The Rebbe: The Life and Afterlife of Menachem Mendel Schneerson »

Samuel Heilman is Distinguished Professor of Sociology at Queens College and holds the Harold Proshansky Chair in Jewish Studies at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. His books include "Sliding to the Right: The Contest for the Future of American Jewish Orthodoxy". Menachem Friedman is professor emeritus of sociology at Bar-Ilan University in Israel. His books include "Society and Religion: Non-Zionist Orthodoxy in Palestine".

"Brilliant, well-researched, and sure to be controversial, The Rebbe is the most important biography of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson ever to appear. Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman, two of the world's foremost sociologists of religion, have produced a landmark study of Chabad, religious messianism, and one of the greatest spiritual figures of the twentieth century."--Jonathan D. Sarna, author of American Judaism: A History

"The Rebbe is a must-read book for anyone concerned with contemporary Jewry as well as for historians of religion. Heilman and Friedman have done a masterful job of combining impeccable scholarship with a great sense of the drama unfolding before them. They dispel myths and restore the Rebbe to the real world of humanity, doing so with sensitivity and warmth."--Arthur Green, author of Tormented Master: The Life and Spiritual Quest of Rabbi Nahman of Bratslav

"This book offers a deeply engaging and well-researched account of the rise to power of one of the most intriguing religious figures of the twentieth century, Jewish or otherwise. There are few subjects in the study of contemporary Judaism of greater interest or relevance than the messianic legacy of the Rebbe. This book will become the definitive study on the subject."--David N. Myers, author of Between Jew and Arab

"This is a timely and important book. Authored by two highly reputable scholars, The Rebbe is likely to appeal to an eager and broad readership, academic and lay. It has few rivals."--Ada Rapoport-Albert, editor of Hasidism Reappraised

Sue Fishkoff - Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Sixteen years after the death of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, a flurry of new publications indicates not only how enduring the interest is in his life and legacy, but how potent the minefield is surrounding his mythology. . . . The Heilman-Friedman book is generating the most controversy. Written for a lay audience, it frames Schneerson's mission, and that of the Chabad movement he led, as motivated by Messianism, here defined as the attempt to hasten the Messianic era through human actions.

List of Illustrations

The Rebbes of ChaBaD

Preface

1 Farbrengen: The Gathering of the Emissaries 1

2 Death and Resurrection 29

3 Coming of Age in a Time of Transition 65

4 Entering the Court of Lubavitch 90

5 From Survival to Uforatzto 130

6 On a Mission from the Rebbe in Life 163

7 From Resurrection to Death: We Want Moshiach Now 197

8 On a Mission from the Rebbe in His Afterlife 248

Glossary of Hasidic and Lubavitcher Terms 279

Notes 283

Index 331