1

I have heard that many people think that some Lubavitchers (obviously mistakenly) think that their rebbe is somehow more immortal than everyone else. Does anyone know if this is true and to the extent that it is, how many people we are talking about?

  • You're asking if people believe that Lubavitchers believe that, or you're asking if some Lubavitchers believe that? I assumed the latter, but you already called that "obviously mistaken" in your question. – Y     e     z Nov 03 '14 at 21:32
  • Related: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/27766/1713 – Daniel Nov 03 '14 at 21:44
  • The following wiki link discusses this topic http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chabad_messianism. It is my understanding that only a small, but vocal, segment of Lubavitch believe that Rabbi Schneerson is alive and waiting for the right time to proclaim messiaship. I have a friend who believes "The Rebbe" is alive and occupies a dimension that we cannot see. I would venture to say that not only some Lubavitch Nasir's believe in King Moshiach movement, but many Baal Tshuvahs and non-observant Jews who were influenced by Lubavitch (especially in Russian-speaking communities such as Brighton Beach.. – JJLL Nov 03 '14 at 21:54
  • ....Brooklyn) believe in it too. – JJLL Nov 03 '14 at 21:55
  • Very similar: http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/25946 – msh210 Nov 04 '14 at 01:27
  • @Daniel It looks like your question there includes an answer here. – Y     e     z Nov 04 '14 at 03:20
  • @yez good point. I will write an answer – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 13:01
  • To clarify, how can someone be "more immortal" than someone else? – Lee Nov 04 '14 at 13:50
  • @Lee http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/48021/are-there-any-lubavitchers-that-believe-that-their-rebbe-more-than-mortal/48045?noredirect=1#comment126768_48045 – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 14:09

1 Answers1

4

There is a small group of people who believe that the Lubvatcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson zt"l is in fact God. For example, the front page of the website for a synagogue(?) in Mikwaukee reads, in part, "Yechi Elokeinu Moreinu V'Rabbeinu Melech HaMoshiach L'Olam Va'ed!"

You can read about this group of elokists on Wikipedia here. Or in this question.

As far as numbers are concerned, I do not believe any are readily available; however, Wikipedia does state, "Very few chassidim actually pronounce the sentence, 'The Rebbe is the Creator', though the number is not as negligible as one might imagine." As far as I can tell you from personal experience, I have never met anybody who actually believes that the Rebbe is indistinguishable from God.

Your question asks about people who believe that the Lubavitcher Rebbe is "more immortal than everyone else." This is a broader category than those who believe that he is tantamount to God. To some extent, anybody who believes that the Rebbe is the mashiach believes that he is "more immortal" than us regular people since, in order to fulfill the duties of the king mashiach, he would either have to be resurrected prior to everybody else or currently exist in some alive state-of-existence that we do not understand. Either one of those makes him "more immortal" than the rest of us in my opinion.

The group of Chabad chasidim who believe the Rebbe is mashiach is still a minority [citation needed], but constitute a much larger group than those who believe he is God. I still don't have any numbers, but if you spend a decent amount of time visiting various Chabad houses, you are likely to meet a few of these people.

Community
  • 1
Daniel
  • 24,888
  • 3
  • 48
  • 148
  • 1
    Does the beleif that he will be resurrected qualify as immortal? Isn't that mortal with a loophole? I mean, we aren't going to call all Jews immortal simply because they will have a techiya, right? – user6591 Nov 04 '14 at 13:34
  • @user6591 Well the question asks about "more immortal than everyone else". Whether that includes "closer to immortal than everyone else" is up to your interpretation of the question. In any case, I don't think it hurts the answer. Enough information is provided for the reader to disregard that part of the answer if it's not what he wants to know. – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 13:44
  • @user6591 i added a clause stating that it's my opinion that a resurrection prior to techiyas hameisim makes him more immortal than us – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 13:47
  • I meant that i don't think that's what immortal means. Immortal means one who will never or can never die. Not someone who can die and come back to life. – user6591 Nov 04 '14 at 13:53
  • @user6591 yeah I understand your point and I agree with you. But if "immortal" is defined in absolute terms, what does "more immortal" mean. I took it to include "closer to immortal" which I think includes this view of the Rebbe. Again, it's all my opinion and can be ignored if you disagree with that part. – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 14:08
  • Gotcha. Ill upvote as a nod to your effort And addressing of my issue. But usually i don't vote on questions like this or the ones like tzitzis falling in the toilet, even if the questions and answers are logical and valid. Know what i mean? – user6591 Nov 04 '14 at 14:26
  • @user6591 i don't actually know exactly what you mean, but feel free to vote as you feel appropriate :) I don't pander for upvotes. I just want to make sure my answer is clear, so thanks for making me improve. – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 15:06
  • @user6591 btw you might want to register your account. You have accumulated a significant amount of rep points, and if your cookies ever get deleted, your rep will be lost. – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 15:10
  • You didn't sound like you were pandering:) Interesting thanks for tip. What do i do to register? – user6591 Nov 04 '14 at 15:12
  • 1
    @user6591 You can register by clicking register/login at the top of the page. – Daniel Nov 04 '14 at 15:45