The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson
The story of one of the most compelling religious leaders of modern times
From the 1950s until his death in 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson—revered by his followers worldwide simply as the Rebbe—built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Swept away by his expectation that the Messiah was coming, he came to believe that he could deny death and change history.
Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman paint an unforgettable portrait of Schneerson, showing how he reinvented himself from an aspiring French-trained electrical engineer into a charismatic leader who believed that he and his Lubavitcher Hasidic emissaries could transform the world. They reveal how his messianic convictions ripened and how he attempted to bring the ancient idea of a day of redemption onto the modern world's agenda. Heilman and Friedman also trace what happened after the Rebbe's death, by which time many of his followers had come to think of him as the Messiah himself.
The Rebbe tracks Schneerson's remarkable life from his birth in Russia, to his student days in Berlin and Paris, to his rise to global renown in New York, where he developed and preached his powerful spiritual message from the group's gothic mansion in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This compelling book demonstrates how Schneerson's embrace of traditionalism and American-style modernity made him uniquely suited to his messianic mission.
Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
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The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson
The story of one of the most compelling religious leaders of modern times
From the 1950s until his death in 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson—revered by his followers worldwide simply as the Rebbe—built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Swept away by his expectation that the Messiah was coming, he came to believe that he could deny death and change history.
Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman paint an unforgettable portrait of Schneerson, showing how he reinvented himself from an aspiring French-trained electrical engineer into a charismatic leader who believed that he and his Lubavitcher Hasidic emissaries could transform the world. They reveal how his messianic convictions ripened and how he attempted to bring the ancient idea of a day of redemption onto the modern world's agenda. Heilman and Friedman also trace what happened after the Rebbe's death, by which time many of his followers had come to think of him as the Messiah himself.
The Rebbe tracks Schneerson's remarkable life from his birth in Russia, to his student days in Berlin and Paris, to his rise to global renown in New York, where he developed and preached his powerful spiritual message from the group's gothic mansion in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This compelling book demonstrates how Schneerson's embrace of traditionalism and American-style modernity made him uniquely suited to his messianic mission.
Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
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The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson
The story of one of the most compelling religious leaders of modern times
From the 1950s until his death in 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson—revered by his followers worldwide simply as the Rebbe—built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Swept away by his expectation that the Messiah was coming, he came to believe that he could deny death and change history.
Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman paint an unforgettable portrait of Schneerson, showing how he reinvented himself from an aspiring French-trained electrical engineer into a charismatic leader who believed that he and his Lubavitcher Hasidic emissaries could transform the world. They reveal how his messianic convictions ripened and how he attempted to bring the ancient idea of a day of redemption onto the modern world's agenda. Heilman and Friedman also trace what happened after the Rebbe's death, by which time many of his followers had come to think of him as the Messiah himself.
The Rebbe tracks Schneerson's remarkable life from his birth in Russia, to his student days in Berlin and Paris, to his rise to global renown in New York, where he developed and preached his powerful spiritual message from the group's gothic mansion in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This compelling book demonstrates how Schneerson's embrace of traditionalism and American-style modernity made him uniquely suited to his messianic mission.
Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.
Samuel Heilman is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Queens College and holds the Harold Proshansky Chair in Jewish Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. Menachem Friedman is professor emeritus of sociology at Bar-Ilan University in Israel.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations xi The Rebbes of ChaBaD? xiii Preface xv Chapter 1: Farbrengen: The Gathering of the Emissaries 1 Chapter 2: Death and Resurrection 29 Chapter 3: Coming of Age in a Time of Transition 65 Chapter 4: E ntering the Court of Lubavitch 90 Chapter 5: From Survival to Uforatzto 130 Chapter 6: On a Mission from the Rebbe in Life 163 Chapter 7: From Resurrection to Death: We Want Moshiach Now 197 Chapter 8: On a Mission from the Rebbe in His Afterlife 248 Glossary of Hasidic and Lubavitcher Terms 279 Notes 283 Index 331
What People are Saying About This
Sarna
Brilliant, well-researched, and sure to be controversial, The Rebbe is the most important biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson ever to appear. Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, two of the world's foremost sociologists of religion, have produced a landmark study of Chabad, religious messianism, and one of the greatest spiritual figures of the twentieth century. — Jonathan D. Sarna, author of "American Judaism: A History"
Ada Rapoport-Albert
This is a timely and important book. Authored by two highly reputable scholars, The Rebbe is likely to appeal to an eager and broad readership, academic and lay. It has few rivals. — Ada Rapoport-Albert, editor of "Hasidism Reappraised"
Myers
This book offers a deeply engaging and well-researched account of the rise to power of one of the most intriguing religious figures of the twentieth century, Jewish or otherwise. There are few subjects in the study of contemporary Judaism of greater interest or relevance than the messianic legacy of the Rebbe. This book will become the definitive study on the subject. — David N. Myers, author of "Between Jew and Arab"
From the Publisher
"Brilliant, well-researched, and sure to be controversial, The Rebbe is the most important biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson ever to appear. Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, two of the world's foremost sociologists of religion, have produced a landmark study of Chabad, religious messianism, and one of the greatest spiritual figures of the twentieth century."—Jonathan D. Sarna, author of American Judaism: A History"The Rebbe is a must-read book for anyone concerned with contemporary Jewry as well as for historians of religion. Heilman and Friedman have done a masterful job of combining impeccable scholarship with a great sense of the drama unfolding before them. They dispel myths and restore the Rebbe to the real world of humanity, doing so with sensitivity and warmth."—Arthur Green, author of Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav"This book offers a deeply engaging and well-researched account of the rise to power of one of the most intriguing religious figures of the twentieth century, Jewish or otherwise. There are few subjects in the study of contemporary Judaism of greater interest or relevance than the messianic legacy of the Rebbe. This book will become the definitive study on the subject."—David N. Myers, author of Between Jew and Arab"This is a timely and important book. Authored by two highly reputable scholars, The Rebbe is likely to appeal to an eager and broad readership, academic and lay. It has few rivals."—Ada Rapoport-Albert, editor of Hasidism Reappraised
Arthur Green
The Rebbe is a must-read book for anyone concerned with contemporary Jewry as well as for historians of religion. Heilman and Friedman have done a masterful job of combining impeccable scholarship with a great sense of the drama unfolding before them. They dispel myths and restore the Rebbe to the real world of humanity, doing so with sensitivity and warmth. — Arthur Green, author of "Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav"
