The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference
Encyclopedia
The Rebbe the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference is a book by Rabbi Dr. David Berger
on the topic of Chabad messianism
and the mainstream orthodox Jewish reaction to that trend. The book is written as a historical narrative of Berger's encounter with Chabad messianism from the time of the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
in 1994 through the book's publication in 2001. The narrative is interlaced with Dr. Berger's published articles, written correspondences, and transcribed public lectures, in which he passionately appeals to both the leadership of the Orthodox
and Chabad
communities for an appropriate response to Chabad-Lubavitch messianism.
, criticized what he viewed as similar assertions made by some religious leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitc movement about Schneerson shortly after Schneerson's death in 1994. Berger argues that the assertion a person could begin a messianic mission, die, and posthumously return to complete his mission has been unanimously rejected by the Sages and Jewish polemicists for nearly 2,000 years. An example of Berger's proof-texts is the passage in the Talmud
which shows that Rabbi Akiva
set aside his previous assertions of Simon bar Kokhba
's presumed messiahship following Bar Kokhba being put to death. To Berger, the Messianists' viewpoint on this issue is outside the pale of accepted Orthodox Jewish belief. Berger has been highly disappointed by the Orthodox establishment's reaction to Chabad-Lubavitch's claims that Schneerson is the Jewish messiah
, arguing that there is a "scandal of Orthodox indifference".
authorities, including leaders from the Ashkenazi
non-Hasidic Lithuanian
(Litvak) institutions, Ponevezh yeshiva
in Bnei Brak, Israel
, especially the reactions and statements of its late Rosh yeshiva
("dean") Rabbi Elazar Shach
(see Elazar Shach: Opposition to the Lubavitcher Rebbe) and the vehement opposition of the Rabbinical Seminary of America (Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim) in New York
, and that of the Rabbinical Council of America
(See Chabad messianism: Rabbinical Council of America.)
Rabbi Aharon Feldman
, the dean of the non-Hasidic Yeshiva Ner Yisrael: Ner Israel Rabbinical College
in Baltimore
, Maryland
, wrote a widely-disseminated letter in 2004 which stated that Orthodox Jews should avoid praying in Chabad synagogue
s that avowed a belief in the Rebbe as the Messiah. He stated that while there is nothing in Jewish law
stating that the messianist views of Chabad-Lubavitch are heretical per se, they "dig under the foundations of Torah fundamentals" and any support of them should be avoided.
Berger is a highly popular figure in Modern Orthodox
circles. Following Yeshiva University
President Rabbi Norman Lamm
's announcement that he would retire in 2001, Berger placed second on an online poll which asked who Lamm's successor should be. In 1996, largely at his behest, the Rabbinical Council of America
, the largest organization of Modern Orthodox rabbis in the United States
, approved the following resolution:
Berger felt that the RCA resolution was a very significant turning point for his cause, as he recounts in his book that after the resolution was approved, "the thunder-bolt struck."
published a paid advertisement that included a letter with Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik
's signature. The letter included the assertion that Soloveitchik believed Schneerson to have been worthy of being Messiah, that the Chabad position that Schneerson was the Messiah could not be dismissed as heretical, and cited a number of sources to demonstrate that he could be the Messiah. The letter also attacked Chabad's critics, and praised Chabad's works.
Many messianists believe that Soloveichik defended their position and bring him as a source to back up their arguments. Yet the letter caused confusion as this was a reversal of Soloveichik's previous position on the matter. In 1994, Soloveichik had told The Forward
that Schneerson "can't be the Messiah - he is not living - a Messiah has to be living. A living Messiah, not a dead Messiah." He had also expressed shock at the idea that anyone could suggest that the Messiah could be from among the dead noting that "that could be possible in the Christian faith, but not Judaism" adding that this was "repugnant to everything Judaism represents."
