Assorted Mixed Nuts

This recent article on Chabad.info - one of the main meshichist websites - struck me as funny and sad.   These nutty "shluchim" shlepped their little kids 4 or 5 hours from Montreal to New York for their Opshiren - which was held downstairs in 770 at 2:00am.  The reason for the weird time and short trip was so that they would be able to get back to Montreal before Shabbos.

I know that this is not such earth shattering news but to me it is just another example of how far away these people are straying from normal society.

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Meshichisten Invade Lebanon

I got a good laugh from this story on COL:

Hezbollah Gratified by Conquest - of Lag Baomer Balloons
Balloons released by kids participating the lag Baomer parade organized by the Chabad House of Kiryat Shmona, landed on Hezbollah grounds in the nearby Lebanon. The balloons inscribed with the words, "We Want Moshiach Now", were given to children participating the parade organized by the shliach, Rabbi Yigal Tzippori. The television station of the Hezbollah proudly displayed members of the Hezbollah with the captured 'booty', trying to decipher the words written on the balloons, which they had, at first thought, were valuable IDF equipment.

Jake from Jerusalem (formerly Melbourne) reported this the other day in a comment on Mentalblog:

I haven't seen any 'net news reports, but on Israeli TV there was a brief mention of a cluster of yellow Moshiach balloons holding a sign, where the whole thing drifted off into south Lebanon. The Hezbollah insisted that it was part of an Israeli spy-attack plan, but the rest of us are having a good laugh. Curiously, both Hezbollah and Mashichistim claim the same yellow color...

I Think I Saw The Chair Move...

I saw this on Apple 770 (they have some great videos) and couldn't resist posting it. Being so close to Pesach it reminded me of how, as children, we watched to see if the wine rippled when Eliyahu Hanovi came to visit. As I got older I found that it was just my grandfather bumping the table - maybe these guys will also grow up one day.

In Defence of Normal Chabadniks

Before the seder in Chiang Mai, Thailand (from Shmais)

The article in the St Louis Jewish Light, which I commented on in March here, has been addressed by Robert A. Cohn here. Cohn is editor-in-chief emeritus of that publication.

While it is good that some of the more extreme statements made in Warshall's article have been answered by Cohn - who quotes Rabbi Yosef Landa, Director of Chabad of St. Louis - the problem of the meshichisten and their distorted message still remains. Much of the article is disputing Warshall's supposition that since the pamphlets say that they come from 770 therefore it is official Chabad doctrine. I believe that this misses the point and is just a coverup for the main problem.

I accept that there is no easy solution but surely smarter minds than mine can work out what to do with these people and the problems that they are causing for Lubavitch.

The only consolation is that the Shluchim worldwide continue to do the Rebbe's work with their customary 110% devotion to the job. The number of sedarim held throughout the world by Chabad Shluchim is just one testament to their dedication to the Rebbe's mission.

More Bad Publicity

CrownHeights.info drew my attention to this article in the St Louis Jewish Light Online newspaper. The author, Bruce Warshall, writes about his experiences with the Meshichesten in New York. While what he writes will be considered by some to be anti-Chabad I believe that it is about time that Lubavitchers came out loudly against these crazy people. If we can believe him, and I do, the pamphlet that he was given on the subway is beyond what any normal person should accept. Statements in the pamphlet such as the one below prove that these people have no grasp on reality - both with regards to the Rebbe and world events - and that outsiders believe that these points of view are mainstream Chabad:

"America's efforts to safeguard peace around the world are critical elements in actualizing the redemption, as proclaimed by the prophet of our generation, the Lubavitcher Rebbe king Messiah (Moshiach) shlita (who lives forever)... America can be proud...in meriting the blessing of exceeding success with which the Rebbe king Messiah shlita blessed the U.S. armed forces in their holy mission in Iraq." Never mind that Schneerson has been dead 13 years but is able to bless this latest war, making it a holy mission. No one told these people that it has not been a success. The rest of the country seems to understand that, but it hasn't gotten to Chabad headquarters in Brooklyn yet.

The pamphlet says it comes directly from 770 Eastern Parkway, so I assume that it is official Chabad doctrine. I am told that there are sophisticated local Chabad rabbis that do not believe the above, but I don't hear their voices. Until I hear them say that they do not believe that the Rebbe is the Messiah, I assume that they do. I also assume that they believe that the United Nations sits in New York because of the Rebbe, etc.

