Anyusername: “25 yrs ago because we didnt have to go down that path, meaning no one said it definitely cant be from the dead”
Were you born and old enough to remember what was being said by lubavichers before 3 Tammuz? I was and I remember the standard line was that each generation has to have someone fit to be Moshiach, and in our generation the only living person that fits that bill is the rebbe. So the accepted premise was that moshiach defintitely has to be alive.