The Lubavitcher Rebbe

This week marks the 31st year since the passing of the Lubavitcher Rebbe. A recent article (6/25/2025) by Mordechai Lightstone in Chabad.org Magazine celebrates the Rebbe’s indelible contribution to Western spirituality.

I will quote liberally from Mr. Lightstone but recognizing that Aletheia Today addresses a ‘theologically diverse’ audience, I will not hesitate to draw parallels with other traditions (e.g. Christian) where appropriate, without in any way wishing to compromise the distinctly Jewish character of the Rebbe’s teaching. “Born in 1902 in Nikolaev, Ukraine…the Lubavitcher Rebbe…believed that every person— regardless of background or knowledge—could be empowered as a conduit to spread goodness and kindness wherever they were. Together, those combined acts could illuminate the world, elevating it and bringing true transcendence.”

He spoke to the youth: “Rather than view children as merely unfinished adults, the Rebbe recognized the vigor, openness and pursuit of truth among youth as unique advantages they could teach and inspire their world-weary elders.”

“And a little child shall lead them.” (Isaiah 11:6) “Unless you become like little children you shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matthew 18:3) “Rebellion is Revelation: the Rebbe was an orthodox rebel, a traditional radical. In the Sixties, the rest of the Jewish establishment looked on in disdain at what was happening to their youth…(but he) declared: ‘Finally, the iceberg of America is beginning to melt! Finally, its young people are demonstrating that conformity is not the sum of life’s goals! They have smashed the idols of false progress; they need now only be led back to the living waters of their heritage…’” “I came to ignite a fire on earth and how I wish it was already blazing.” (Luke 12:49)

“I did not come to abolish the law…but to fulfill it.” (Matthew 5:17) He was a feminist. “When the world struggled with including women in the rubric of Jewish tradition, the Rebbe had long empowered them to be leaders and thinkers, masters of the Jewish future and bringers of light into the world.”

“The Rebbe viewed every person as comprised of inherent goodness at the core and possessing a unique role in the world…The Rebbe sought to imbue joy…(He) created a 10point mitzvah campaign focusing on simple, practical and actionable deeds that could be performed anywhere…What you did until now—and what you’ll do tomorrow—is not the focus. Right here, right now, it’s about doing a good deed. That connection, even if seemingly transient, is transcendent and eternal.”

There is only now but now is eternal.

“In 1974, the Rebbe introduced the world to the Mitzvah Tank: trucks or RVs converted into mobile Jewish centers where Jewish pride could be writ large—bold, brash and ready to engage the public.”

Ken Keasey and the Merry Pranksters! Or the Partridge Family. The Rebbe was ecumenical: “Gentiles need not become Jews to gain transcendence.” The nascent Christian church reached the same conclusion at the first Jerusalem council when Peter decreed that Gentiles did not need to become Jews before becoming Christians. “Each of us, following our unique callings, can live an upright and ethical life…(He) encouraged all mankind to follow the universal moral principles entrusted to us by G-d (and) known as the Seven Noahide Laws:” Do not worship idols, do not curse God, do not murder, do not engage in sexual immorality, do not steal, do not eat the flesh of a live animal, establish courts of justice.

“Each individual has a path within a path. Yet there is one universal basis for us all. Through such cooperation, the Rebbe believed the world could reach its ultimate raison d’être.” One is reminded of Robert Frost "In The Road Not Taken," Frost is forced to choose between two paths but in the certain knowledge that either will lead him home (the Kingdom of God perhaps). It is not about the destination, it’s about the journey; it’s not about the end, it’s about the means. Sorry Machiavelli! “As the Rebbe told former New York City Mayor David Dinkins: ‘We are one side. We are one people, living in one city, under one administration and under one G-d.’”

The world is a onesided Mobius Strip, not a two-sided coin. (There is a lesson for 21st century America in this teaching!) He was a modernist. “…The Rebbe propelled a view of Jewish life not in contradiction to technological advances, considering the burgeoning field a valuable component to achieving greater good. Using the latest means of communication, the Rebbe encouraged that radio in the 1950s, satellite in the 1980s and Internet in the early 1990s all be used to advance knowledge and education…”

“Spreading Jewish knowledge isn’t something that should be left only to the Jewish professionals or clergy. The Rebbe would exhort that if all you know is alef, then teach alef! Each of us has the power to instruct and inspire others. What is more, we’re tasked to not just teach others, but to fully empower them so that they, in turn, can teach others. Like a lamplighter kindling a flame, once the wick is fully lit, it can be used to kindle other lights to come.” Knowledge and virtue can be contagious…so be your own patient zero! In a non-Archimedean universe each of us is the center. Think Globally/Act Locally. “. . .Jews should travel to communities around the world… (but) form a holistic part of the communities they serve…” Would that all missionaries of all faiths followed the Rebbe’s guidance.

“Each community—and each individual in it—is empowered to perform the final word, thought or action that can tip the scales, and bring redemption to the entire world.” At least intuitively, the Rebbe understood the finer points of chaos theory. All events are ontologically equal and any event can be historically decisive. We are all butterflies ceaselessly flapping our wings. We are all called to be priests, prophets, and kings, to spread beauty, truth and justice throughout the cosmos. It is a terrible artifact of the Archimedean world view that most of us are overwhelmed by the enormity of this challenge.

We give up. “What can I do?” What can any one person do in a world so large, in a cosmos so vast? Quelle Domage! But the real, substructural world is not so large, nor is the cosmos so vast. We do not live in an Archimedean universe. The whole is not simply the sum of its parts. Counter intuitively, a single ‘part’ can be even greater than the whole.

In this regard, Christians have an edge. According to the Doctrine of Incarnation, Jesus Christ, “true God and true man”, the 2nd person of the Blessed Trinity, born into the world as a ‘part’, is infinitely greater than the ‘whole’ created world into which he was born. “Through him all things were made.” (John 1: 1-5) So this week, and every week, it is appropriate that we celebrate the life and teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, as we strive to live his lessons in our fractured world.

Abraham Rattner, Star of David, pencil, ink and watercolor, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 1977.36.42