For the last nineteen centuries the cry, “Ad mosai?” (“Until when?”) has risen from the hearts of expectant Jews everywhere. Since the Carpenter Yeshua from Nazareth was rejected by the nation of Israel, others have risen to claim the role. The most notable include Bar Kokhba who led the bloody Great Revolt against the Romans in 132-135 ad, and Shabbetai Zevi in the seventeenth century. Recently the Lubavitcher Rebbe Mendel Menachem Schneerson of Brooklyn, New York, has been heralded as Moshiach.
Born in Russia in 1902, Schneerson was immersed by his father in the Jewish religion. By bar mitzvah age, he was considered a Torah prodigy. After studying at the Sorbonne in Paris, he settled in the U.S. in 1941 and at age 48, assumed leadership of the Habad or Lubavitcher movement.
The Habad movement, with headquarters in Brooklyn, is active throughout the world. More than a quarter of a million children are taught in Lubavitcher (after a town in Bylorussia where the movement had its roots) schools. One of the fundamental tenets of this movement is the belief that in every generation there is a “potential Messiah.” In this generation, they believed, the potential Messiah was Menachem Schneerson.
Although Schneerson gave halfhearted denials, he did little to discourage his followers from promoting his claims. “I’m not saying he is or isn’t Moshiach,” said Rabbi Chayim Bergstein in the Detroit Jewish News (Jan. 3/92), “but there is no one as learned, as pious, as caring, as courageous, as intellectual and as influential in this generation. These are all the traits Maimonides identified as belonging to Moshiach.”
“Rabbi Schneerson is the Messiah. I don’t have to think twice about it,” said a Jewish woman interviewed by an Associated Press reporter. “We talk about it a lot and we are waiting for the big event.”
In an expensive campaign to crown Menachem Schneerson as Messiah, more than 200 billboards were installed and full-page advertisements shouted: “Moshiach is coming and we must make final preparations.” May of 1992 saw a “Moshiach Parade” down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan with tens of thousands cheering. And this in spite of the fact that the rabbi had suffered a stroke the previous March and was now past ninety. In fact, as his health waned, it seemed the frenzy grew. As 1993 drew to a close, a Jewish Telegraph Agency release stated: “The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s health has deteriorated to the point where he is almost completely blinded by cataracts, has lost physical mobility and is a virtual prisoner in his own room…”
Undeterred, his followers placed ads like this in the January 29/94 Jerusalem Post, reading, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem M. Schneerson is the King Moshiach. Now is the time to accept his kingship!” Then Schneerson suffered another stroke. On Sunday, June 12, 1994, he died.
What happens when your Messiah dies? In Israel, some of his followers simply denied the reports of his death: “He’s the Messiah. He’s not dead.” Others flew to New York, hoping “they could be present when Rabbi Schneerson would somehow proclaim his kingship before being buried.” Hope dies a hard death.
What happens when your Messiah dies? Ask the two on the Emmaus road. The long wait of twenty centuries since the promise of the Seed of Abraham had been rewarded with a Man that not only claimed to be Moshiach but who proved it. Now He was dead. Or so they thought until “Jesus Himself drew near…”
Was Schneerson born in Bethlehem? Did Bar Kokhba avoid the curse on Jechoniah by being virgin-born? Did Shabbetai Zevi die the death prophesied in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53? Could any of them ask: “Which of you convinces me of sin?” Could they raise the dead–or for that matter, rise again themselves?
Don’t get me wrong. The Jews are right in waiting for Messiah. He will come. The long wait of twenty centuries–since the Lamb that Abraham saw was crucified on Moriah–will be rewarded. However, Anti-messiah will first present his credentials. Many will be deluded. But when there is no place left to turn, and Israel’s little remnant at last looks up, He will come. “We knew it,” they will say. “But…these wounds!”
Ah, He was wounded for our transgressions. The Lamb! God’s Lamb! At last, it will all make sense.
Come, Moshiach!