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Article: Hasidim adjust to rabbi's death. (Lubavitcher Hasidim; Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- January 4, 1995
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Months after the death of their beloved rabbi, the Lubavitcher Hasidim show signs of adjusting to life without Menachem Mendel Schneerson, whom many of the faithful had predicted would rise from the dead and proclaim himself the messiah.
But it's not clear that they have abandoned their messianic claims. The fact that they've not yet named a successor is significant, says Allan Nadler, director of research at the Yivo Institute for Jewish Research in Manhattan.
It is "extremely unusual," he says, that a new grand rabbi has not been installed; the selection is typically one of the first things that happens after a rebbe dies. "That to me indicates a refusal to ...