Menachem Mendel Schneerson
Becoming the Messiah
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The life and thought of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, one of the most influential--and controversial--rabbis in modern Judaism
"Accessible, informed, and balanced. . . . The author manages to tread on fragile ground with aplomb. . . . An exceptional tool for understanding."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
The Chabad-Lubavitch movement, one of the world's best-known Hasidic groups, is driven by the belief that we are on the verge of the messianic age. The man most recognized for the movement's success is the seventh and last Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994), believed by many of his followers to be the Messiah.
While hope of redemption has sustained the Jewish people through exile and persecution, it has also upended Jewish society with its apocalyptic and anarchic tendencies. So it is not surprising that Schneerson's messianic fervor made him one of the most controversial rabbinic leaders of the twentieth century. How did he go from being an ordinary rabbi's son in the Russian Empire to achieving status as a mystical sage? How did he revitalize a centuries-old Hasidic movement, construct an outreach empire of unprecedented scope, and earn the admiration and condemnation of political, communal, and religious leaders in America and abroad?
Ezra Glinter's deeply researched account is the first biography of Schneerson to combine a nonpartisan view of his life, work, and impact with an insider's understanding of the ideology that drove him and that continues to inspire the Chabad-Lubavitch movement today.
About this Author
Ezra Glinter is the senior staff writer and editor at the Yiddish Book Center. He is the editor of Have I Got a Story for You, a finalist for the National Jewish Book Award. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Reviews
"Accessible, informed, and balanced. . . . The author manages to tread on fragile ground with aplomb. . . . An exceptional tool for understanding."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"A discerning biography of the longtime head of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. . . . [A] valuable complement to Joseph Telushkin's Rebbe."--Publishers Weekly
"Glinter's masterful biography of R. Schneerson sheds light on the Rebbe's many virtues and flaws."--Yaakov (Jack) Bieler, Jewish Book Council
"In his account of the life and career of one of the most influential Jews of the twentieth century, the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Ezra Glinter strikes an exquisite balance between appreciating Schneerson's profound impact on the Jewish world and recognizing his human fallibility."--Daniel Matt, author of Becoming Elijah
"A concise and insightful account of the most consequential figure in postwar Jewish life."--Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart
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