Berger provides a letter from Soloveitchik to a friend in 2000, that resolves the contradiction between his two positions. Soloveichik writes:
, wrote a critique of the book in First Things
, stating, among other things, that Berger has "emerged as a would-be Torquemada on the Orthodox scene, demanding a policy of 'intolerance' and 'exclusion' toward those he deems to be heretical to Orthodoxy." Berger responded at length on the OrthodoxyToday.org website, where Singer's article had been reprinted.
Likewise, Professor Aviezer Ravitzky, of Hebrew University
, strongly disputes Berger's claims that new Chabad teachings amount to heresy; however he does not believe that such beliefs are correct. In regards to those who wait for Schneerson to return from the dead as a messiah, Ravitzky stated "Torah does not prohibit a person from being stupid."
Chaim Rapoport
has responded with a book-length critique entitled "The Messiah Problem: Berger, the Angel and the Scandal of Reckless Indiscrimination".
David Berger (professor)
David Berger is the dean of Yeshiva University's Bernard Revel Graduate School, as well as chair of Yeshiva College's Jewish Studies department...
on the topic of Chabad messianism
Chabad messianism
Chabad messianism, or Lubavitch messianism, is a term used to describe a spectrum of beliefs within the Chabad Hasidic movement regarding their late leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson and his purported position as the Messiah...
and the mainstream orthodox Jewish reaction to that trend. The book is written as a historical narrative of Berger's encounter with Chabad messianism from the time of the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Menachem Mendel Schneerson , known as the Lubavitcher Rebbe or just the Rebbe among his followers, was a prominent Hasidic rabbi who was the seventh and last Rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. He was fifth in a direct paternal line to the third Chabad-Lubavitch Rebbe, Menachem Mendel...
in 1994 through the book's publication in 2001. The narrative is interlaced with Dr. Berger's published articles, written correspondences, and transcribed public lectures, in which he passionately appeals to both the leadership of the Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
and Chabad
Chabad
Chabad or Chabad-Lubavitch is a major branch of Hasidic Judaism.Chabad may also refer to:*Chabad-Strashelye, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism*Chabad-Kapust or Kapust, a defunct branch of the Chabad school of Hasidic Judaism...
communities for an appropriate response to Chabad-Lubavitch messianism.
Criticism of Chabad-Lubavitch messianism
Berger, an academic expert on Jewish responses to Christianity, particularly claims of Jesus' messiahship and divinityJudaism's view of Jesus
Jews have traditionally seen Jesus as one of a number of false messiahs who have appeared throughout history. Jesus is viewed as having been the most influential, and consequently the most damaging, of all false messiahs...
, criticized what he viewed as similar assertions made by some religious leaders of the Chabad-Lubavitc movement about Schneerson shortly after Schneerson's death in 1994. Berger argues that the assertion a person could begin a messianic mission, die, and posthumously return to complete his mission has been unanimously rejected by the Sages and Jewish polemicists for nearly 2,000 years. An example of Berger's proof-texts is the passage in the Talmud
Talmud
The Talmud is a central text of mainstream Judaism. It takes the form of a record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, philosophy, customs and history....
which shows that Rabbi Akiva
Rabbi Akiva
Akiva ben Joseph simply known as Rabbi Akiva , was a tanna of the latter part of the 1st century and the beginning of the 2nd century . He was a great authority in the matter of Jewish tradition, and one of the most central and essential contributors to the Mishnah and Midrash Halakha...
set aside his previous assertions of Simon bar Kokhba
Simon bar Kokhba
Simon bar Kokhba was the Jewish leader of what is known as the Bar Kokhba revolt against the Roman Empire in 132 CE, establishing an independent Jewish state of Israel which he ruled for three years as Nasi...
's presumed messiahship following Bar Kokhba being put to death. To Berger, the Messianists' viewpoint on this issue is outside the pale of accepted Orthodox Jewish belief. Berger has been highly disappointed by the Orthodox establishment's reaction to Chabad-Lubavitch's claims that Schneerson is the Jewish messiah
Jewish Messiah
Messiah, ; mashiah, moshiah, mashiach, or moshiach, is a term used in the Hebrew Bible to describe priests and kings, who were traditionally anointed with holy anointing oil as described in Exodus 30:22-25...
