Monday, July 4, 2011

Gimmel Tammuz - The Yahrzeit of the Lubavitcher Rebbe


B"H

Tomorrow is the 3rd day of the Jewish month of Tammuz - Gimmel be'Tammuz, and the Jewish world is commemorating the Yahrzeit of the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson who passed away on this day in June 1994.

In Judaism, anniversaries (Yahrzeits) of someone's death are celebrated with a memorial service, a meal, many guests and speeches about the deceased. Thus, his soul is rising to a higher level.


Some time ago, I spoke with a Chabad – Meshichist about this date.
Meshichistim are those within the Chabad group who believe that the seventh and last Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, is the Meshiach.

As soon as I mentioned the word "Yahrzeit" to the Meshichist, he almost fainted. Chabad – Meshichistim believe that the Rebbe has no Yahrzeit and never died. Instead, 3rd Tammuz is the day when Rebbe Schneerson became invisible. He is still around but just in another higher dimension where we cannot see him. When the time has come, the Rebbe is returning into our dimension and revealing himself as Meshiach. Moreover, some Chabadnik - Meshichistim told me that when the Rebbe is going to reveal himself, his home 770 is flying over to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. I am just wondering what the Rebbe himself had to say about this.:-)

I found the reaction of the Meshichist quite amusing but I also asked myself how people can really believe such claims. How far do people go in order to believe something ? Do they just react this way because they want to believe it ? Maybe in order to escape the crucial reality where Rebbe Schneerson died in June 1994 and since, Chabad has been without leadership.

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9 comments:

  1. "Moreover, some Chabadnik - Meshichistim told me that when the Rebbe is going to reveal himself, his home 770 is flying over to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. I am just wondering what the Rebbe himself had to say about this"
    As always, everything the Meshichistim say is taken out of context. Meshichistim have a serious illness: they lack reading comprehension. They like to quote the Rebbe and his Sichos, but without the proper context within which such and such quote was said.

    What the Rebbe REALLY said was:

    "the Talmud (Megilla 29a) says that "All the synagogues in the Diaspora will be transferred to Eretz Yisrael in the Messianic era". This of course also includes the house of my saintly father-in-law, The Prince of this Generation."

    This makes a HUGE difference. The Rebbe is simply quoting a Gemara which says that all the synagogues in Diaspora will be transferred in Eretz Yisroel. And he simply added that it also includes, of course, the 770, which is a synagogue, which belongs to his father-in-law. Nowhere the Rebbe said that ONLY the 770 will be transferred in Eretz Yisroel. What he said was: If all the synagogues are to be transferred, how much more the synagogue of the Nassi HaDor. (The Rebbe always considered that his father-in-law, the Previous Rebbe, was the Nassi HaDor, and not him. He always made it clear that his nessius was in fact an extansion of his father-in-law's nessisus, but not an independant nessius by itself. That's why, in the very first Ma'amar he gave to indicate that he accepted the mantle of becoming the next Lubavitcher Rebbe, he said that the previous six Lubavitcher Rebbe'im were the Nessi'im of their generations, and the seventh Nassi will be Moshiach. The Rebbe was not saying that, as the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, he was the Moshiach, since he considered himself to be the extansion of his father-in-law's nessius, that means he was a sort of a Sixth-bis Lubavitcher Rebbe, or a second sixth Lubavithcer Rebbe, the one who was responsable to pave the way for the coming of Moshiach, and not to be Moshiach himself. The Sichos of the Rebbe are full of references to the Sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe, his father-in-law, as being "the Nassi HaDor." We cannot be more clear than that. This missunderstanding led the Meshichistim to teach that, when speaking about the fact that the seventh Nassi will be Moshiach, The Rebbe, being the Seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe was hinting about his messianic identity. We cannot be farrer to the truth, and just read the answers the Rebbe gave to all those nuts who called him "Moshiach." When a Litvak came at Sunday Dollars to ask the Rebbe what does he think about the Lubavithcers who csay that he is the Messiah, the Rebbe simply answered: "Now, you know why I didn't want to become the Lubavithcer Rebbe to begin with." In fact, the Rebbe refused during one entire year after the passing of the Previous Rebbe to succeed him, because he knew that from that moment, if he accepted to become the Seventh, people will develop the ideology that he is the Moshiach. It's only after being pressed and pushed that he accepted, but since the very first Ma'amar he gave, he made it clear that he was not an independant Rebbe, that means not really a seventh Rebbe, but a mere extansion of the Previous Rebbe's Nessius) It's all about READING COMPREHENSION! That's why, a majority of Lubavitch NEVER considered the Rebbe as being the Moshiach or as having hinted that he was, simply because from his own writtings and his own words, we know that he never considered that he was a Rebbe by his own, but an extansion of the Previous Rebbe's Nessius.