He goes on to quote other parts of these pamphlets which I will not reproduce here. You can read them in his article if you wish.

The comments on CrownHeights.info give a wide range of views on this matter. Most people are disgusted and embarrassed by this terrible publicity. The attacks on the author are shortsighted and wrong. It doesn't help blaming the messenger. It is certainly much nicer reading those (somewhat breathless) articles extolling Chabad and the shluchim - but the facts have to be faced. These crazy, misguided people are destroying what the Rebbe spent decades building. Unless they are stopped I don't know what the fate of Lubavitch will be.

In a related matter, I don't know (and don't care) who took down the Yechi sign in Yeshivah shul. That it went back up again is another sign that the yellow people may be winning.

(Thank you to "The Sad Truth" and "Joe" who pointed out this article in the comments. I was going to post this yesterday but Pesach preparations took priority)

Chof Zayin Adar

True Believers...

This Shabbos is the 27th day of the month of Adar which is the same day that the Rebbe had his strokes - the first on 27 Adar I 5752 (1992) and the second two years later on 27 Adar 5754 (1994). The Rebbe passed away a few months later on 3 Tammuz.

Appropriately, or more accurately inappropriately, The Jewish Daily Forward has an article this week about the controversy between the "global leaders of Chabad" and the "group of leaders elected from the local Chabad community of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights", as they put it, with regard to who owns 770. This paper is certainly no lover of Orthodoxy and enjoys putting frum Jews in a bad light. The problem is when there are those of us who excite the press by providing "newsworthy" quotes. One good example is the person mentioned in this section:

A recent visit to the synagogue downstairs indicated the strong influence that the messianic gabbais have over the sanctuary. During the services, most worshippers joined in a spirited prayer that celebrated the rebbe as the messiah. On the northern wall of the sanctuary is a long banner that says “Live Our Master, Teacher, Rebbe King Moshiach Forever and Ever.”

“What does it mean, he is alive?” said Yitzhak Fuchs, a 47-year-old congregant who was standing outside in a worn suit.

“We learned the king messiah is not going to die. He is going to disappear, but he’s not dead,” said Fuchs, who, like many of the other worshippers, wore a small, yellow lapel pin with a crown and the word messiah in Hebrew.

I believe strongly that all Lubavitchers would love the Rebbe to return as our long awaited Moshiach but, almost 13 years after his passing, surely reality must finally set in. The Rebbe awakened the frum world to the reality of Moshiach, whoever he may be. Instead of the common jokes about something happening "when Moshiach comes" orthodox yidden understand that the constant requests in davening for Moshiach really mean something. The desire for the arrival of Moshiach has become a basic precept in the frum world all because of the Rebbe's strong belief in this basic concept and his unbelievably strong longing for this to be a reality. May we be zoche to witness it very soon.

Questions That Need Answering

Can these guys answer Joe's questions?

Joe in Australia has raised some important issues in his comment to the post A Strange Procession on this blog. Surely there is someone out there who can answer them...

At the time I wrote my last comments I was suffering from the after-effects of having read R' Ginsberg's article. It is clearly incompatible with rational thought or expression and next time I will protect myself by taking a rest break between paragraphs.

In the interim, here's the caption from a photo stuck up at another Chabad shul here in Melbourne:
"the Tankisten also hand out to the soldiers 'Moshiach' cards with the picture of the Rebbe MH'M Shlita's for their protection."

My question is, do photos of the Rebbe have to be full-body, or will they also protect me if they are only from the neck up? Are color photos more effective than B&W ones? Do different photos protect me from different things - for instance, do I need one photo for protection from fire and another one for protection from theft? And how do I know which photo does what? If the photo is printed by a goy, does it still work? I think it's time we had some answers.

Sometimes the situation is so ridiculous that we need a sense of humour to deal with it.

A Strange Procession

These guys are just getting weirder and weirder....

Thanks to CrownHeights.info for this.

Reb Yoel Declares the Truth!

Reb Yoel in Lakewood (from Shmais.com)

Shturem translates an interview of Reb Yoel Kahn in Kfar Chabad magazine about events after Gimmel Tammuz. I am heartened that someone of Reb Yoel's stature has stood up and declared the truth. I only hope that this does not cause the crazys to do something violent.

