2scents
“Great, but it appears that the desire to elevate “the Rebbe” to the highest status throughout human history is leading some to express ideas that seem unusual (so say the least) to the general yiddishe population.”
Interesting, my perception is that this used to be not so unique at all (again see hilchos Talmud Torah 5:5) but because there are very few Tzaddikim- I don’t know of any others today that I’ve heard of- it sounds strange.
You know in lubavitch we also have many respected Rabbanim and mashpiim, and we listen carefully to what they say, but we wouldn’t swallow every word as if it’s G-d given, because they’re not Tzaddikim of Tanya- they still have their own yeshus to a certain level- and maybe what they’re saying comes from that- so we won’t respond with the same bitul to every innocent suggestion they make (not talking about psak.)
Whereas The Rebbe is different, so we treat him differently. Many Lubavitchers get a shock when they interact with other Jews and see they don’t display the same reverence for their Torah leaders. We would expect it to be the same. Until they explain to us (in my case) that their Rebbe has a yetzer hara due to yeridas hadoros…)