An article has been written in the Harvard Divinity Journal by a bitter, disgruntled ex-Lubavitcher. He revealed SHOCKINGLY that a lot of Lubavitchers believe that the Rebbe is Moshiach [!!!]. WOW!!! Like - next he will tell us that the earth is round or that the moon is up in the sky or that you have to almost completely disrobe and give all of your medical history in order to board a plane.
He further tells us that he read the Christian Pagan fairy tale book that they call the NT and felt that the attitude that Moshiach died and will come back and redeem us resembles Christian theology. So instead of merely deciding not to believe that the Rebbe is Moshiach he has decided to question [deny?] all of the basic beliefs Jews hold.
Like - why? Reminds me of the Chasidic couple affiliated w/ Belz who went off the derech and got a lot of press [the press LOVES these stories!!]. The woman explained that she heard a story about the Baal Shem Tov that she had trouble believing. So, she said in a deep moment of philosophical profundity - if a legend about the Baal Shem Tov MIGHT not be true then all of Judaism DEFINITELY isn't true. So she stopped keeping Shabbos and going to the mikva and keeping all mitzvos - together with her husband and children. WOW!! What a STRONG proof against the veracity of Judaism!!!!
Impressive!! So much scholarship!! If only the Rambam, the Ramban, Rav Yehuda Halevi, the Abarbanel, the Maharal, Rav Kook, Rav Soloveitchik, Rav Lichtenstein etc. etc. had met this titan of intellect, maybe they too would have been convinced!!!
This Lubavitcher is making a big mistake when he rejects everything. In the article he uses a lot of Christian terms so I fear that maybe he is going in that direction [but I don't know]. He sounds a lot more Christian than Lubavitch [I won't quote...]. You can be a religious Jew without believing that the Rebbe is Moshiach. Like most of us. One might argue that the Rebbe himself was a very pious Jew w/o believing that the Rebbe [i.e. himself] was Moshiach....
A lot of it probably has to do with the fact that he is so bitter that he never received a secular education [even though his father was a Harvard grad. My father in law was ALSO a Harvard grad. who become Lubavitch but his eldest daughter received a thorough secular education and married not a Lubavitcher but the Michiginner Rebbe himself!!!].
Many of these bitter ex-chassidim write these exposes and spread their poison to the world. We have to remember - the vaaaaastttt majority of Chasidim stay faithful to the cause. Only a very small number go off and there are ALWAYS deep emotional issues involved. They like writing books that make them a lot of money and receive notoriety. They get their videos up on youtube, receive 10's of thousands of views and purport to give people insight into what being a chossid is like.
Of course, it is fake news because it is always skewed against the chasidic lifestyle - ignoring the incredible satisfaction so many people have. After they stray off the path - it is not like they are happy. How can one truly be happy w/o Hashem in his or her life? All meaning is contrived b/c they believe that life essentially has no meaning. That is a pathetic existence.
What is the difference between a person who becomes religious as opposed to one who becomes secular? Very simple - a person who becomes religious now has to keep a million new laws. There are laws about EVERYTHING. What to say, when to speak, when to remain silent. What to eat, when to eat, how to eat. When one is allowed to have relations, with whom, at what time, in what way. What it is permitted to think, what is not permitted to think. HOW TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!!! One constantly has to conquer his innate nature such as laziness or anger. In short - HARD WORK. There is never ONE SECOND that one is off duty from being Jewish or when Halacha doesn't apply.
What about one who becomes irreligious? Now he can do WHATEVER HE WANTS, WHENEVER HE WANTS, HOWEVER HE WANTS. Every woman is a potential sexual partner [whom he can gaze at and lust after even if she is not willing]. Every food is permitted for consumption. No more fast days. No getting up early for zman krias shma. No waiting to eat until after davening. He can curse, speak lashon hara - whatever he wants. The Internet is completely open now. Any movie he wants. No more 25 hour restrictions of Shabbos. In short - complete hefker.
What is REMARKABLE is that counterintuitively, people who make the transition from irreligious to religious are MUCH HAPPIER than people who go in the opposite direction. I have seen both a thousand times.
Why is that?
B/c Hashem programmed us to only be satisfied when we live for a higher purpose than satisfying our yetzer hara.
At the end of the day - all of these poor souls are left with one unanswered question: How did nothing create everything? For that they have no answer.
