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What Happens
To Lubavitch Now?

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The Courtyard

32500 Northwestern Highway • Farmington Hills • 851-7540

he hastily arranged funer-
al of Rabbi Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, who
died this week of cardiac ar-
rest, gave a glimpse into the post-
rebbe Lubavitch movement,
revealing centers of power and
modes of operation.
It also is testimony to the re-
silience of the movement and its
followers. For all the criticism
Lubavitch attracted for its mes-
sianism, when the unimaginable
day came it went with no mass
suicides, conversions or violence.
On this dark day in Lubavitch
history, which will become a new
Lubavitch holiday, the true na-
ture of their messianism was re-
vealed.
For most Lubavitchers, it was
not a belief in a Jesus-like savior.
Rather, it was a reflection of the
love each follower has for the
rebbe and their burning hope
that an uncertain future and hos-
tile world will be all right. They
wanted their ailing leader to live
forever in the same way children
want and often believe that their
parents shouldlive forever.
The rebbe's death may tem-
porarily galvanize the splintered
movement for at least a month
during the traditional mourning
period. When the rebbe's prede-
cessor died in 1950, the behind-
the-scenes campaign to succeed
him picked up steam after the 30-
day period. It took the Lubavitch
movement a full year to appoint
' Menachem Mendel Schneerson
to the helm.
This time, succession will be
different because the rebbe had
no children and no apparent heirs.
He left a will, but initial reports
indicate that it does not address
the issue of succession. The rebbe
leaves behind four distinct power
centers that, over the next year,
will jockey for power and funds.
Rabbi Yehuda Krinksy, the
rebbe's spokesman and driver,
represents the mainline faction
that includes many of the rebbe's
largest donors and 1,400 emis-
saries in more than 40 countries.
Rabbi Leib Groner, a longtime
secretary to the rebbe who, until
recently enjoyed widespread re-
spect and affection among
Lubavitch leaders, has been in a
classic leadership struggle with
Rabbi Krinksy.
There is little ideological dif-
ference between the two men and
those they represent, although
they have clashed over the rebbe's
medical treatment and differ in
nuance over Lubavitch's recent
messianic upsurge.

■

Rabbi Shmuel Butman, who
heads the influential Lubavitch
Youth Organization and the
International Campaign to Bring
the Moshiach, represents the
more feisty, messianic followers
of the rebbe.
Then there is the 40,000-strong
Lubavitch community in Israel,
which is centered in Kfar Chabad
along the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem
highway. When the news of the
rebbe's death led the morning
news on Israeli radio, most of
Kfar Chabad's 5,000 inhabitants
rushed to the bank and then to
Ben-Gurion airport to by and se-
cure a seat on any New York-
bound flight. The Israel branch
of Lubavitch is split along nu-
merous leaders and factions, and

In Israel, the
implications of the
rebbe's death have
political
ramifications.

tends to be more messianic than
its Brooklyn-based counterpart.
While each faction was repre-
sented at the ohel, the mau-
soleum where the rebbe and his
father-in-law are buried, the day
clearly belonged to Rabbi Krinksy
and his followers. It was Rabbi
Krinsky's office that coordinated
the funeral, the logistics, the po-
lice, the media and, most impor-
tant, who had access to the body
at Lubavitch headquarters and
at the cemetery.
As the mourning period pass-
es, the rebbe, even in death, will
continue as the figurehead, the
spiritual parent and the inspira-
tion to all Lubavitchers.
Most followers will rededicate
themselves to doing good deeds,
bringing Judaism to the far cor-
ners of the earth, justifying the
rebbe's death by saying that the
Jewish people were not yet wor-
thy of the Messiah, and honoring
the rebbe's life with continued
service.
In Israel, the implications of
the rebbe's death are less clear
and have political ramifications.
The rebbe had gone on record
against Israeli withdrawal from
the West Bank in any peace ne-
gotiations, and his Israeli follow-
ers have been at the forefront
opposing the current negotiations
with the Palestine Liberation
Organization. ❑

