The Messiah of Brooklyn : understanding Lubavitch Hasidism past and present / Avrum M. Ehrlich.

Format:

• Book

Author/Creator:

• Ehrlich, M. Avrum (Mark Avrum), 1958-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

• Habad.
• Hasidism--History.
• Hasidism.
• History.
• Schneerson, Menachem Mendel, 1902-1994.
• Zaddikim.
• Messiah--Judaism.

Physical Description:

xxvi, 332 pages ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Jersey City, N.J. : KTAV, [2004]

Contents:

• Difficulties with the Proposed Study
• Expositional Difficulties
• Accessing Material and Information
• A Complex Issue
• Messianism and Succession
• Part 1 History
• 1 Historical Context 3
• The Beginnings of Hasidism
• The Ba'al Shem Tov
• The Maggid of Mezritch
• After the Maggid
• The Emergence of the Habad Movement
• 2 The Ideal of the Zaddik 12
• The Concept of the Zaddik
• Social Functions of the Zaddik
• The Idea of the Zaddik in Habad
• The Rebbe/Hasid Relationship
• The Rebbe/Hasid Financial Relationship
• 3 Habad in America 24
• Rabbi Dov Ber, the Fifth Rebbe
• Rabbi Yosef Yitzhak, the Sixth Rebbe
• Location as a Form of Movement-Building
• Crown Heights
• 4 Schneerson's Pre-Rebbe Life 34
• The Problem of Sources
• Early Life
• The United States
• 5 Schneerson's Succession 43
• Part 2 Consolidation
• 6 Transitional Consolidation 51
• Authority by Virtue of Office as Rebbe
• Hasidic Discourses: Consolidation of Public Life
• 7 Consolidation Through Ritual 57
• The Farbrengen
• Yehidut
• Letters from Schneerson
• "Dollars"
• Other Rituals
• 8 Leadership Qualities 70
• Schneerson's Style
• Peculiarities of Personality
• Personal Contact
• Consolidation Through Charisma
• The Appearance of Suffering
• Other Personal Characteristics
• Scholarship
• 9 The Ideology of Messianism 81
• The Ideology of Redemption
• The Importance of Messianism
• The Effects of Messianism on Consolidation
• Messianism as a Motivational Device
• Schneerson as a Prophet Schneerson as the Mashiach
• Trying to Be the Mashiach
• Messianic Vacillation
• Isolation and Messianism
• 10 Schneerson as a World Leader 95
• The Turning Point in Consolidation
• A Jewish Leader
• Modern Orthodoxy
• Sephardi Jewry
• Russian Jewry
• Other Hasidic Groups
• The Mitnagdim
• Religious Zionism
• Israeli Personalities
• Beyond the Jewish World
• The Laws of Noah
• Schneerson and World Politics
• 11 Habad Zionism and Zionism 111
• Coincidental Timing?
• Opposition to Zionism
• Zionist Influences on Schneerson
• The Six-Day War and After
• Never Set Foot in the Holy Land
• Part 3 The Institutions
• 12 Initial Consolidation 125
• Success of Institutions
• Employment
• A War Economy
• Institutions and the Dissipation of Opposition
• Fundraising
• The Negative Effects of Fundraising
• 13 Consolidation of Local Authority 137
• The New Rebbe
• The Postwar Period
• Challenge and Response: The 1970s and After
• What If Schneerson Had Relocated?
• Crown Heights: Religious Significance
• 14 Administration and Bureaucracy 148
• The Rebbe as "Chief of State"
• Schneerson's Administrative Qualities
• Delegation of Authority
• Aides, Secretaries, and Assistants
• The School of Assistants
• The Bureaucratic Hierarchy
• The Last Years
• The Relationship Between Power and Discipleship
• 15 Community Services 166
• The Outreach Concept
• Campus Outreach
• Synagogues
• Ba'alei Teshuvah
• Emissaries
• Public Relations
• Modern Technology
• The Drawbacks of Outreach
• The Habad Yeshiva System
• The Habad House
• Other Organizations
• 16 Publishing Houses and Libraries 189
• Dissemination through Publication
• The AGUCH Collection
• The Merkaz Library
• Community Libraries
• 17 Women's and Youth Organizations 197
• The Role of Women
• The Influences on Schneerson
• Women's Initiatives
• The Family
• A "Fresh Approach"
• Educational Contributions
• Youth Organization: The Principle
• Symbolism of the Organization
• The Growth of Zivot Hashem
• The Effects on Consolidation
• Transfer Symbolism
• Part 4 The Succession
• 18 The Issue of Succession 215
• The Passing of the Rebbe
• What Is Transfer?
• When Does Transfer Occur?
• The Need for Succession
• The Difficulty of Succession (Unrivaled Personality (Ideological Prism (No Obvious Replacement
• An Extreme But Active Minority
• 19 Schneerson's Intentions 232
• The Question of Intention
• Yosef Yitzhak as the Rebbe
• Schneerson's Transfer of Authority
• Cultivation of Independent Leadership
• The Aides
• Legal Transfer
• The Beit Din
• 20 Institutional Authority 246
• The Collective Leadership Model
• The First Will
• The Second Will
• The Institutions
• 21 Other Models of Succession 254
• The No Succession Model
• The Fiefdom Model
• The Slow Succession Model
• The Mission Model
• The Ghost Model
• Gravesite Culture
• The Normalization Model
• Habad Fallout
• The Habad Periphery: Heretics, the Disenchanted, and Neo-Habadnikim
• 22 Factors of Influence on Succession: What's Next? 275
• The Hasidic Groupings
• The International Communities
• The Youth: A New Constituency
• The Ba'al Teshuvah Movement
• From Local Particularism to Universal Mission.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0881258369

OCLC:

55800922