Updated on 02/4/08: See below
JPost has published a most "interesting" article entitled "Our Rebbe is the Messiah",
I say interesting in quotes, as it is nothing more then a link in the mindless chain of Lubavitch bashing drudgery that I find so enormously frustrating and inane.
The chain goes something akin to this:
Pseudo Rabbi Dr. (PRD) writes an article/book/thesis claiming that Chabad has now left the fold of Torah Judaism, is intellectually dishonest etc. -this most likely happens when our dear PRD has led a rather unproductive year in academia, and therefor wishes to benefit from the added press coverage that being a koch leffel can stir up.
All Lubavitchers feel it necessary to then defend our golden institution.
Said PRD, then writes back . . .
Ad Infinitum, Ad Nauseam.
As I said, the above article is nothing more then a link in the above chain. I won't get involved . . .
But what I do ask, is who is this Eli Soble? His name doesn't appear on any of the Lubavitcher name directories . . .
In general, I have a complaint for both Soble and JPost . . .
To Soble, I wonder where he gets the audacity to claim that he alone is properly able to represent the views and thoughts of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, and what is more to some how claim distill over forty years of public talks, letters et al in a few short lines and sound bites . . .
What is more, he claims a position of importance in the Chabad Hierarchy, yet is in essence an unknown at best, perhaps using a pseudonym to hide under a cloud of anonymity, and -even more sinisterly -a fraud claiming to represent Chabad in an attempt to bring the Rebbe's good work to public discredit!
As to Jpost, think not that you are innocent in this game . . . No respectable periodical would publish an unsourced article, at best the vague opinion of an individual of dubious standing, in a brazen attempt to pass off said individual's opinion as that of an entity or group. The Rebbe said many times that statements not originating from the official body of Chabad -Merkos, Aguch etc. are not to be construed as his official stance or that of Chabad.
Technorati Tags: Jpost, Messianism, Chabad, Eli Soble, News
6 comments:
He speaks for no one but himself. This nonsense was condemned by the Rebbe repeatedly for forty years. I say this as a Chossid of the Rebbe.
I know who the author is and he is a chossid and a mentsch. It could be that his passion on the subject prompted him to write the article, and that passion confused him into thinking that this was the best way to "spread the truth".
His intentions were pure... but I agree that it's not the type of material that needs to be printed in the Jerusalem Post, or any such publication.
Anon -some light seems to be coming in on the issue now. Who is he? He claims to have position of some sort with in Chabad, yet no one knows his name. Ask him in the future to consult his mashpia, in the least, before taking action -and mah tov u'mah naem to make things official through Merkos (Though it will never happen -which I dare say is my point . . . and this is with all my misgivings for Chabad inc.)
I'm not in touch with him personally - I just know who he is... He's not from CH and did go through a not-so-frum stage. He is now re-committed to Chabad (at least to my knowledge).
I think the JPost was just trying to beef it up by saying that he's "involved in the movement's educational work." Don't read into it too much. To me that could mean he teaches hebrew school somewhere... or teaches his kids. He's just a nice guy who means well.
You did not say in your article Mottel, whether Mr. Soble is wrong or not in believing the Rebbe is Moshiach. Do you hold it as impossible the Rebbe is the Moshiach?
Anon: One who asks such weighty questions ought to do so with a more personal moniker then Anonymous . . . In any event my opinion does not figure into issue at hand - if anything it sheds a bias to one side or the other. Claiming to represent Chabad is wrong. It is not his place, or responsability to try to show the world what the Rebbe thinks - that alone was the Rebbe's ability, and was given over to certain individuals . . . Like them or not, agree with them or not, they can speak for Chabad. We can't. To do so is gravely irresponsible.
The Rebbe, and Chassidius b'chlal, can not be summed up in a few sparce paragraphs. Period.
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