Q.
How does the Lubavitcher Rebbe fit into the Rambam’s Halachic criteria for a
valid Messianic candidate?
A. Until now we have traced the roots of the belief
that the Rebbe is Moshiach back to its source in Chabad philosophy. But this is not the end of the story. For a
belief to have validity in the eyes of the Torah, it must also comply with the
Jewish code of law also known as halacha.
One of the most authoritative books of halacha
is Rambam’s Mishna Torah. In it the Rambam codifies the entire Oral Torah
including all the enactments of the sages and the various customs that were
instituted from the times of Moses until the compilation of the Talmud[1].
In
Rambam’s Laws of Kings he lays out the legal criteria that validates and
invalidates an individual as a possible Messiah. The Rambam does this in three
stages. First he outlines certain criteria which upon fulfillment thereof an individual
enjoys a presumption that he is the Moshiach. Then the Rambam tells us criteria
which if fulfilled grant the individual status as a “definite” Moshiach.
Finally the Rambam gives two criteria by which we can know that a particular
candidate definitely will not be the Moshiach.
Once
a Messianic candidate enjoys status of a “presumed Moshiach” it is appropriate
for the Jewish people to believe this person is Moshiach and call him “King
Moshiach” though he has not yet attained the status of a “definite Moshiach”.
We
know this because the great Talmudic sage Rabbi Akiva did exactly that to a
presumed Moshiach named “Bar Kochba” until he lost his status as a Messianic
candidate. [2]
So
when testing the halachic validity of claims of followers of the Lubavitcher
Rebbe who consider and call the Rebbe “King Moshiach”, we must confirm that the
Lubavitcher Rebbe has met the Rambam’s criteria for a “presumed Moshiach” only.
The criteria that a Jewish leader must
fulfill if he is to be considered a “presumed Moshiach” are:
“If
a king will arise from the House of David who delves deeply in Torah and occupies himself in the observance
of Mitzvot, like David his ancestor, in
accordance with the written Torah and the oral Torah,
and he will compel all of the Jewish people (lit. Israel) to follow it [the Torah], and
strengthen the meticulousness
[i.e. repair the breaches of] of its
observance, and he fights the wars of G-d- behold,
this [one enjoys the status] a “presumed Moshiach”[3]
We will now take
each criterion separately to see if the Lubavitcher Rebbe and his
accomplishments earned him status as a “Presumed Moshiach”. We proceed bearing
in mind that some of the phrases the Rambam uses here are technical terminology
drawn from Talmudic literature, in which case we will invoke the insights of
later sages who expounded on the precise meaning of the Rambam’s words.
"A king will arise…”
The
Rambam’s first criterion is that a Messianic candidate be a “king”.
Upon
deeper examination of this law, it
becomes obvious that the Rambam here at this stage is not referring to a “king”
in the sense that he has been appointed by a high Court of Torah Judges (a
Sanhedrin) or by a prophet[4] and has the legal implications of a Jewish king. [5]
Likewise, many Torah sources use the word
“king” to describe leaders of the Jewish people during the times before the
redemption, though they did not enjoy the legal
status of an anointed king[6].
After an analysis of how this term is used in Rabbinic literature, it becomes
clear that the words “a king will arise” refers to a Torah leader whose words
are accepted by many just as if they
were said by a king.[7] Did the leadership of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
meet such a definition?
From the moment the Lubavitcher Rebbe took
leadership of the Chabad movement, thousands of Jews throughout the world stood
ready to do whatever he asked of them. Hundreds of letter each day poured into
his office from Jews and non Jews asking advice on questions ranging from the
belief in G-d to where to send their children to school to mathematics. The
Rebbe, throughout his leadership received and responded to pleas for advice on
matters of life and death.[8]
When the Rebbe told a new couple to move with their family to a far-off town
without any Orthodox Jewish community, his disciples went with joy. When the Rebbe told his followers to go to
Russia to give a piece of matzah to a Jew there, his followers went.
We must note, however, no one followed the
Rebbe’s directives because they were forced to do so. In Judaism, a ruler who
rules by force is considered a dictator (Moshel) not a king (Melech). The true
aspect of kingship applies when one chooses to submit themselves to the
directives of the king by choice.[9] “The King
rules with his words” This unique relationship that
existed between the Rebbe and his followers was borne of out of love and
respect for the Rebbe’s opinion and never compulsion.
The quality of kingship that the Rebbe
exuded during his leadership was attested to by many great leaders of our
generation. For instance, it is known that the Head Rabbi of the famous
Rabbinical academy known as the Mir, Rabbi Nachum Partzovitz after visiting
with the Rebbe exclaimed that he had met a leader whose behavior was that
of royalty in every respect and that he
was one who meets the halachic criterion of the Rambam that “a king will
arise”.
The renowned
Kabbalist Rabbi Yisrael Abuhatzeira,
also known as the “Baba Sali”[10], stated that
the phrase in the Torah which says “and to him will be an assembly of nations”
(which is referring to Moshiach) was referring to the Rebbe.[11]Another
great legal authority on Torah Judaism of our generation was Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Aurbach[12] who upon
hearing that a book had been written with the title “long live the king” (as a
reference to the Rebbe) exclaimed: “A true King!”
Thousands of young couples (known as the shluchim) moved
their families all around the world with complete self sacrifice, not knowing
how they would find Kosher food or how their children would be educated. They
accepted their assignments with joy just as if it came from a king. Even
off-handed casual remarks became the stories to be learned from and emulated.
