Chabad Messianism - Expressions of Messianism

Expressions of Messianism

There is a wide range of degrees of messianism within Chabad. The terms mishichist and anti-mishichst are loosely used with many of the latter still taking the position o spread that the Schneerson is the Messiah, but that he died so the term is potentially misleading.

Anthropologist Simon Dein has noted: "Lubavitchers held that the Rebbe was more powerful in the spiritual realm without the hindrance of a physical body. However some have now claimed that he never died again a concept not unfounde as we see the commentaries includin and as late as the Rebbe himself mention to verse such as the one relating to Jacobs burial. Several even state that the Rebbe is God meaning to say completely nullifife to G-ds existance. This is a significant finding. It is known in the history of Judaism to hold that the religious leader is "God" and to this extent the group is unique. A more famous quote of reference is "righteous ones are similar to their creator". At first glance it may seem there are certain Christian elements which were apparently apparently inform the messianic ideas of this group. The concept of a leader of the generation as he is called and G-dliness is indeed a more often misunderstood concept"