After an amazing Chabad thread that the YWN Coffee Room has not seen in years, it has reached it’s inevitable conclusion.
The Rebbe made some typical chassidishe statements which are basic reinterpretations of the classic kabbalistic sources.
There are three options now.
1) Claim that the Rebbe had an agenda.
2) Attack traditional chassidus.
3) Rejecl classical kabbalah.
All three can be justified. But you have really know your stuff to attempt the first one. And we would be going against the majority of frum yidden if we attempt the other two.
It seems like the thrust really is in a fourth direction. Some posters are pushing Lubavitchers to say that these statements should be watered down to the point that they aren’t so loaded. That is not an option. Chabad will go extinct before they dilute even one bit of their Chassidishe Torah. A lot of the other major groups lighten or lost their chassidius after the war. The Rebbe made preserving chassidus a major priority in Chabad.
I hope this post is productive.