RCA Bans Chabad Messianist Rabbis

13 years after first opposing Chabad messianism, the Modern Orthodox rabbinical group finally takes a step to make that ruling have a concrete impact.

RCA Bans 'Messianic Rabbis'
The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA) is banning Chabad rabbis with messianic beliefs from membership in its group.
By COLlive

A rabbinical Modern Orthodox umbrella group in the U.S. is banning Chabad rabbis with messianic beliefs from membership.

The Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), one of the world's largest organizations of Orthodox rabbis, includes an "affirmation regarding messianic belief" clause to its membership application.

The clause states: "By checking this box and with my signature below, I affirm that the following resolution, adopted at the RCA's 1996 Annual Convention, reflects my beliefs:

"In light of disturbing developments which have recently arisen in the Jewish community... declares that there is not and never has 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."

This is seen as a direct rebuff to a group within the Chabad-Lubavitch movement who believes that the Lubavitcher Rebbe can still be the messiah.

While the Rebbe passed away on the third of Tammuz 5754, the group cites what Rav Nachman says in Gemara Sanhedrin implying the Moshiach could also come from the dead.

The RCA, associated with Yeshiva University, which employs critic of Chabad messianism Dr. David Berger, dates back to 1923 and its key member was Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik who was known to have had a friendship with the Rebbe.

His brother, Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Brisk in Chicago, wrote in 2000: "We should not label subscribers to these beliefs as heretics."

Among its members are Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, Av Beit Din of the Chicago Rabbinical Council, and Rabbi Dr. Shlomo Riskin, Chief Rabbi of the Israeli city of Efrat - both friends of Chabad.

I called the RCA to check on this but Rabbi Herring wasn't available.

I'm told several YU roshei yeshiva ruled that Chabad messianism was heresy several months ago, and Rabbi Rakeffett-Rothkoff makes mention of it in a couple of his online shiurim..

COL Live misquotes Aaron Solevetchik, who clearly held that, while such messianism was not heresy, it was insanity and foolishness and should not be followed.

At any rate, the declaration rabbis are asked to sign seems to be historically incorrect. There apparently was a time when resurrection of the messiah was, after the fact, 'kosher.' That time was in the first centuryof the Common Era, when the rabbis were still sorting out the theological issues caused by the Jesus Movement.

Once the rabbis definitively ruled (circa 90 CE), this belief was no longer allowed.

What this seems to have meant was, in the years before the ruing rabbis placed a lot of hope in the idea that Jesus messianism would simply fade away. When it did not do so, they ruled against it – in other words, we appear to be seeing a redux of this process now.