When the Rebbe would speak on Shabbos
millions of copies were made of his words and they were printed and distributed
with its instruction to all in many languages.
No matter what topic arose in the Jewish world thousands
wanted to know what the Lubavitcher Rebbe’s instructions were. This is not only
true with children but old Chassidim and even those in Russia who had never
seen the Rebbe in their lives. They gave over their bodies and souls for 40
years to spread Judaism and keep the flame of Torah burning on the instructions
of the Rebbe without fear from the merciless rulers of the country.
Reb Mendel Futerfas was a leading example of a follower
of the Rebbe who did as he was asked at risk of his own life. He led the great
flight of Jews in 1946-7 from Soviet Russia via the border city of Lemberg. He
sent his wife and children out of Russia but he refused to leave until the last
of the Rebbe’s disciples escaped. He continued his smuggling activities until
he was caught and imprisoned by the Soviet police. When imprisoned, his
interrogators tried to extract information about the members of
Chabad-Lubavitch. One would be wise under these circumstances to deny any
association with the Rebbe and the Lubavitch movement as such association
itself would cause one to be considered an enemy of the state. Though R’ Mendel
knew that these integrations were often ended with a bloody beating and often
in a fatal gunshot - he refused to disassociate himself with the Rebbe. Instead
he explained to his interrogators that he honestly was not an enemy of Russia,
“for if the Rebbe was in Russia and I was in another country, I would yearn to
visit Russia to the same extent that I now yearn to leave Russia[13].”
Such was the dedication of the chassidim of the Rebbe, who followed their
Rebbe’s directives as that of a king not out of fear but out of love.
In another example of the royal quality of the Rebbe’s
leadership, after each Shabbos and holiday approximately one thousand Jews
would wait to accept wine from the cup that the Rebbe had recited a blessing
over.
[1] End of the Rambam’s
introduction to his Mishna Torah
[2] Rambam Mishne
Torah Hilcos Melsachim 11:3 “Behold Rabbi Akiva, a great scholar from the
scholars of the Mishna and he would..say upon him that he was “King Moshiach,
and it appeared to him and all the scholars of his generation that he was
Moshiach until he was killed because of his sins.” See also Yeushalmi Taanis
4:5. True, Rabbi Akiva was mistaken in his belief that Moshiach was Bar Kochba,
but his behavior in calling him “King Moshiach” is enshrined for all time in
the Rambam’s sefer as a practice from which to learn.
[3] Mishna Torah (Laws of Kings: 11:4).
[4] Laws of Kings
1:3
[5] We know this
because the Rambam places this criterion as the first one a Messianic candidate
must meet before he can even be considered for status as a “presumed
Moshaich”. If by “a king will arise” the
Rambam requires that this King be an official anointed King or one appointed by
a prophet, then there would be no need for this individual to fulfill the other
of the Rambam’s criteria. Once the Kingdom of David has been returned-we would
know that this is definitely King Moshiach as only King Moshiach will return
the Kingdom of David (See Rambam 11:1). In short, such an interpretation would
make the rest of this section of the Rambam unnecessary, thus making this an
untenable reading of the Rambam.
Further, the Rambam calls Bar Kochba a “king” (Kings
11:3) and endorses and even derives new laws out of Rabbi Akiva’s presumption
of Bar Kochba as a presumed Moshiach though Bar Kochba never had the status of
a King in the legal sense. Further making clear that the “king” that the Rambam
requires at this stage is not a legal anointed king.
[6] The Rambam does
exactly this in Hilchos Melachim 1:8 where he writes “A prophet that raises up
a “king” from other tribes of Israel
[besides the tribe of Yehudah, and that “king”
will go in the ways of the Torah …behold this is a king and all the laws of
kingship apply to him. There the Rambam twice calls this leader a “king” and
only later says that all the laws of kingship apply to him. It is also clear that the kingdom of David
continues on in some way through his descendents though they may not have the
legal status of a king (Hilchos Melachim 1:7) See also Mederesh Rabba at the
end of Parshal Bechukisai where Yiftach called himself a King though he had the
law of a Judge not a king (see Shaalos and Tshuvos of the Rashba Siman 284)
[7] See Gittin 62:A, See Tur Choshen Mishpat
Siman 3 , the Beis Yosef and the Perisha on Siman 112 and the Tumin on Siman 106,
See the Shelah on Parshas Veyechi 32:2.
[8]
For a collection of such stories and for a demonstration of the unwavering
obedience of so many indiduvals to the Rebbe’s instructions see would ask for
his help on every kind of issue and the most serious and critical matters, even
matters of life and death. (Adapted by Wonders and Miracles NEED AUTHOR AND
ISBN, Our Man in Dakar and other stories of the Lubacithcer Rebbe- Publiched by
Sifriyat Kfar Chabad, Kfar Chabad, 1998, Translated form Hebrew original Copyright
2004 SKC ISBN 0-9755978-0-9) and the Rebbes’s 39? Volumes of letter compiled
and called Igrot Kodesh)
[9] As it says in Ecclesiastes 8:4 “a king rules by his word”.
[11] Shemen Sason MeChavercha pg. 23
[12] Rabbi Shlomo
Zalman Auerbach (1910- 1995), was a renowned Rabbi, Posek and Rosh Yeshiva of
the Kol Torah yeshiva in Israel.
[13] As told by Rabbi
Hillel Zaltman in Bais Moshiach magazine issue 607 pg. 8-12
***Not the poster's writing, just happened to be in possession and think it's important to post. Also, there is more to post at a later time.***
