Ha'aretz, Thursday, January 15, 1998

The Prophet of God

No one can 'evade the yoke of the belief in the Lubavitcher
Rebbe's Messiahship', writes Gedalyahu Axelrod 

By Gedalyahu Axelrod

I read the article by David Berger - "On false Messianism,
idolatry and Lubavitch," Ha'aretz, Jan.11) in which I was
attacked together with other rabbis of cities and heads of
rabbinical courts in Israel and abroad, for signing a formal
rabbinical ruling stating that the Lubavitcher Rebbe has the
status of a prophet, and that he is the Messiah, and that every
Jew must accept the sovereignty of his Messiahship, by dint of
the Jewish law which obligates all Jews to obey a prophet. The
writer of the article went so far as to proclaim that "this
declaration alone is sufficient to exclude its promulgators from
Orthodox Judaism."In his article, Berger makes an hysterical
attack on the entire Lubavitch movement. First, I would like to
make one thing absolutely clear to David Berger and to everyone
else. There is no halachic dispensation that will enable anyone
to evade accepting the yoke of the belief in the Rebbe's
Messiahship, because of Maimonides' ruling that obligates all
Jews to do so. That may be the reason why he is so angry,
because - as far as I can see - he has no inclination to do so,
and he is using this furious outburst to try to escape his
obligations. 

Maimonides, in his Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah [Laws of the
Foundations of the Torah], Chapter 10, determines the criteria
for a great and wise prophet: that he "has broad knowledge," "is
in full control of himself," "predicts the future," and most
important, that he declares that the Lord sent him to be a
prophet. The Lubavitcher Rebbe, in session with thousands of his
followers, dropped a spiritual and historic bombshell by
declaring himself the prophet of the generation. 

We Jews, throughout all generations, have been willing to enter
blazing furnaces for our faith. We will remain strong in this
mission as well. We will accept the prophet of God, the
sovereignty of the Rebbe, Messiah the King, because we are thus
obliged by virtue of our Judaism. Rabbi Ahron Soloveichik, one
of the greatest rabbis in the United States, published an open
letter in the American press on June 24, 1996, in which he
attacked those who persecute Chabad, such as the likes of
Berger, and determined that belief in the Rebbe as King Messiah,
even today after his passing from our vision, does not conflict
with the views of Judaism. 

As for the ability of the Rebbe to see into the future, let me
mention just two prophecies. One was during the Gulf War, when
the Rebbe said that it would be unnecessary to wear gas masks
because no chemical weapons would be used; and the second, when
he told Benjamin Netanyahu, during Netanyahu's visit with him
before his election to the Knesset, that in the future he would
have to contend with 119 people. The only confrontation of this
type would be in elections for prime minister, when each member
of Knesset pulls in a different direction. 

I would like to address the claim of idolatry - Heaven forbid -
raised in the article. I can only marvel at the way people are
willing to destroy a movement known all over the world for its
staunch devotion to the observance of commandments and to
bringing Jews closer to their Judaism. And those who are even
more familiar with Lubavitch, know just how pure and sublime it
is. True, there have been some anomalous comments which should
not have been made, but these exceptions are being taken care of
by Chabad rabbis everywhere by means of education and guidance,
so that those who made them do not deviate from the path of
halacha. I believe that David Berger must beg the forgiveness of
the tens of thousands of followers of Lubavitch who proudly
carry high the torch of Judaism, and who are not deterred by
those who would destroy it from the day of its foundation. 

(Rabbi Axelrod is the head of a rabbinical court in Haifa.) 

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