The Rebbe

From the 1950s until his death in 1994, Menachem Mendel Schneerson - revered by his followers worldwide simply as the Rebbe - built the Lubavitcher movement from a relatively small sect within Hasidic Judaism into the powerful force in Jewish life that it is today. Swept away by his expectation that the Messiah was coming, he came to believe that he could deny death and change history. Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman paint an unforgettable portrait of Schneerson, showing how he reinvented himself from an aspiring French-trained electrical engineer into a charismatic leader who believed that he and his Lubavitcher Hasidic emissaries could transform the world. They reveal how his messianic convictions ripened and how he attempted to bring the ancient idea of a day of redemption onto the modern world's agenda. Heilman and Friedman also trace what happened after the Rebbe's death, by which time many of his followers had come to think of him as the Messiah himself. "The Rebbe" tracks Schneerson's remarkable life from his birth in Russia, to his student days in Berlin and Paris, to his rise to global renown in New York, where he developed and preached his powerful spiritual message from the group's gothic mansion in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. This compelling book demonstrates how Schneerson's embrace of traditionalism and American-style modernity made him uniquely suited to his messianic mission.

ISBN 0691138885   Pages 384 ISBN13 9780691138886 (What's this?)   Weight (grammes) 742 Publisher The University Press Group Ltd   Published in New Jersey Imprint Princeton University Press   Height (mm) 229 Format Hardback   Width (mm) 152 Publication date 10 May 2010   Spine width (mm) 36 DEWEY 296.092   Academic level General DEWEY edition DC22

		List of Illustrations
		The Rebbes of ChaBaD
		Preface
1		Farbrengen: The Gathering of the Emissaries		1
2		Death and Resurrection		29
3		Coming of Age in a Time of Transition		65
4		Entering the Court of Lubavitch		90
5		From Survival to Uforatzto		130
6		On a Mission from the Rebbe in Life		163
7		From Resurrection to Death: We Want Moshiach Now		197
8		On a Mission from the Rebbe in His Afterlife		248
		Glossary of Hasidic and Lubavitcher Terms		279
		Notes		283
		Index		331

How do you write a biography of the Messiah? That is the question that Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, two leading Jewish social scientists, have had to tackle in their groundbreaking study of Menachem Mendel Schneerson. -- Times Literary Supplement [A]n outstanding biography of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher rebbe... This well-written presentation, based on exhaustive scholarship, will stand as the definitive statement about the life and times of a highly influential religious leader. -- Publishers Weekly [A]n important biography... This is as full and reliable an account of the life of this towering spiritual leader as we are likely to get. -- Saul Rosenberg, New York Sun Lively and provocative... [An] eye-opening account of the Rebbe's 'life and afterlife.' ... [T]he best analytical study of the two major themes that it addresses: A critical and often boldly psychological biography of Schneerson is prefaced and supplemented by two chapters devoted to a sociological analysis of the beliefs and behaviors of his Hasidim, especially after the death of the man they were--and most still are--convinced was the Messiah. -- Allan Nadler, Forward This fascinating book by two outstanding scholars of contemporary Jewry is a must-read for those interested in the Lubavitch movement, whether insiders or outsiders... Overall, it examines a mystery that compels the reader's interest. -- Jewish Book World The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson by Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman fills a considerable void in the biography of one of the towering religious figures of the 20th century... I am grateful to the authors for a profoundly human biography that will hopefully spur a whole new literature on the rebbe as man rather than angel and as person rather than saint. -- Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, New York Jewish Week [T]his book will serve as the most outstanding work in print on the Rebbe's life, his influence and his afterlife. -- Aaron Howard, Jewish Herald-Voice Sixteen years after the death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a flurry of new publications indicates not only how enduring the interest is in his life and legacy, but how potent the minefield is surrounding his mythology... The Heilman-Friedman book is generating the most controversy. Written for a lay audience, it frames Schneerson's mission, and that of the Chabad movement he led, as motivated by Messianism, here defined as the attempt to hasten the Messianic era through human actions. -- Sue Fishkoff, Jewish Telegraphic Agency In this exemplary work, we are treated to a well-written, well-documented history of the rise, life, death, and 'afterlife' of Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-94), the seventh-and last larger-than-life-leader (or 'rebbe') of ChaBaD Lubavitcher Hasidism... An outstanding book, strongly recommended for all interested in studying Schneerson and his beliefs. -- Anthony J. Elia, Library Journal When Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, the two most distinguished sociologists of contemporary Orthodox Judaism set out to write this book, I was green with envy. They would combine their considerable talents and learning to bear on arguably the most fascinating, perhaps even the most successful, late 20th century Jewish religious leader... They have done an admirable job. -- Michael Berenbaum, Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles [T]he extraordinary biography of the Lubavitcher Rebbe executed by Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, two sociologists who have cooperated in an exacting study of one of the most important religious figures of the 20th century... They deploy this approach in a narrative that is extraordinarily smooth in its literary style and transforms what could have been a dry and jargon-ridden sociological foray into a highly readable and occasionally even gripping exploration of the inner workings and theological complications that have animated the Lubavitcher 'empire' in the recent past. -- Ar

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