Chabad Shows Up Where the Litvish World Won’t

qwerty613 talks a lot about assimilation and intermarriage. Ok, but what did you do to stop this? They longer have get-togethers for Jews to find Jewish spouses like they used to in the old days. Except for Chabad of course and some other events. Otherwise, who else in Bozeman is running anything so that Jews find each other? It seems to me that most people only marry people they can personally find to marry. In other words, I am in public school in bozeman, and I have no other outlet but for Friday night football, I go after the goy cheerleader. That is the market.
Anyway, 80% of people are already intermarried? What about the 20%? What about the half of the 80% who are the Jewish spouse? Are any of those women? Sometimes they divorce. Lot of spouses were found to be pretty intolerant after October 7th. Very strange and horrible, but true.

A lot of complicated factors, and I’m not very interested in casting everyone off to generalize and make things simple. Then not only will you have a 95% intermarriage rate, but there won’t be anyone to intermarry with this viewpoint. So I reject it.

@Always_Ask_Questions

Part of the person being chozer b’teshuva is disconnecting from his gentile offspring. He will never do teshuva if he isn’t divorced from them.

Child support is a separate legal matter.

There is no purpose in being megayer children just because their father is Jewish. There is no such thing as half Jewish.

To qwerty “when I say that Lubavitchers have no concept of Hashem I know whereof I speak. Rabbi Shlomo Cunin, chief Chabad Rabbi of California, stated in a YouTube video in 2008 that it’s the Rebbe who runs the world and he will take us out of Golus.” The quote from Rabbi Cunin needs to be understood in context and in line with basic Chabad theology, not taken as a literal standalone statement. Chabad absolutely believes that only Hashem runs the world—this is יסוד היסודות of Judaism and is explained at length in Tanya and countless maamarim. No Lubavitcher believes that any human being has independent power, chas v’shalom. When Rabbi Cunin said “the Rebbe runs the world,” he was speaking in an emotional setting after a tragedy, using the kind of elevated and expressive language that is common in Chassidic discourse. What is meant is that Hashem conducts the world through tzaddikim. This concept is rooted in Chazal: “הקב״ה גוזר וצדיק מבטל” (Moed Katan 16b), and “וצדיק יסוד עולם” (Mishlei 10:25), which Chazal and mefarshim understand as the tzaddik being a sustaining force and conduit of hashpa’ah. The Zohar (Vayechi) teaches “אתפשטותא דמשה בכל דרא ודרא,” that there is a משה-like leader in every generation through whom influence is drawn down. Tanya (Iggeres HaKodesh 27) further explains that a tzaddik continues to bring down bracha even after passing, and in Chapter 2 that the leaders of the generation serve as the “head,” channeling life and connection to the rest of the body. Similarly, when he said the Rebbe will take us out of Golus, this reflects the belief that Hashem redeems the Jewish people through Moshiach. Just as the Torah attributes Yetzias Mitzrayim to Moshe—while it is clear that Hashem is the one who redeemed them—so too the geulah comes through a human leader who is completely batel to Hashem. If someone wants to take a single emotionally charged sentence and interpret it literally in a way that contradicts core Jewish belief, that says more about the interpretation than about Chabad. The consistent and explicit position of Chabad is absolute emunah that Hashem alone is the Borei and Manhig of the world, and that any role of a tzaddik is only as a conduit for His will, not an independent power.

To Pekak

Thank you for your post. Obviously, it’s ridiculous to discuss Kiruv on intermarried couples.

To Kiddushclub

“All lies in jest still a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.” Would you like to comment on the fact that the Rebbe called his father-in-law a Novi? And would you care to comment on Manis Friedman’s statement that no Jew today can be punished no matter what sin he does.?

To KiddushClubDropout

Again, I must compliment you for your menschlichkeit. This said, let me share a story. It was about three years ago on the first night of Sukkos and I was in the Chabad Shul I sometimes attend. It had been raining all that day, and the forecast was that the rain would continue into the night. In fact, it let up and so we were able to eat in the Sukkah. Someone commented, “Thank you Hashem for stopping the rain.” But he was corrected by a Lubavitcher who told him, “Hashem didn’t stop the rain, it was the Rebbe.” Truth be told, he was smiling when he said it so perhaps, he was kidding but on cue, another congregant chimed in, “Everything we have in our lives comes from the Rebbe.” To which his friend concurred, “Of course, we live in the shadow of the Rebbe.” I’m relating this because even if I’ll agree with you that Cunin didn’t mean what he said, such statements can’t be made because unsuspecting Jews will hear them and take them literally. I’ll give you another anecdote. At least five years ago a Chabad Rabbi asked me if I read Dr. Berger’s book When I told him yes, he asked me to tell him something from the book. I shared with him that Dr. Berger said that 8 senior Chabad Rabbis from Oholei Torah said that the Rebbe was god clothed in human form. This Rabbi responded, “But everyone knows that. I can prove it. We know that every Jew contains a spark of Elokus, and Rashi said that Moshe Rabbeinu had all the sparks of all 600,000 Jews at that time. Now since the Rebbe is the Moshe Rabbeinu of our Dor, he has all the sparks of every Jew who ever lived and when you add up all these sparks they equal Hashem.” If you don’t see that Chabad has deified the Rebbe, you’re simply blind. But I like you so let’s continue the discussion.

