To Menachem Shmei
Thanks for the translation. It seems pretty close to what I said in my posting except for one thing. The Rebbe is specifically speaking about the Rayyatz and not all Chabad Nesiim and it seems that he’s saying that the Nasi of Chabad is the unquestioned leader of Chabad but not necessarily of all Jews. My understanding, however, is that all Lubavitchers believe that the Nasi Chabad is the Nasi of Klal Yisroel. Let me explain how I arrived at that conclusion. About twenty years ago I attended a YI whose Rabbi is Chabad (they hired him because he spoke Russian.) He resented the fact that I was frum (sorry Coffee addict I am generally considered frum) but not Chabad. One day he told me, “For the past 250 years there have only been seven Gedolim, just the seven Chabad Rebbes.” The next day I spoke to another Lubavitch Rabbi who I knew was more moderate and repeated what the first rabbi said. He responded, “What, is he nuts? Rav Moshe wasn’t a Gadol?” I was relieved to hear that, and I started to walk out of his shul when he added, “But we are the Nesius.” I didn’t know what he meant, and I didn’t ask him. After hearing this about the Rebbe’s letter I understood that it’s viewed as a declaration that Chabad is the ruling class of Judaism. I ask the Lubavitchers in the thread to clarify what the Rebbe meant.