Lubavitcher Messianism: What Really Happens When Prophecy Fails?By

International Journal for the Study of New Religions 2.2 (2011) 300–303 ISSN 2041-9511 (print) ISSN 2041-952X (online) doi:10.1558/ijsnr.v2i2.300 Lubavitcher Messianism: What Really Happens When Prophecy Fails? by Simon Dein, Continuum, 2011, 192pp., hb., $120.00/₤65.00, ISBN-13: 9781441112231. Reviewed by Joanna Steinhardt, Hebrew University Jerusalem, jbsteinhardt@ gmail.com Keywords Lubavitcher Messianism, failed prophecy, Chabad-Lubavitch history, Menachem Mendel Schneerson Lubavitcher Messianism gives an overview of messianism amongst the Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic sect. The book’s strengths are its focus on ethnographic data from the author’s participant observation in Stamford Hill, a neighborhood in London, and Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, over the course of many years before and after the death of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. The first chapter lays out the theoretical background relevant to millennialism and failed prophecy. Dein begins with Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance and then goes into critiques of that theory, which turns to a discussion of ritual, embodied cognition, and performance – questions that inform Dein’s research into Lubavitcher Messianism. He notes that the theory of cognitive dissonance is Christian-centric in that it favors belief as the primary indicator of religious performance and identity while in other contexts belief is a faulty measure of religious piety or social conformism. I found this chapter to be a clear summary of the literature on cognitive dissonance, ritual, and embodiment in religious practice. It draws from sociological as well as anthropological work and does not rely heavily on obtuse theory. Dein boils down some difficult scholarly work (e.g., Cordas, Asad) for his explanatory purposes, which I found helpful and laudatory. The next few chapters provide the historical and cultural background of Lubavitcher Messianism. Dein gives a review of the ethnographic sites, Stam- ford Hill and Crown Heights, and a brief explanation of his position in the field and his methodology. He then launches into a comprehensive yet concise review of Chabad-Lubavitch history, including a general history of Hasi- dism, Chabad’s unique mystical philosophy, their social institutions (such as the tzadik and rebbe), and their distinction amongst Hasidism, in particular in the realm of “outreach,” i.e., proselytization to other (non-Lubavitcher) Jews. He moves on to discuss “the Rebbe,” Menachem Mendel Schneerson in detail. The Rebbe was the seventh heir to the Lubavtich Hadisic dynasty and © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011, Unit S3, Kelham House, 3 Lancaster Street, Sheffield S3 8AF Book Reviews 301 was considered the Messiah by most Chabadniks. His death in 1994 threw the sect into crisis and is the turning point of Dein’s research. These middle chapters are the strongest part of the book. They provide a comprehensive yet concise overview of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement from its eighteenth century roots to the current scandal of messianism. They describe (in a neutral scholarly tone hard to find among Jewish Studies scholars) the messianic campaign, the immediate aftermath of the Rebbe’s death, and the nuances in theology and practice that distinguish the hardline Chabad messianists, “moderate” or inconspicuous messianists and non-messianists. Dein then moves into his ethnographic findings, which are interesting although his analysis felt thin considering the density of the material and the amount he might have written on these questions considering his experience and knowledge. His discussion of “the rhetoric of already,” in which the present moment is imagined as post-millennial, and the differences between predictive and explanatory messianism (and the movement from the former to the latter after the death of the Rebbe) were especially fascinating, both in the Chabad-Lubavitch example and in their potential application to parallel phenomena. The chapter entitled “Ritualizing the Rebbe in Crown Heights” is also fascinating and, I think, an important contribution in document- ing the ritual activity of the hardline Lubavitcher Messianists that pray at “770,” the Chabad-Lubavitch headquarters in Crown Heights. As in previous chapters, I felt that the wealth of ethnographic details were interspersed with compelling analyses (using somewhat disparate theory) but that it was never pulled together into a unified coherent analysis. The same can be said for the chapter “The Convert’s Zeal,” which was perhaps the most exciting, at least for this reader. In this chapter, Dein dis- cusses the average profile of a Lubavitcher Messianist and makes a connection between societal marginality in Israel, the conversion experience, and the strength of messianic belief. Anyone interested in the intersection between conversion and messianism or millennialism would find interest in the case of Chabad-Lubavitch presented and analyzed here. I was particularly interested in the suggestion that “millennialism