16. Friedman, “Messiah and Messianism,” p. 219. Alon Dahan, however, rejects this idea. He also reveals that after the death of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok and prior to Rabbi Menachem Mendel’s assumption of Chabad’s leadership, the latter took it upon himself to learn two tractates, one for himself and one for the former rebbe, who was “about to merge into him.” Menachem Mendel likely believed this “merging” was necessary in order to guarantee that there would be ten hasidic leaders between himself and the Baal Shem Tov, ten being a number of great messianic significance. This illustrates not only the degree of intimacy between Menachem Mendel and his predecessor, but also the extent to which messianism permeated his consciousness even before he assumed leadership of Chabad. This belief may well be what convinced him that he—and not Rabbi Shmaryahu Gurary—would be the next rebbe. See Alon Dahan, “Inheritance Struggles in Chabad Hasidism,” Kivunim Hadashim 17 (January 2008), pp. 213-214 [Hebrew].

17. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 12.

18. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 83.

19. Kraus notes, “His writings from the year 1951 have served as the central motif of his teachings, starting from the beginning of his tenure as rebbe up until his last discourse in the year 1992.” Kraus, Seventh, p. 35. The entire sermon can be read in Menachem Mendel Schneerson, “Maamar Basi Legani: The First Hasidic Discourse,” in Basi Legani: Hasidic Discourses, ed. Uri Kaploun, trans. Sholom B. Wineberg (Brooklyn: Kehot, 1990). The text is available online at www.hebrewbooks.org/15611. The title is a reference to Song of Songs 5:1: “I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spice, I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O dear ones, and drink, drink deep, O loving companions.”

20. Song of Songs Rabba 5:1. Emphasis mine.

21. Schneerson, “Basi Legani,” p. 99.

22. Leviticus Rabba 29:11.

23. Schneerson, “Basi Legani,” p. 87,

24. Kraus points out that “the perception of redemption as a deterministic process serves as a crucial element in Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s teachings… consistent with this idea humanity acts, generation after generation, according to the plan, and its zenith—the cosmic redemption—will be manifested in the creations’ recognition of the absolute unity of the creator.” Kraus, Seventh, p. 29.

25. According to the kabbalistic teachings of the sixteenth-century Jewish mystic Isaac Luria, God had to “constrict” or “contract” himself in order to create the space necessary for creation. This is referred to as the tzimtzum (“constriction” or “reduction”). The Torah is seen as a manifestation of the heavenly light that emanated into the space vacated by the divine essence. In kabbalistic terms, then, the Rebbe’s insistence on bringing the primordial light of the divinity—the essence of God himself—into the world would be a reversal of the tzimtzum. Chabad mysticism, unlike other mystical doctrines—including Luria’s—does not see this act as the nullification of the material world and a return to the divinity, but rather as a lowering of the divine presence to Earth, and its unification with worldly reality, for the divine essence yearns for a “dwelling in the lowly realms.” This idea reflects the prominent monistic aspect in Chabad theology, which sees God in everything and views the separation between the divinity and the earthly world as an illusion that will be dispelled when redemption comes. This pantheistic view, which strives for the merger of the Creator and the created as the zenith of the “unity of opposites” (“Coincidentia Oppositorum”), was formulated by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi and his brilliant student, Rabbi Aharon Halevi Horowitz from Strashelya. See Rachel Elior, The Paradoxical Ascent to God: The Kabbalistic Theosophy of Chabad Hasidim, trans. Jeffrey M. Green (Albany: State University of New York, 1993). The Rebbe expanded upon this doctrine, deepening its messianic aspects. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” pp. 12-27.

26. Chabad defines a “generation” as the duration of each rebbe’s leadership.

27.Schneerson, “Basi Legani,” pp. 88-89,

28. Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn, known as the hasidic Maharash Rebbe, is the sixth rebbe in the Chabad rabbinical dynasty, which traces itself back to the Baal Shem Tov.

29. Schneerson, Farbrengen/Convening, 5711, part 1 (5754), p. 106. For an English translation, see Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Proceeding Together: The Earlier Talks of the Milubavicher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, vol. 3 (Tishrei-Teves 5711/1951) (N.Y.: 778 Eastern Parkway, 1999), pp. 161-162. Available at

30. The Baal Shem Tov sometimes represents the sefira of keter, sometimes the atik deketer (“ancient one of the crown”), and on still other occasions the sefira of hesed (“compassion”). See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” pp. 201-206. Dahan also notes that according to every counting method, the Rebbe was supposed to be identified not with the sefira of malchut, but rather with the sefira of yesod (“foundation”). The reason for this is that the Rebbe was actually the ninth generation since the Baal Shem Tov, not the tenth. The Rebbe found an interesting theological solution to this problem: He claimed to have “merged” with his father-in-law, Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn. As a result, the Rebbe was, mystically speaking, two rebbes simultaneously. Dahan explains that this “merging” was necessary in order for Menachem Mendel to embody the sefirah of malchut according to the line of rabbinical succession. See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” pp. 211-214, 256-262. In this way, the Rebbe ensured that his father-in-law, Yosef Yitzchok, had in effect held the leadership during two sequential periods—first during his life, and then after his death, as a result of his unification with Menachem Mendel. In terms of Chabad mysticism, then, Yosef Yitzchok would be identified with both the sefira of hod (“sincerity”) and the sefira of yesod. His successor, Menachem Mendel, could thus legitimately be identified with the sefira of malchut. Dahan writes that “Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson’s action was unprecedented and bold. The double appointment of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn and, in addition, the simultaneous existence of two generations—the ninth and the tenth—was utterly mystifying. More than once I have asked myself the obvious question: Why did Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson act in such a way? I must admit that I was able to find but one answer: The tenth, malchut, generation is the generation of redemption; and one who precedes the time of the tenth generation and at the same time declares that it is currently occurring, simultaneous with the ninth generation, and that two rebbes are serving in parallel—Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn through Menachem Mendel Schneerson, and Menachem Mendel Schneerson himself—is one who desires to precipitate matters and expedite redemption. Furthermore, the appointment of Rabbi Yosef Yitzchok Schneersohn as leader of the ninth generation turns Menachem Mendel Schneerson into the leader of the tenth generation, and, according to the messianic dynasty model, into the messiah himself.” See Dahan, “‘A Dwelling in the Lowly Realms,’” p. 214 (emphasis mine).