    (Concerning the teaching of the Talmud that all the synagogues in Diaspora will be transferred in Eretz Yisroel, the famous Tzaddik, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev, explained (Pisgamin Kaddishin 21) that this includes alos all homes that have a Mezuza on them!)

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  2. It also explains in part why Lubavitch is reluctant to elect a successor to the Rebbe.

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  3. "I found the reaction of the Meshichist quite amusing"
    We shouldn't find their reaction "amusing". It's pathetic and lunatic.

    "How far do people go in order to believe something ?"
    Some of them are ready to kill for that belief. Just hear or read what happened in the past 15 years in Crown Heights.

    "Do they just react this way because they want to believe it ?"
    I can tell you that many people classed as "Meshichistim" do not really believe that the Rebbe is Moshiach. In many cases, it's peer pressure or fear of violence. When you have seen some people to have their leg broken or harassed because they didn't believe, I can tell you that those who are weak are ready to accept such belief by fear that it could happen to you. Why do you think a thousand of Lubavitcher left Crown Heights in the past 15 years? How can you explain that ALL the synagogues in Crown Heights have a bigger Minyan than in 770? If you cannot flee somewhere else and you are weak, you will end up accepting their ideology. And many other believe the way they believe because it brings them closer to the Rebbe. For them, the only way to remain faithful to the Rebbe is by giving him the most exalted of all titles: Moshiach. Considering the Rebbe as being inferior to that is severing your connection to the Rebbe. And finaly, some other cannot cope with the physical loss of the Rebbe. They need to convinced themselves that it was a mirage, that it never happened, that in fact, the Rebbe is somewhere, it is just that we cannot see him. The Rebbe needed to hide himself to give us an opportunity to desire him, to prove him our loyalty, to make whatever is possible to bring him down right now.

    I'd like to add that there is more than one kind of Meshichist. They don't all believe that the Rebbe is not dead. In fact, most Meshichistim DO ADMIT that the Rebbe is dead, but are simply awaiting his physical resurrection, when he will be revealed completely as being the Moshiach. For thsse kinds of Meshichistim (who are a majority), "Yechi" does not mean that the Rebbe is alive, but "he will live" ("Yechi" can be a present tense "he lives" or a future tense "he will live"). So, their hope is that one day, very soon, the Rebbe will come back to life for an eternal life in the identity of Moshiach. Only the few extremists, we call "Tzfatim Talibans", do believe that he is not dead, and for them "Yechi" is really a present tense "he lives".

    (And in the middle of these two general groups, you also have some nuanced beliefs.)

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  4. From "Kuntres b'inyan mikdash n'at zeh bais rabeinu shbabavel", 5752, p.465. If you prefer, you can also see it in "B'suras Hageulah", p.174:

    "We may say that the future Bais Hamikdash, which will be built and complete and come from heaven, will first be revealed in the place of Bais Rabeinu Shebebavel during the Golus and from there it will be moved to its place in Jerusalem. And it is possible to say that this idea is hinted in the Rambam in the laws of Melech Hamachiach: "And he will build the Bais Hamikdash in its place[/I". -- We may ask, why did the Rambam need to tell us that the building of the Bais Hamikdash will be "in its place"? And, why didn't the Rambam say explicitly the location of that place, [like so]: "And he will build the Bais Hamikdash in Jerusalem"? -- but "its place" alludes [not to the place of the Bais Hamikdash but rather] to the place of the King Moshiach while he is still in Golus!, That is, before the time period of when he is "moshiach vadai", that is, while Moshiach is still in Golus, for there he sits, and waits and yearns to redeem klall yisrael and the shechinah that is in exile with them - [during this time] Moshiach builds a miniature Bais Hamikdash, which is a reflection and a model of the Bais Hamikdash in Jerusalem ... as a preparation for the future Bais Hamikdash, which will be revealed first over there, and from there it will return, with G-d and the Jews, to Yerushalayim...and we can possibly say that the medrash that says "Moshiach will stand on the roof of the Bais Hamikdash and announce to the Jews that 'The time of your redemption has arrived!' "

