השביעי: משיחיות בדור השביעי על חב׳׳ד

In 1951 (1951), a few years after the extinction of one third of the Jewish people, a young leader stands and marks mysterious points on the map of the globe. This is Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a leader of Chabad Hassidism, who has effected a tremendous revolution in the Jewish world in recent generations.

Decades later, Rabbi Menachem Mendel, known as the "Rabbi of Lubavitch", became one of the most recognizable figures in the world. It is famous for the world-wide activities of Chabad, a deep-rooted Hasidic movement founded in the eighteenth century.

As the seventh Rebbe of Chabad, he created a change in the path of the movement - from the work of God in the deep layers of the human soul, to turning outward, under the slogan "Varatz yama va kadama va tsefana va nagva".

The seventh - Messiahship in the seventh generation of Chav
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On Tuesday, Tammuz, June 19, Chabad Chassidim commemorate the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Thirteen years have passed since the venerated leader "passed away" according to Chabad terminology, and surprisingly the Chabad movement, which was eulogized after the death of their leader, is still alive and vibrant. Not only that, the tracer of this movement discovers that precisely in these years, when they operate without a leader, the volume of Chabad activity doubled and tripled its strength. The number of Chabad messengers in 2007 is over 3000 messengers, an increase of hundreds of percent from the number of messengers in 1994.

What is the secret of the power of the Chabad movement after the death of the leader? And why do they not appoint a new leader? Dr. Yitzhak Kraus from Bar Ilan University, who has been studying this movement for the past decade, presents the reader with the fruit of his research in easy, fascinating and fluid language. In the book Kraus discusses the revolution of the Chabad movement under the leadership of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in the last sixty years. He reveals the messianic motif of this movement which is the motive for the extensive Chabad activity. Starting with a Chabadnik standing on a street corner and placing tefillin for passers-by, through Chabad houses found almost everywhere on the globe and ending with the lesser-known facet, an attempt to convince Gentiles to observe the seven mitzvot of the sons of Noah.

What is the purpose of these actions? The coming of the Messiah. And to the question, what is the secret of the strength of this movement? The answer is clear: waiting for the Messiah! Therefore, as long as the Messiah does not come, these actions will continue more and more, because we are very close to his coming, as the Rebbe used to say.

Messianic tension in Chabad reached its highest level in the two years before the Rebbe's passing, when he was ill. His believers expected him to rise from his sick bed and reveal himself as the Messiah. And when this hope was dashed, Chabad followers quickly came to their senses, and set an old-new mission: bringing the Messiah. The Rebbe deserved to be the Messiah, and to be revealed as the Messiah, but the task of preparing the world for his coming has not yet been completed. According to Chabad tradition, the seventh leader is the last, like Shabbat which is the end of the days of the week, and it is clear that the last in the line is the Messiah. The task is assigned to every Chabad Chasid, therefore it is necessary to increase activity to sense the revelation of the Rebbe as the Messiah, and not to despair and change a leader.

Every Chabad child sings the anthem We Want Mashiach Now and the question is how long will they continue to sing it with real enthusiasm?

The Seventh - Messianism in the seventh generation of Chabad by Yitzhak Kraus, published by Yedot Books, Judaism series here and now, cover design: Zehva Tefer, 322 pages.