anyPotatoKugel: “Chabad in essence is saying the same thing as dbei rebbi shiloi, Yanai and chanina…”
As pointed out in the past many times, Rashi there DOES NOT say that dbei R Shilo and the others were saying their Rebbes were Mashiach. Rashi says they were darshening their names.
Furthermore, even if they would have been saying that their Rebbes were Mashiach, who said that their Rebbes were not still alive when they said so?
But let’s disregard the above for the moment and deal with the statement as it was made.
The difference is that dbei R Shilo and the others were Amoraim and were entitled to say that. We believe that they weighed all the facts dispassionately and came to those concllusions because they did not have any hidden agenda. Chabad chassidim are not Amoraim, they are not dipassionate about it, and they have a not-so-hidden agenda.
Would you say that just as a number of Amoraim discuss what the times of Mashiach will be like, Chabad chassidim can decide that 770 will be Mashiach’s home?
Oops. I forgot. They already did decide that with the childish gematria that Beis Mashiach is equivalent to 770. Sorry about that.