Why didn't the Rebbe appoint a successor ?
Many people comment that he himself, at a certain point, started believing that he might really be the Meshiach. Wasn't this idea also convenient while he was ill ? And how could anyone truly believe that with him, the Schneerson family and its Kehuna would be finished ? This could never happen and therefore, many Chassidim, and probably the Rebbe himself, avoided reality rather than dealing with it. And the sad results we are facing today.
2. Why did the Rebbe constantly encourage his Chassidim to believe in certain messianic ideologies ? Instead of announcing that people should be patient until the true Meshiach comes, the Rebbe put more and more fuel into all the discussions.
Chabad Meshichistim in Jerusalem's Ben Yehudah Mall. The building in Ben Yehudah No. 5 is a kind of headquarter of the local Meshichistim.
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