New Controversial Biography Of Chabad Rebbe Debated

The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson’ humanizes the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but is its premise flawed?

Giving The Rebbe A Biography
‘The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson’ humanizes the Lubavitcher Rebbe, but is its premise flawed?
Rabbi Shmuley Boteach • The Jewish Week

‘The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson” by Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman (Princeton University Press) fills a considerable void in the biography of one of the towering religious figures of the 20th century. But on reading it, one wonders whether the object of the biography is the same Lubavitcher Rebbe the world came to know and admire for pioneering Jewish outreach in the modern age and for being arguably the figure most responsible for the global resurgence in Jewish affiliation.

Full disclosure: I consider myself a student and chasid of the rebbe, and thus cannot be completely objective of what is essentially a critical biography of a man whom I revere as a spiritual guide and teacher.

Heilman and Friedman’s central thesis is that Menachem Schneerson, son of a renowned rabbinic scholar and scion of a distinguished chasidic family, was never completely engaged by his chasidic upbringing, preferring instead the modernizing and secularizing influences that made such significant inroads among young Jewish intellectuals in early 20th-century Russia and Europe. The rebbe’s dream was to live the life of a bourgeois European intellectual and become an engineer, they contend. He yearned not for the chasidic study halls of Warsaw or Lubavitch but for the intellectual cafes of Berlin and Paris. As such, he chose, according to the authors, to trim his beard, wear modern suits, and distance himself from the chasidic community in Paris, where he and his wife, the daughter of the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe (whose place Menachem Schneerson would eventually fill), lived after their marriage.

The rebbe’s ultimate career goal, the authors maintain, was to be a successful engineer. However, after fleeing Hitler to the United States and the court in Brooklyn of his father-in-law, Rabbi Joseph Isaac Schneerson, he gradually accepted the undeniable facts that he was a forty-something immigrant with little English and less chance of making significant inroads as a successful secular professional. Hence, after his father-in-law passed away in July 1950, he reluctantly accepted that a career as a chasidic rebbe would have to do.

I don’t buy it.

I watched the rebbe lead Lubavitch since I was 9 years old. It was a herculean undertaking with responsibilities that would boggle the mind. It meant keeping up with and responding to sacks of personal letters each week, overseeing a global empire of thousands of Chabad synagogues, schools, teaching colleges, orphanages, and drug rehabilitation centers, most of which the rebbe, through his emissaries, built. Each week he met in the middle of the night with individuals privately to discuss their most personal issues, giving a weekly (and sometimes twice weekly) public oration that lasted, on average, for four hours through which the rebbe gave masterful scholarly discourses without a single written note. Well into his 80s he stood on his feet every Sunday for hours giving thousands of visitors a dollar for tzedakah in order to meet them face to face and inspire them to do good acts.

Are we really to believe that a man who utterly transformed the face of Judaism worldwide and who, by the authors’ own admission, changed Chabad from a small chasidic group which had been decimated by Hitler into a global powerhouse of Jewish outreach, achieved all these things by reluctantly choosing this life because he couldn’t be an engineer?

Heilman and Friedman explain how the rebbe, rather than his older brother-in-law, Shmaryahu Gurary, unexpectedly ended up as leader of Chabad. In an early chapter they explain that the rebbe, who was largely an unknown quantity to the chasidim, won them over through his wide-ranging scholarship of the great Jewish texts in general and Chabad chasidism in particular. But the authors make no effort to explain how the rebbe acquired this encyclopedic knowledge or went on to publish more than 106 scholarly volumes of his writings.

Indeed, this omission constitutes the book’s fatal flaw. Any biography of the rebbe is necessarily a study in scholarship and leadership. But the authors offer little insight in explaining how a man who never attended formal yeshiva ended up with what I believe to be a photographic memory of Judaism’s vast works that would later mesmerize the educated masses that came to hear him.

Aside from insisting that the rebbe’s messianic agenda largely spurred Chabad’s global growth, the book does not deal with how the rebbe created what is arguably the most influential movement in modern Jewish history.

The authors insist that from his earliest years as leader the Rebbe was already promoting his own messianic pretensions. In his inaugural chasidic oration on Jan. 17, 1951, he spoke of how the seventh shepherd (he was preceded by six Chabad leaders) is the one most responsible for bringing God’s presence down to earth. The authors cite other allusions from the rebbe’s public orations as well that suggest messianic parallels to himself.

