Chassidut MALACHIM, Part 1

B”H

Most Jews know Chabad (Lubavitch). There is just no way around and especially those Jews who travel also start looking for Chabad Houses in a foreign country. And most Jews regard the Shluchim (Chabad Representatives) as modern, open – minded and just nice buddies; hardly anyone has the time and the patience to look behind the scenes in order to find out what is really going on.

Thus, not too many outsiders know about the fights about the Rebbe’s house in Crown Heights, Eastern Parkway 770, New York. Who is ruling over the house today ? It says that the Meshichistim are in charge and from time to time, we hear about real fist fights taking place in Crown Heights.

Besides its strong anti – Zionist ideology, Chabad usually doesn’t like to promote its position on the Holocaust. Is a possible reason because the opinion is too close to the one of the Satmarer Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum z”l ?

From time to time we hear about chassidic groups such as Chernobyl, Bobov, Toldot Aharon or Belz and their split – offs. Only Chabad seems to always remain Chabad. What many outsiders don’t realize: Chabad also has its slpit – offs. For instance groups such as Kapust, Liadi or the MALACHIM (Angels).

Rabbi Chaim Avraham Dov Ber Levine HaCohen, called “HaMal’ach – The Angel” separated from Chabad, founded his own group and only died a few years later in 1938. The Malachim exist until today. Not too many anymore, as various members joined Satmar. Why ? One reason may be the similar ideology regarding anti – Zionism.

I have been collecting information on Chassidut Malachim but it is anything but easy gathering details. The author Bernhard Sobel wrote a book on the Malachim in the 50ies. Otherwise, only the author Jerome R. Mintz dared to mention the topic in one of his books. And this is basically it. You won’t find much more information and it also depends on which side you ask. The Malachim will tell you a totally different reason from the Chabad claim why Rabbi Chaim Avraham Levine had left Chabad.

We think that we know Chabad but when you start a deeper research, you suddenly realize that you know nothing !

Link:

"The Rebbe is alive" - Psychological Aspects of Chabad Messianism