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  5. is referring [not to the Bais Hamikdash in Jerusalem but rather] to the roof of the Bais Hamikdash M'at in Chutz Laaretz,... for after the Bais Hamikdash will be revealed and will be lowered to the ground there wont be any need to tell Klall Yisroel "Your redemption has come." ... and we may explain, according the above, that as regards Bais Rabeinu shBeBavel in this generation - it means the house - the Bais Makneses and Bais Hamedrash - of my holy father-in-law, the Nasi of our generation. In this generation, the last generation of golus and the first generation of geulah ... through the lowest place on earth we will elevate together with it all other places in the world - this will happen through the "Bais Rabeinu" ... from which light emanates to the entire world, making the entire world into Eretz Yisroel ... where all the Shuls and Yeshivos in the entire world will be connected to the Bais Hamikdosh, in the true and complete redemption through Moshaich Tzidkeinu, the Nasi Hador, who is also the Moshiach - the redeemer of Yisroel -of the generation - and also, and this is key, he is also the Nasi of Chasidus, through the dissemination of whose wellsprings accomplished the coming of King Moshiach ... and with this we can understand the magnitude of the loftiness of Bais Rabeinu - the primary Mikdash M'at in this last golus ... which is "the place of the future bais hamikdash itself", and not only that, but there will be revealed the future Bais Hamikdash, and from there is will go to Jerusalem, as we stated. And we may add, that this idea is suggested in the name of "The House of Rabbeinu" in our generation: ... for the "house" of Rabbeinu - its number is 770, and this number is the established way that the house is referred to in the mouths of all of Klall Yisroel, for they refer to Bais Rabeinu as "770", which is Gematria "foratztah", as in "uforatzta yama v'kedmah etc." ... and according to all we have said about the loftiness of the House of our Teacher in Bavel, that it is the place of the Bais Hamikdash in the future, and that in it will be revealed the Bais Hamikdash and from there it will return to Yerushalayim -- we understand what a great merit it would be for each and every member of Klall Yisroel to give of his energy and money - and whoever gives more, is all the more so praised - as a preparation for the coming down if the revelation of the future Bais Hamikdash immediately and right away, mamesh!"

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  6. B"H

    Its not only Meshiach but I heard that there is a small group of Chabadnikim in New York announcing that the Rebbe is G - d.

    Honestly, I don't know what to say, as I have seen many Chabadnikim in Zfat totally freaking out. Also as the ASCENT Hostel. It was only Meshiach, Meshiach and the Iggeret HaKodesh. Only TANYA and Chabad ideology.

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  7. "From "Kuntres b'inyan mikdash n'at zeh bais rabeinu shbabavel", 5752, p.465. If you prefer, you can also see it in "B'suras Hageulah", p.174:"

    Avi, did you read those sources by yourselves i their original languages, that means YIDDISH, or is it a copy paste from the Internet?

    Yes, the Rebbe spoke about "Beis Rabbeinu SheBeBovel", "770", "Ufaratza", etc., BUT, do me a favor, ask an original copy of "Kuntress Beis Rabbeinu SheBeBovel", read all the other Sichos where the Rebbe expand on the subject, and then tell me what the Rebbe said. Untill then...

    And NTW, if we take the "Kuntress Beis Rabbeinu SheBeBovel" at its litteral sense, you can clearly see that the Rebbe never said that he was Moshiach, as in that Kountress, he clearly explain that 770 is not HIS house, but the house of his father-in-Law, that his father-in-law is the Nassi, and on the very first Ma'amar given by the Rebbe, he concluded by saying "And he (the Previous Rebbe, his father-in-law) will redeem us!" Now, does it mean that he was saying that his father-in-law was Moshiach on a litteral sense? Not at all, the week after that Ma'amar, he explained clearly what "He will redeem us" mean!

    Chabad is not to know via the Internet, the hearsay or the semi-truths told by the local Shliach (many of them turned Chabad into a Modern Orthodox movement which has nothing to do with chassidus, as many of the things they allow in their synagogues are clearly not chassidish, even if most are doing good work), but to know Chabad and what the Rebbe said or didn't say, there is no secret: READ what he wrote, and if you don't know, ask a TRUE Lubavitcher (a Lubavitcher-born Rabbi whose father was alos a Lubavitcher whose father was also a Lubavitcher) and you will see and hear the differences.

    The Rebbe made it clear that we shouldn't look after hints in what he says but take what he says as it is said (not as we would like to take it). When you take the Rebbe's TRUE words as they were spoken and written by him, it becomes more clear. Concerning those who are looking after hints instead of the true meaning of his words, and who are proclaiming that through his writtings and sayings they understand that he is the Moshiach and that it should be published, the Rebbe said "They are shpitz Chabad. They think they know how to understand such or such words, how to impliment such or such instruction from me. And when they are doing such things, they are TEARING ME IN PIECES!" Chas V'Shalom! How is it possible that people don't understand that the Rebbe was not in that Moshiach business? How low is our generation! The words are there. There is NOBODY on this planet who wrote so much as the Rebbe, but people value interpretations from fools instead of the Rebbe's own words?! I don't understand, really!!!

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  8. "Its not only Meshiach but I heard that there is a small group of Chabadnikim in New York announcing that the Rebbe is G - d."

    They are called the "Elokist", and believe me, there are not even a minyan, and Chabad Rabbonim from both sides (Meshichistim and non-Meshichistim) put them into a Cherem. They are marginalized by both camps.

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  9. Moshe - don't talk about this topic anymore until you have read the rebbe's sichos 5751-5752.

    You are just embarrasing yourself.

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