But I was personally present on Oct. 20, 1984, when the Rebbe sharply rebuked Rabbi Sholom Dovber Wolpo, who had written a book asserting that the rebbe was the Messiah, ordering that the book never see the light of day. Beyond that, I contend that most great leaders believe they are anointed for some great redemptive purpose, from politicians to religious figures, and the rebbe was no exception.

Surely the authors don’t deny that Messianism is central to Judaism and surely the rebbe’s global effectiveness made him as much a possible candidate as anyone else during his lifetime. What the rebbe never did was declare himself the Messiah, which is why the authors must comb through hundreds of speeches to force allusions.

I cannot help but harbor the belief that the authors started with a particular agenda — that the rebbe portrayed himself as obsessed with Jewish observance when, in his younger years, he was himself not all that passionate — and then rummaged through a mountain of arbitrary facts to support their thesis. The book’s central premise is built on the assumption that an authentic chasidic life and secular intellectual engagement are incompatible.

None of this means that Heilman and Friedman’s biography is without merit. On the contrary, I welcome their humanizing portrait of the rebbe. I was edified to discover many of the facts of the rebbe’s sojourn in Berlin and Paris and how he integrated himself into intellectual European life. This forward-looking embrace of modernity would later constitute the principal reason for Chabad’s unprecedented success, a unique synthesis of uncompromising Jewish adherence matched with a passion to utilize all modern means by which to propagate a Jewish message.

Whereas other chasidic groups — most notably Satmar — dismissed the modern, secular world as utterly devoid of redeeming merit, the rebbe saw its unqualified Godly potential. To be sure, there are misguided members of Chabad who almost deify the rebbe and raise him to a level of perfection. But people like me followed the rebbe because of his thorough understanding of, and engagement with, the modern world.

Fortunately, Heilman and Friedman attempt to separate fact from fiction in the rebbe’s life, countering some of his followers’ attempts at hagiography of their leader as miracle-worker or Messiah. Most striking to me was the rebbe’s devotion and humanity, seeking to inspire children and making himself available to people like me when we came to him with our shattered hearts.

He was a man of great humility, utterly lacking in materialistic impulse or personal gain. Perhaps the most powerful rabbi in the world, able to influence Israeli elections from across the Atlantic, he spent the last years of his life living, literally, in his tiny office, and never in 40 years of leadership did he take a vacation or a day off from his work.

Does that mean he was perfect? Of course not. But it might explain why, as the authors seem to miss, he did not advertise his Jewish devotion and scholarship in his formative years, dressing down and seeking to be under the radar, until, by virtue of the very public role that he took on as the global leader of Chabad, his sharp talents came into public focus. In that sense I am grateful to the authors for a profoundly human biography that will hopefully spur a whole new literature on the rebbe as man rather than angel and as person rather than saint.

Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, founder of This World: The Values Network, is author of 23 books, including his newest work, “Renewal: A Guide to the Values-Filled Life,” which is being published this month by Basic Books.

Comments

[hmmmm]

yechi

[pierre]

No specifics of this rebuke to Wolpo are given, the story of it stands like any character denial or character defense on someones behalf who cannot do so them self. Someone was a secret tzadik and baalei tzedakah, but his family and friends swear up and down, giving examples to account their poverty, etc - all meaningless when you see the signature and address on the checks. I think Persico's piece in Azure (and the ensuing responses), should raise suspicions about any defenses to the contrary that come after it.
When he criticizes them for coming speeches (and obvious texts and other material) for hints... An "arbitrary mountain of facts"? Is that what the Rebbe's recorded oeuvre amounts to? That aside - where else do you look for evidence?

[Jon]

Did he really never study in a yeshiva?

[jochanan]

Of course the writers had an agenda. All writers do. Just like Shmuley, who always farcically tries to intellectually overpower people, but just ends up spilling a lot of ink to warp the reader in circles. Someone else to be the D-List Pop Rabbi for the 2010s, please.