It is worth reading the entire article but some excerpts are:

"When the Rebbe assumed leadership Yud Shvat 1951," he stated clearly that the task of our generation is to complete the process of drawing down the Shechina in this world. This is done, the Rebbe said, through the dissemination of Torah, especially "Pnimiyus Hatorah."

"To us chassidim, the real dissemination of Pnimiyus Hatorah is as expounded by the Rabbeim. The Rebbe asks in one of his sichos why did G-d have to tell Abraham that "I will make your name great?" Abraham was known to have been imbued with the greatest degree of humility how can one even think that he desired greatness?

The Rebbe answers that the meaning of "I will make your name great" was that through his name the Name of G-d Almighty will be sanctified. Everyone will see, even a non Jew, that Abraham's name reflects G-d's Name. In other words, every Jew and non-Jew will see that the Rebbe is an extraordinary elevated person, a true Shepherd of the Jewish People who cared about his people in general and about every individual in particular.

I believe that when one writes "Shlitah" now after the histalkus next to the Rebbe's name not only does he not bring greatness and admiration to the Rebbe but just the opposite, it defames and makes a mockery of the Rebbe's name.

Talking about the recent "video of the Rebbe in 770" that has been publicised by the meshichistin and also that these people refer to the Rebbe as "Shlito" Reb Yoel said:

"Everything the "maskilim" and communists tried to do in order to defame the honor of our Rabbeim is absolutely nothing compared to the defamation caused by the "meshichistin" because of two reasons: 1) the substance of the defamation: it never even occurred to the communists to degrade the Rebbe in such a manner. 2) when this defamation is done by Chabad chassidim the mockery and shame is even greater. Not only is this "shitah" a joke, it is against the Torah and is the complete opposite of what our function and shlichus is.

Talking about how we should see the Rebbe today:

Chassidus tells us that it is an accepted fact that the soul animates the body, however, since the soul is spiritual we cannot see it, but we do see the actions and effect that it has on the body. Seeing a body that is alive is clear proof that there is a soul even though we don't see it physically.

"The same is in our case. After Gimmel Tamuz 1994 since the Rebbe's life is spiritual we cannot see him but we do see the effect of this collective soul (the Rebbe) in the collective body (Klal Yisroel). It is as though we see the Rebbe himself.

"We see this despite all "experts" and prophets of doom 12 years ago who predicted that Lubavitch would dissolve. Not only has it not disappeared, it has turned into the greatest Jewish empire in the world. We see how Lubavitch chassidim continue to thrive and grow. No shaliach has left his shlichus and even many non-Lubavitch chassidim have come closer to chassidus and the Rebbe.

"Not one shaliach has given up his shlichus after Gimmel Tamuz. On the contrary, shluchim are growing by leaps and bounds and have established hundreds of Chabad Houses, Jewish institutions with divine success. This is only because the one who sent them (the Rebbe) is animating them and granting them the power to fulfill their shlichus.

Just like before Gimmel Tammuz 1994 people from all walks of life, not only Lubavitchers, would come to the Rebbe on Sundays to receive a dollar and ask for a blessing and witnessed outright miracles today too people from all walks of life come to the Ohel and are blessed with what they need. Some people make a special trip just for that. They land in Kennedy airport, go to the Ohel and fly back just as they came to the Rebbe before Gimmel Tamuz.

When the Animals Run the Zoo...

Reports from Shturem and CrownHeights.info tell the story of Reb Yoel Kahn being verbally abused by a bochur with acute psychiatric problems. It appears that when Reb Yoel went downstairs to deliver his weekly shiur in Inyonei Geluah UMoshiach this bochur screamed at him to leave 770. Reb Yoel, being a true chassidisher yid, left the scene quietly and proceeded to relocate the shiur to the upstairs zal.



The situation in 770 is going from worse to terrible. I blame the so-called normal people who learn and daven downstairs who are letting these incidents pass without reacting. This crazy bochur was reportedly an Israeli who should either be locked up in a hospital ward or sent back to Israel. The fact that nothing is done by the leaders "downstairs" and the leadership in Crown Heights is worse than criminal. The meshichisten have seen that the mainstream of Lubavitch laughs at them and they are now turning to violence. This violence must stop even if it means deporting the troublemakers.

For the most part the shluchim are doing the Rebbe's work with incredible self sacrifice while the crazys do nothing but sing one song and dance around the bima.

I am still proud to say I am a Lubavitcher but am sick of having to explain away the antics of a fringe group to family and friends.