prolongs the excitement of conversion.” (111). Brief references to “born-again” Christians and Muslim converts sup- port this idea. The chapter on the use of media in Chabad-Lubavitch (as a way of main- taining the Rebbe’s presence) was the thinnest in the book. It did not seem to say much but rather seemed a necessary inclusion in any book about Chabad since their use of media has been noteworthy in the Orthodox Jewish world. It has also been written about before and I’m not sure this chapter adds much © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011 302 Book Reviews to the discussion. The jump between television, video and Internet seemed too disparate to make an overall useful statement about the use of the media by the group. Instead, the issues that did seem interesting—the conception of “the public” in Chabad-Lubavitch, the virtuality of text and “pilgrimage” in online prayers, the efficacy of the Internet in creating and sustaining marginal communities, the connection between “the virtual presence” of the Rebbe and his postmortem presence as imagined by Messianists—were undevel- oped. In general, the chapter didn’t seem well-integrated into the rest of the book, although it did contain some interesting content. Similarly, the second to last chapter, “The Lubavitcher Rebbe and the Early Church,” is a comparative look at early Christianity and Lubavitcher messianism that, although thought-provoking, didn’t seem very relevant to the ethnographic focus of the book. The questions of failed prophecy, cognitive dissonance and the “the rhetoric of already” are present in the scholarship on early Christianity but that scholarship is based on fragmentary historical records—how can it be put side by side with a contemporary ethnographic material? I understand the instinct to compare the two phenomena as they seem to follow, at least initially, similar historical trajectories, both being Jew- ish Messianic sectarian movements. But without proper documentation, this seems like an adventure in speculative anthropology. It is a stimulating chapter but doesn’t seem to offer much to the serious scholar. Rather, I speculate that it was included to address the oft-heard controversial claim that Chabad messianism “might as well be” Christianity. (The famous quip attributed to Orthodox Rabbi Eliezer Schach comes to mind. When asked what religion is closest to Judaism, “Chabad” was his answer.) I read this chapter with interest but I think it would have been better suited (if jazzed up) as a magazine article for a popular audience. In fact, I would love to see such an article and I think it would be widely read. More useful would have a comparison between a contemporary group that has also dealt with failed prophecy, Jewish or otherwise. There are a number of cases in Israel. Much scholarship, including ethnographic work, has been done on the Messianic Zionism of Gush Emunim and settler groups, who have also experienced a version of failed prophecy. Of course, adding a chapter at the end that took on Zionism might have been too complicated and overdone. Perhaps more useful and original would have been to juxtapose Chabad Messianism with a contemporary non-Jewish example to draw out its distinctions. I think that would have the most fruitful comparison for the scholars of new religious movements and religious anthropologists for whom Dein seems to be writing, at least judging by his analytical frameworks. © Equinox Publishing Ltd. 2011 Book Reviews 303 The book is somewhat scattered but remains engaging and worthwhile on the strength of the ethnographic data and the author’s immense knowledge of this particular religious world. My only critique is that the dense material presented throughout, though highly valuable in and of itself, is never inter- woven into one overarching theory or argument. To the contrary, seemingly contradictory focuses are never synthesized. (For example, on the importance of understanding embodied cognition, on one hand, and the importance of timely “plausible rationalization” on the other (140). Fascinating insights and arguments are sprinkled throughout; I wish they had been compiled in a cogent, analytical summary at the end. Instead, the concluding chapter is another brief discussion of theoretical literature without pulling from the ample ethnographic data for examples. Lastly, this book was in bad need of a serious copy editor. It was disheartening to see so many formatting mistakes that could have been corrected by a single reading. Overall, Lubavitcher Messianism is a unique contribution to literature on Chabad-Lubavitch, in particular on messianic beliefs and practices among the group, about which there has been only a limited amount of in-depth ethnographic material. I hope to see another book by Dein that uses his ethnographic findings to look deeper into the theoretical question raised by this research. I particular, I’m curious to hear more about the relation- ship between Messianic fervor, proselytization, and the conversion experience, and the distinctions in thought and practice between “converts” (ba’alei teshuvah) and those raised within the group.

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