[Jack]

I was brought up in a Lubavitch family and was educated in Lubavitch schools and yeshivos but never felt comfortable with this lifestyle even as a youngster and have long since abandoned it. I detest most things about Lubavitch, and did so well before the Messianic debate of more recent years, which has made the movement a laughing stock.

However, I was privileged to have had a private yechidus with the Rebbe in 1979 together with my father and can attest to the fact that the Rebbe himself was a very special person and I have always had the ultimate respect for him. One particular question he asked me during this yechidus was so prescient and far-seeing that it took my breath away.

There can be no doubt that his entire life (certainly for the last forty years or so) was completely selfless and sacrificed for the benefit of others. (I know Shmarya has an issue about the Rebbe's attitude towards Ethiopian jewry but I don't know enough about that to form an opinion on it).

I think that the movement grew so large and the pressures upon the Rebbe became so great that he was forced to surround himself with a coterie of advisors and henchmen who took it upon themselves to impart whatever spin they wanted to the Rebbe's words and wishes.

In my opinion one can respect the Rebbe as a person and even regard him with awe while being extremely critical of (most of) his followers and their beliefs and actions.

[Adam Neira]

Rabbi M.M.Schneerson was a great man and one of the most interesting people of the twentieth century. I have researched his life and works in great depth. The Lubavitch do a lot of good work. He was/is not Moshiach however.

[Ma. Rabbi]

Reply to Jack
Can you share the question the Rebbe asked you that impressed you so much? Thank you.

[Jack]

Reply to M. Rabbi

No, it is a personal matter but the fact that the Rebbe asked me this question about a burning issue in my life at that point without having any knowledge of who I was or anything about me was simply amazing to me.

[maven]

If you know Heilman's work you know his agenda.

[Ma. Rabbi]

Reply to Jack
You may think your story is unique but I know dozens of such stories:
My sister once took a Russian woman to the Rebbe for dollars on a Sunday. At that time, the womans husband was still in Russia and she had no idea when he would be allowed to leave. Before she even said one word, the Rebbe said to her in Russian," Dont worry your husband will be coming out soon." The woman almost fainted. My sister who does not speak Russian asked her what happened and she told her the Rebbes comment to her.

[Rebitzman]

If anyone but Shmuley had written this...........it might be worth reading. But alas, Shmuley wrote it.

[Office of the Chief Rabbi]

I love the comment in the first paragraph, calling Shneerson "the figure most responsible for the global resurgence in Jewish affiliation."

Actually, it seems Chabad is for UNaffiliation. Plenty of American Chabad "Hebrew Schools" and Bar Mitzvah factories advertising "NO Membership required." Show up a couple of times, learn a brocha in transliteration, and you can have a "bar mitzvah." No knowledge, no committment required.

Shmuley is fill of shmit, and Samuel Heilman is long-time respected (except for his bow-ties) observer of the orthodox community.

[R.W.]

Heilman is as qualified to offer an assessment of the Lubavitcher Rebbe as Oprah winfrey is to give a class in cantorial music.

[Dr Moe]

Actually, it seems Chabad is for UNaffiliation. Plenty of American Chabad "Hebrew Schools" and Bar Mitzvah factories advertising "NO Membership required." Show up a couple of times, learn a brocha in transliteration, and you can have a "bar mitzvah." No knowledge, no committment required.

This how Chabad grew from the 50's to today and most is not from child growth, also most Chabad people do not come from the real Chabad, either their parents are Baal Teshuvah or became a Baal Teshuvah.

[LESKid]

Shmarya,

Thanks for posting this. I already pre-ordered the book! You made my day. A shame they had Shmuley review this but it does look pretty good.

[Sheindel]

LESkid: why exactly does the book look pretty good?
It's a bunch of nonsense, dressed up as the truth.
Shmuley Boteach may lack credibility from time to time, and i am the last person to recommend his behaviour, but the fact is that occasionally Shmuley gets it RIGHT.
this is one of those times.

A story I heard is that when the Lubavitcher Rebbe was studying in University, he always had a Hebrew Torah/gemara in front of him, which he read throughout the classes. In spite of this, he still obtained distinctions in his chosen subjects.

The Rebbe was a man whose stature has not been reached by anyone else this century. Don't blame the behaviour of his followers on him, they became like beheimas after the Rebbe's stroke in 1992. Until then, Chabad was something to be proud of, unlike today.

