BneiBrak, that was just the eiruv rav. Klal yisroel used the eigel as an emtzai, the same words the sicha says the Rebbe is for- an emtzai who is one with Hashem so there’s no violation of davening to someone other than Hashem because thanks to atzmus, the Rebbe and Hashem are one and the same (sic!)
Syag, whose reputaion here in the CR is sterling, said he saw it. I have seen people say it. Google daven to the Rebbe and you will see others. It makes sense, as it’s pashut pshat in atzmus. And pashut pshat in atzmus is keneged the 13 ikkarim.
I’m sure there are teirutzim. And you can’t be on sanhedrin without being able to be metaher a sheretz. But yet the sheretz remains tamei, and our gedolim say to ignore these farfetched teirutzim and read the ikkarim kepshutan, which puts most of Chabad as michutz lamachaneh.
The ikkarim were written to help Jews confused by Christians and other meshichist groups. If they say the moshiach is part of God, it’s out. If they say daven to someone other than Hashem (which the sicha from 1979 says explicitly,) it’s out. The saying of yechi reflects this view of the Rebbe as super being. So does saying Der Rebbe vet helfn. So does bowing down to empty chairs as if the Rebbe is still in there. It’s not LMT saying this, it’s the gedolim kana”l. And that’s why switching der rebbe for der eigel is so effective. It breaks you out of the nonsense and makes you realize you have turned your rebbe into an eigel, an intermediary to Hashem instead of davening to Hashem Himself.