I just heard a shiur from the great orator, mekarev, inspirer, Rabbi YY Jacobson Shlita. At the end he was asked why there was so much opposition to Chabad.
He responded that the most "objective" answer is ....
WAIT!!! A Chossid cannot give an objective answer when his Rebbe is criticized - certainly not a Chabad Chossid. I say this as a Chossid [albeit not of Chabad....].
So he answered that .... people misunderstood the Rebbe. Also - he was too great a light and people couldn't take it.
In other words - the Rebbe was perfect and only his critics were deficient.
The question wasn't a good question b/c those who opposed Chabad [such as Rav Schach] were very clear on why they were opposed. [Rav Aharon Kotler and many other Gedolim preceded Rav Schach in their opposition. Of course it goes without saying that many Gedolim held from the Rebbe.]
The main issue was Messianism. Chabad Chassidim crowned him Moshiach and many Lubavitchers [most? all?] still believe that he is Moshiach. I have a friend who is a Chabad rabbi in the southeast and he told me that every Chabadnik believes in his heart that the Rebbe is Moshiach. The difference is those who say it and those who don't.
We don't like false Messiahs. We have a lot of trauma from Shabtai Tzvi.
There are other reasons [not sleeping in the Succah, Rebbe worship, teaching Kabbala to very young people, מבצע תפילין, their strong political right wing leanings etc. etc.].
THAT is the objective answer.
That is not to say that I agree or disagree. I am a nobody to the thousandth power [on a VERY good day]. I just want to establish the truth.
Today the opposition has waned b/c the public Messianism has waned greatly. Now Chabad sticks mainly to kiruv.