[Shmarya]

Please.

The Rebbe studied for less than 2 years at the U of Berlin, even though he lived in Berlin for many years. He did not receive a degree.

In Paris, the Rebbe almost flunked out of a technical college. He eventually graduated with a low level engineering degree.

He was not a brilliant student.

He also frequented cafés and enjoyed the secular culture Berlin and Paris offered.

[Friar Yid]

R.W.- Heilman is as qualified to offer an assessment of the Lubavitcher Rebbe as Oprah winfrey is to give a class in cantorial music.

Really now? Heilman is an MO professor of sociology and has written a large handful books focusing on Orthodox, specifically Haredi, anthropology, both in the US and Israel. Heilman is an experienced researcher, interviewer, and analyst. He's certainly more qualified to give an objective, historical analysis of Schneerson than Shmuley, who is essentially a Chabadnick version of Dr. Phil, using Judaism/Chabad-lite, to sell his self-help schtick to the masses.

Shmuley has much more personally and professionally invested in maintaining the Schneerson mythos than Heilman. I'll go with Heilman's take over Shmuley's any day.

[Maskil]

Shmarya,

Thanks for clarifying that. It bothered me throughout the article - even though Boteach was trying to minimize this it came out overtly dominant that it needed to be clarified.

Jon,

Yes, despite being in decent proximity to the first Chabad yeshiva the Rebbe's father chose to home school him and his brother Yisroel (Leibel), and he in fact never met the fifth Lubavitcher Rebbe (who did not die until he was nearly 18). He never attended a Jewish educational institution of any kind, unless the University of Berlin counted in the thirties. One can listen to the audio tapes that exist for every lecture the Rebbe gave (except most Shabbatot and Yamim Tovim) starting from the one-year anniversary of his predecessor's death, and hear the unique way the Rebbe mispronounced Hebrew (Askenazim, even when knowing the historical pronunciation, have certain ways of pronouncing many Hebrew words either based on similarity to Yiddish spelling or basic linguistic evolution related to the penultimate stress common to most of Europe, and even today many of these "mispronunciations" are preserved in Israeli Hebrew, even though they do no appear this way in the dictionary, and even in most Conservative yeshivot - like "machmas/machmat" instead of "mei-chamas/mei-chamat"). Sometimes is sounds silly to the listener, but it's because of the Rebbe's self study and lack of exposure to traditional Ashkenazi pronunciations or even just the variation local to the Chabad regions of Europe. It took about 20 years for the Rebbe to sound like the Chasidim - but he could never lose his pronunciation of the letter "resh" - which he pronounced in the Russian style (like the Sepharadim) rather than the Germanic style (used today in Israel). This ultimately led to an entire generation of Lubavitchers who pronounce the letter "resh" like it was pronounced historically and to the mistaken perception that this is an Ashkenazi trait while the Israeli pronunciation is considered a Sepharadi trait (although it is among the remainders of the classical Ashkenazi pronunciation that were adopted by the Israeli Hebrew hybred).

[Chicago Sam]

Good posting Maskil. Boteach makes no mention of how MMS did nothing to help Jews attempting to flee Europe in WWII, nor did he do nothing to help Ethiopian Jewry escape death either.

I think the Lubas ought to change their name to "Lobotomized Lubavitchers"

[randomthought]

Maskil, sounds quite important.

[R.W.]

Friar Yid,

It is those very 'credentials' that disqualify him, but why would I expect a Friar Yid to grasp that.

[Chicago Sam]

Good posting Maskil. Boteach makes no mention of how MMS did nothing to help Jews attempting to flee Europe in WWII, nor did he do anything to help Ethiopian Jewry escape death either; instead he waited for Moshiach to save the day--just like the other foolish rebbes of that era.

I think the Lubas ought to change their name to "Lobotomized Lubavitchers"

Posted by: Chicago Sam | May 12, 2010 at 10:24 PM

[Joe]

I was told by more than one Chabad Rabbi that the Rebbe attended the Sorbonne and received a degree in engineering. I was also told that the future Rebbe always had a gemara with him while at University. I was also told that MMS served in a intelligence capacity in the US Navy both during and after WWII.

