The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference

The Rebbe, the Messiah, and the Scandal of Orthodox Indifference
Author: David Berger
Publisher: Liverpool University Press
Total Pages: 240
Release: 2008-03-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 178694989X

This book is a history, an indictment, a lament, and an appeal, focusing on the messianic trend in Lubavitch hasidism. It records the shattering of one of Judaism's core beliefs and the remarkable equanimity with which the standard-bearers of Orthodoxy have allowed it to happen. This is a development of striking importance for the history of religions, and it is an earthquake in the history of Judaism. David Berger describes the unfolding of this historic phenomenon and proposes a strategy to contain it.

Rebbe

Rebbe
Author: Joseph Telushkin
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2016-06-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0062319000

“One of the greatest religious biographies ever written.” – Dennis Prager In this enlightening biography, Joseph Telushkin offers a captivating portrait of the late Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a towering figure who saw beyond conventional boundaries to turn his movement, Chabad-Lubavitch, into one of the most dynamic and widespread organizations ever seen in the Jewish world. At once an incisive work of history and a compendium of Rabbi Schneerson's teachings, Rebbe is the definitive guide to understanding one of the most vital, intriguing figures of the last centuries. From his modest headquarters in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the Rebbe advised some of the world's greatest leaders and shaped matters of state and society. Statesmen and artists as diverse as Ronald Reagan, Robert F. Kennedy, Yitzchak Rabin, Menachem Begin, Elie Wiesel, and Bob Dylan span the spectrum of those who sought his counsel. Rebbe explores Schneerson's overarching philosophies against the backdrop of treacherous history, revealing his clandestine operations to rescue and sustain Jews in the Soviet Union, and his critical role in the expansion of the food stamp program throughout the United States. More broadly, it examines how he became in effect an ambassador for Jews globally, and how he came to be viewed by many as not only a spiritual archetype but a savior. Telushkin also delves deep into the more controversial aspects of the Rebbe's leadership, analyzing his views on modern science and territorial compromise in Israel, and how in the last years of his life, many of his followers believed that he would soon be revealed as the Messiah, a source of contention until this day.

My Name Is Asher Lev

My Name Is Asher Lev
Author: Chaim Potok
Publisher: Anchor
Total Pages: 385
Release: 2009-07-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0307422348

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • In this modern classic from the National Book Award–nominated author of The Chosen, a young religious artist is compulsively driven to render the world he sees and feels, even when it leads him to blasphemy. “A novel of finely articulated tragic power .... Little short of a work of genius.”—The New York Times Book Review Asher Lev is a Ladover Hasid who keeps kosher, prays three times a day and believes in the Ribbono Shel Olom, the Master of the Universe. He grows up in a cloistered Hasidic community in postwar Brooklyn, a world suffused by ritual and revolving around a charismatic Rebbe. He is torn between two identities, the one consecrated to God, the other devoted only to art and his imagination, and in time, his artistic gift threatens to estrange him from that world and the parents he adores. As it follows his struggle, My Name Is Asher Lev becomes a luminous, visionary portrait of the artist, by turns heartbreaking and exultant.

The Rebbe

The Rebbe
Author: Samuel Heilman
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 381
Release: 2012-03-25
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0691154422

A biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson that discusses his childhood in Russia, education in Germany and Paris, messianic conviction, religious leadership, legacy, and other related topics.

The Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson

The Rebbetzin Chaya Mushka Schneerson
Author: Merkaz le-ʻinyene ḥinukh (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 40
Release: 1999
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

A concise and illuminating narrative provides glimpses of the true stature of this modest woman. Far more than a passive observer, the Rebbetzin was often an active participant in the events that shook the very foundations of Jewish life. Her biography is an account of the trials and triumphs of the Lubavitcher movement during those tumultuous times. The first of a series, this elegantly presented booklet is enhanced by 18 illustrations, charts and maps including to rare photographs of the Rebbetzin in her youth.

Turning Judaism Outward

Turning Judaism Outward
Author: Chaim Miller
Publisher: Kol Menachem
Total Pages: 592
Release: 2014
Genre: Habad
ISBN: 1934152366

Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), the Lubavitcher Rebbe, took an insular Chasidic group that was almost decimated by the Holocaust and transformed it into one of the most influential and controversial forces in world Jewry. This superbly crafted biography draws on recently uncovered documents and archives of personal correspondence, painting an exceptionally human and charming portrait of a man who was well known but little understood. With a sharp attention to detail and an effortless style, Chaim Miller takes us on a soaring journey through the life, mind and struggles of one of the most interesting religious personalities of the Twentieth Century. --