, arguing that there is a "scandal of Orthodox indifference".
Support
His views are shared and supported by many prominent OrthodoxOrthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
authorities, including leaders from the Ashkenazi
Ashkenazi Jews
Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...
non-Hasidic Lithuanian
Lithuanian Jews
Lithuanian Jews or Litvaks are Jews with roots in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania:...
(Litvak) institutions, Ponevezh yeshiva
Ponevezh yeshiva
Ponevezh Yeshiva, often pronounced Ponevitch Yeshiva, is a world renowned yeshiva located in Bnei Brak, Israel. Donated by Henry Krausher, it was originally established in the town of Panevėžys, Lithuania...
in Bnei Brak, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, especially the reactions and statements of its late Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva
Rosh yeshiva, , , is the title given to the dean of a Talmudical academy . It is made up of the Hebrew words rosh — meaning head, and yeshiva — a school of religious Jewish education...
("dean") Rabbi Elazar Shach
Elazar Shach
Elazar Menachem Man Shach also spelt Eliezer Schach, was a leading Lithuanian-born and educated Haredi rabbi in Bnei Brak, Israel. He also served as one of three co-deans of the Ponevezh yeshiva in Bnei Brak along with Rabbis Shmuel Rozovsky and Dovid Povarsky...
(see Elazar Shach: Opposition to the Lubavitcher Rebbe) and the vehement opposition of the Rabbinical Seminary of America (Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim) in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and that of the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
(See Chabad messianism: Rabbinical Council of America.)
Rabbi Aharon Feldman
Aharon Feldman
Aharon Feldman is an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore, Maryland. He has held this position since 2001....
, the dean of the non-Hasidic Yeshiva Ner Yisrael: Ner Israel Rabbinical College
Yeshiva Ner Yisrael: Ner Israel Rabbinical College
Ner Israel Rabbinical College or NIRC, is a prominent yeshiva in Baltimore, Maryland, founded in 1933 by Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchok Ruderman, a disciple of Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel, dean of the Slabodka yeshiva in Lithuania...
in Baltimore
Baltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
, wrote a widely-disseminated letter in 2004 which stated that Orthodox Jews should avoid praying in Chabad synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
s that avowed a belief in the Rebbe as the Messiah. He stated that while there is nothing in Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
stating that the messianist views of Chabad-Lubavitch are heretical per se, they "dig under the foundations of Torah fundamentals" and any support of them should be avoided.
Berger is a highly popular figure in Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
circles. Following Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University
Yeshiva University is a private university in New York City, with six campuses in New York and one in Israel. Founded in 1886, it is a research university ranked as 45th in the US among national universities by U.S. News & World Report in 2012...
President Rabbi Norman Lamm
Norman Lamm
Norman Lamm is a major American Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, author and Jewish communal leader. He is presently the Chancellor of Yeshiva University....
's announcement that he would retire in 2001, Berger placed second on an online poll which asked who Lamm's successor should be. In 1996, largely at his behest, the Rabbinical Council of America
Rabbinical Council of America
The Rabbinical Council of America is one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis; it is affiliated with The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, more commonly known as the Orthodox Union, or OU...
, the largest organization of Modern Orthodox rabbis in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, approved the following resolution:
In light of disturbing developments which have recently arisen in the Jewish community, the Rabbinical Council of America in convention assembled declares that there is not and has never been a place in Judaism for the belief that Mashiach ben David will begin his Messianic mission only to experience death, burial, and resurrection before completing it.
Berger felt that the RCA resolution was a very significant turning point for his cause, as he recounts in his book that after the resolution was approved, "the thunder-bolt struck."