I was also told that the Rebbe could write two letters simultaneously, one with his left hand, the other with his right. I was also told that he could speak a dozen languages. I was also told that he saved Judaism from the ashes of the war. (This may be partially true).

I have no doubt that the Rebbe did some wonderful things. Maybe MMS was a genius. The fact that he sent Boruch Cunin to California proves that he cannot be the Messiah. Why would a perfect being not recognize and/or acknowledge the increasing corruption, nepotism and brutality of that particular dynasty?

After Rubashkin, the Cunin's.

[TheTruth]

@Maskil of 10:10, and in general --

I must confess, I haven't read the actual book, But from what's described in the article, i must say: The untruths brought here (and in the various comments) are incredulous.

Firstly - the Rebbe DID attend the community cheder, and his melamed R. SZ Vilenkin was later honored by his pupil at Farbrengens etc. THEN, R. Levik home-schooled him.

Additionally, The Rebbe had learned in a litvish (!) yeshiva in Kremenchug I recall reading from a reliable source, although he may not have been a" registered student" there. I don't have the source material at hand, and thus can't quote his duration span there.

In general - all these "hypothesis" of having trimmed his beard, is merely based on reviewings of photos, which can be subjective due to lighting and shadow. The Rebbe had most probably rolled up his beard and took some care of it (brushing etc) but not more than that.

Some MERE FACTS, without any bias on my part:
1) the Rebbe's scholarly writings "Reshimos" (which comprises a 7 volume set today! - http://store.kehotonline.com/index.php?stocknumber=HRE-RESH.S&deptid=&parentid=&page=1&itemsperpage=10) were written whilst in Berlin and Paris (and attending the respective colleges), which beside for being turbulent for Jews at times, were deep Torah thoughts, and scrupulous diaries of his FIL's words and customs.

Additionally, a recently-discovered letter from his FIL to the RMMS' wife in those years (featured in the "Early Years" DVD series), details her husband's editorial role of the Chabad Torah journal HaTomim - although "other names [of chasidim] will be written as such"..

I suffice with few examples, but there's more.

Besides, I've heard from a Chabad witness at the Lubavitch Library case in 1985-7, that Prof. Friedman had been on the opposing stand, and when cross-examined as to why he expresses so much effort in the case - he went ballistic (as he was just playing devil's advocate). "I've never seen a chameleon from a professor to a child so quickly..", he told me.
Enough said for agendas and bias!

There may definitely be some merit in their writing, but I'm sure it's not without some good measure of exaggeration and "fluff".

So a little non-judgmental writing, and education, couldn't hurt. But alas - there'd not be as much sensationalism..!

[yochononh]

Here you can find some first hand accounts of the years the Lubavitcher Rebbe spent in Berlin and Paris

http://inforebbe.blogspot.com/search/label/early%20years

[Shmarya]

Most of it is BS.

[reality]

its well known among chabadniks over 70 that the "rebbe" went thru a brief homosexual phase while in paris and then did "teshuva".

if you know some of that age please ask them about the stories.

[Nachum]

It would be interesting to see how the book deals with the fact that a man who supposedly was so secular became (despite Chabad's and his reputation) so decidedly fundamentalist.

[Robert Wisler]

When MMS was supposedly frequenting the cafes of Paris and Berlin, did he keep kosher?

[joe]

The Rebbe actually did study at a yeshiva.
The local towns yeshiva.It was probably closer to the Lithuanian style yeshiva.He must have studied there till about 16.
I"m no Lubavitch fan, but some of the nonsense here is downright silly.
His knowledge of Torah was impressive by any standards and that includes knowing all the Chasidic texts that non Lubavitchers don't need to know.We can argue if his public discourses were on the level of Rabbi J.B Soloveichiks or some other leading figures.What cannot be argued is that despite an unbelievable hectic schedule which involved many all night meetings with anybody who asked for them and made an appointment, he still managed to dictate many thousands of letters, prepare long discourses,be the leader of a very large chasidic group with institutions worldwide and be the final decisor on everything related to these institutions.Be a good husband and still study!
I"m still a Misnaged and I"m troubled deeply by the attempts to deify the man and with the Messianic craze and the long live the Rebbe forever and ever crazy mantra.
Btw, on top of his Talmudical scholarship he was able, apparently to speak about 10 languages.
It's time a critical biography came out, I wonder how this book came out

[emes]

why doesent anyone mention the book LARGER THEN LIFE by Rabbi Deutsch?