To qwerty613. I think both of your points are based on misunderstandings rather than actual Chabad positions. First, regarding calling the Frierdiker Rebbe a “navi”: there is no sourced statement where the Lubavitcher Rebbe makes a halachic claim that prophecy returned before Moshiach. In Torah terms, formal nevuah (as defined by the Rambam) is not present today, and Chabad does not claim otherwise. When the Lubavitcher Rebbe spoke about his father-in-law “seeing” or knowing things, he was referring to ruach hakodesh or very high spiritual perception—something clearly discussed in Chazal, and distinct from formal prophecy. Chassidic language often uses strong terms non-technically, which can sound misleading if taken literally, and are not meant as precise halachic definitions. Second, about Manis Friedman’s statement: Chabad does not deny punishment or accountability—Rambam Hilchos Teshuva is absolutely accepted. The point being made is that every Jew’s essence remains pure and that many people today fall under the category of tinok shenishba, meaning their culpability is different. In Chassidus, consequences are often framed as tikun (rectification) rather than simple punishment, and there’s a strong emphasis on Hashem’s rachamim in our generation—not a claim that “anything goes.” So neither claim represents a rejection of Torah; they reflect a particular way of understanding and emphasizing existing sources.

@ KidushClubDropout

You are a credit to Chabbad. I have not read such quality responses for quite some time.

Can you answer some questions for me?

1) Do you believe it’s possible for the last Lubavicher to have made a mistake in Psak or Hadracha?
2) Do you believe it is possible for someone other then the last Lubavitcher Rebbe be Moshiach
3) Why is the Sefer Halacha written by the first Lubavicher Rebbe reoffered to as Shulchan Aruch stam (same question regarding the Sidur being referred to as Nusach Ari stam)

To chiefshmerel

I’ll apologize for not making myself clear. I mentioned the Chabad Rabbi who bragged about how he gave out Matzah to intermarried couples before Pesach as a counterpoint to the posters who were writing on this thread that Chabad is trying to make millions of Jews observant. I wanted to point out how ludicrous such a claim is. Chabad serves a valuable purpose in providing Kosher meals and sometimes minyanim to Orthodox travelers. Beyond that there’s not much more. Yes, according to Chabad theology if someone does a Mitzvah it’s transformative, even if he’s non-Observant, but clearly doing one Mitzvah does not make one frum. The concept of Mitzvah goreres Mitzvah applies when someone is moved on his own to do a Mitzvah, not when people do some Chabad Rabbi a favor and allow him to put Tefillin on them. BTW what do you find troubling about Schneersohnism?

To Arso: Just to clarify what I meant: I’m not denying that the Lubavitcher Rebbe used expressions such as referring to the Frierdiker Rebbe as a “navi” and saying that “יש נבואה בישראל.” My point was only that while these expressions reflect a real concept, there is still a difference between that and issuing a formal halachic ruling that prophecy has returned in the sense discussed by the Rambam. Notably, the Rambam writes in Iggeres Teiman that nevuah will return as a preparation for Moshiach. Tosfos also cite one of the Baalei HaTosfos as “ר׳ עזרא הנביא” (Gittin 88a, Menachos 109b, Daas Zekeinim). Clearly, the term “navi” has been used in different contexts, and nevuah exists on different levels and in different forms. Therefore, the question is not simply whether the Lubavitcher Rebbe used the term “nevuah,” but how he intended it to be understood. That requires examining his actual words and the context in which they were said.

To KCD

When I called Manis Friedman a Kofer for denying reward and punishment you argued that he didn’t mean what he said. And you also posited that Shlomo Cunin didn’t mean what he said i.e. that it’s the Rebbe who runs the world. And you’ll also suggest that the Rabbis who claim that the Rebbe is alive and is god clothed in human form, didn’t mean what they said. Finally, you write that the Rebbe didn’t mean it when he said that his predecessor was a Novi. So, the question to ask is, “How do you know what they meant?” So, you’ll say that you’re being Dan Lkaf Zchus . Here’s the problem. On page 1027 of the Gutnick Chumash, the Rebbe writes that there have been individuals who were prophets. He named Ramban, Raavad and the Besht among others. If he didn’t mean that they were actually prophets, then why say it? And your attempt to push off my statement that the Rebbe contradicted an open Gemara doesn’t wash. The Gemara in Cheilek says that only one in 300,000 Jews will be redeemed by Moshiach because the final Geulah will mirror the Geulah from Egypt. The Rebbe said that every Jew will be redeemed by Moshiach because the final Geulah will “NOT” be like the Exodus from Egypt. That’s blatant Kefirah. This has nothing to do with all Jews having a share in Olam Habo. The fact is that the Rebbe rejected an open Gemara and so he is a Kofer and therefore if he used the term Novi it’s understood that he meant it literally because he wanted to convince his stupid Chassidim that Hashem spoke to him.

Sorry Kiddush Club, but your argument doesn’t hold water.

All of a sudden when the Lubavicher rebbe uses the term navi about his shver (and the vast majority – even greater than vast – of L chassidim say he was in fact referring also to himself, he doesn’t REALLY mean navi?! Everything else he ever said has to be taken at 100% face value, but this not. Who do you think you are kidding? Many of us are well-acquainted with Lubavich beliefs, and what you wrote is most definitely not one of them.

And what on earth does רבי עזרא הנביא in Tosfos prove? How do you know that that wasn’t just his name? There are Sefardim around with names like Mashiach. Does that mean that they are considered Mashiach?