Conflict over Ahron Soloveichik's position
In June 1996, The Jewish PressThe Jewish Press
The Jewish Press is an American weekly newspaper, geared toward the Modern Orthodox Jewish community. It describes itself as "America's Largest Independent Jewish Weekly." The newspaper has a politically conservative viewpoint and editorial policy....
published a paid advertisement that included a letter with Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik
Ahron Soloveichik
Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik; was a renowned scholar of Talmud, Halakha and a Rosh Yeshiva; known especially within circles of Orthodox Judaism.-Biography:...
's signature. The letter included the assertion that Soloveitchik believed Schneerson to have been worthy of being Messiah, that the Chabad position that Schneerson was the Messiah could not be dismissed as heretical, and cited a number of sources to demonstrate that he could be the Messiah. The letter also attacked Chabad's critics, and praised Chabad's works.
Many messianists believe that Soloveichik defended their position and bring him as a source to back up their arguments. Yet the letter caused confusion as this was a reversal of Soloveichik's previous position on the matter. In 1994, Soloveichik had told The Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
that Schneerson "can't be the Messiah - he is not living - a Messiah has to be living. A living Messiah, not a dead Messiah." He had also expressed shock at the idea that anyone could suggest that the Messiah could be from among the dead noting that "that could be possible in the Christian faith, but not Judaism" adding that this was "repugnant to everything Judaism represents."
Berger provides a letter from Soloveitchik to a friend in 2000, that resolves the contradiction between his two positions. Soloveichik writes:
To my great dismay. . . publications affiliated with the Lubavitch movement have persisted in stating that I validate their belief that a Jewish Messiah may be resurrected from the dead. I completely reject and vigorously deny any such claim. As I have already stated publicly. . . such a belief is repugnant to Judaism and is the antithesis of the truth. My intent in signing the original letter . . . was merely to express my opinion that we should not label subscribers to these beliefs as heretics. Any statements in that letter which imply an endorsement of their view were not shown to me at the time I signed and I once again repudiate any such ridiculous claim.
Criticism
David Singer, Director of Research for the American Jewish CommitteeAmerican Jewish Committee
The American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
, wrote a critique of the book in First Things
First Things
First Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
, stating, among other things, that Berger has "emerged as a would-be Torquemada on the Orthodox scene, demanding a policy of 'intolerance' and 'exclusion' toward those he deems to be heretical to Orthodoxy." Berger responded at length on the OrthodoxyToday.org website, where Singer's article had been reprinted.
Likewise, Professor Aviezer Ravitzky, of Hebrew University
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...
, strongly disputes Berger's claims that new Chabad teachings amount to heresy; however he does not believe that such beliefs are correct. In regards to those who wait for Schneerson to return from the dead as a messiah, Ravitzky stated "Torah does not prohibit a person from being stupid."
Chaim Rapoport
Chaim Rapoport
Rabbi Chaim Rapoport is an author, lecturer and Judaic scholar. He is a member of the UK’s Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks’ cabinet where he holds the Jewish medical ethics portfolio. Rabbi Rapoport is a visiting professor at the Jewish Learning Exchange in London and Yeshivat Chovevei Torah...
has responded with a book-length critique entitled "The Messiah Problem: Berger, the Angel and the Scandal of Reckless Indiscrimination".
External links
- "The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Heresy Hunter", First ThingsFirst ThingsFirst Things is an ecumenical journal focused on creating a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society". The journal is inter-denominational and inter-religious, representing a broad intellectual tradition of Christian and Jewish critique of contemporary society...
, May 2003. Book review by David Singer, Director of Research at the American Jewish CommitteeAmerican Jewish CommitteeThe American Jewish Committee was "founded in 1906 with the aim of rallying all sections of American Jewry to defend the rights of Jews all over the world...
. - "The Professor, Messiah, & Scandal of Calumnies". Book review by Rabbi Jacob Immanuel SchochetJacob Immanuel SchochetJacob Immanuel Schochet is a rabbi, academic and scholar who has written and lectured on the history and philosophy of Hasidism and on themes of Jewish thought and ethics. He is a well known member of the Chabad movement.-Family background:...
.