[Shmarya]

When MMS was supposedly frequenting the cafes of Paris and Berlin, did he keep kosher?

Not according to some accounts I heard.

At minimum, he did not keep halav yisrael, and wasn't concerned with kaylim issues.

[Shmarya]

why doesent anyone mention the book LARGER THEN LIFE by Rabbi Deutsch?

I believe the authors cite him.

[Maskil]

Btw, on top of his Talmudical scholarship he was able, apparently to speak about 10 languages.

According to Binyomin Klein he the Rebbe knew 8 languages, not ten. My sister heard this from him directly in the nineties and wrote down the languages (Yiddish, Russian, German, French, Italian, English and two others I can't remember).

As to the book's contention that he realized he was a middle-aged immigrant with bad English, I'm pretty sure his command of English was superb (just not his accent). His mother recounted (and he hated when she "recounted" about him) that when he was in his 20s the local unit of the Soviet Military got a hold of an American manual to construct some kind of weapon, but they had a hard time understanding the syntax of the English. Mendel Shneerson was a apparently known as "the guy in the city who knows English" and they came in a military vehicle and picked him up, brought him to their local headquarters, and held him until he explained how to assemble the weapon - and then drove him home. She was proud of this, but he really didn't like when she told these stories.

[Friar Yid]

R.W.- It is those very 'credentials' that disqualify him, but why would I expect a Friar Yid to grasp that.

Indeed, so why not explain exactly what disqualifies Heilman, rather than making snide comments?

[S H]

Read the book. It answers many of the questions raised here. It also explains why Boteach tried to ingratiate himself with Chabad in his review (something he fails to mention).

[friend]

[...]I have no doubt that the Rebbe did some wonderful things. Maybe MMS was a genius. The fact that he sent Boruch Cunin to California proves that he cannot be the Messiah. Why would a perfect being not recognize and/or acknowledge the increasing corruption, nepotism and brutality of that particular dynasty?

After Rubashkin, the Cunin's.

Posted by: Joe | May 13, 2010 at 12:01 AM
And the fact that Moshe Rabbeinu appointed the meraglim and prophet Shmuel anointed Shaul as a king of Yisrael a man who later did some terible things and later anointed David who also (at least according to simple pshat of the text ) did some terrible things . And Achia haShiloni annointing Yerovam ben Navat etc.
Does this "prove" that neither Moshe Rabbeinu nor Shmuel haNavi nor Achia were true prophets of G-d?
What kind of proof is this?
The Rebbe appointed R. Cunin as a Shliach to West coast seeing his great potential to do such work and everyone can see he accomplished alot. Perhaps if you'd have been in the Rebbe's place you'd appoint someone who would have created one little Chabad House and made a minian of baaley teshuvah , but would be untainted by any corruption allegations, but the Rebbe chose someone with greater potential yet greater flows. It doesn't detract from the Rebbe's greatness and leadership to do that anymore so than appointing the meraglim detracts from Moshe's greatness as a prophet, annointing David and Saul detracts from Shmuel's greatness as a prophet and annointing Yerovam detracts from Achia's greatness as a prophet.

[Yoel Mechanic]

S H; I know you are likely busy, but if you care to share the answers from reading the book, by all means, please do. I for one am hoping to read the book, but it seems unlikely it will show up in the public library or someone will lend it to me.

[lorah@israel]

from one point of view death can not be failure in this case, becouse it does not mean that his mission had failed with his death. from another-i doubt that Moshiah is a human being...

[ancient soul]

But tell me brothers- if the Rebbe was so wise,why did he not choose a predecessor?
You all have been had,and you all have been took.Faith,is not a bad thing-people need to have hope.Blind faith,fanatics are a dangerous breed.
Terrorism,anti Zionism,Zionism,is all a matter of perspective.All the religions of the world can't be wrong,and they all can't be right.I will pray to my G-d,eat the food I like,sleep with the women I sleep with,and die a happy man.I speak 3 languages,I walk on water,I eat bricks,and I shit ice cream.Shalom.