Abstract
In 1994 the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Schneerson, died leaving no successor. His group split into two groups: messianists who maintained that the Rebbe had not died and was Moshiach, the Jewish Messiah, and the non messianists who agreed that the Rebbe had died. This paper focuses upon a prominent Chabad practice; the role of storytelling. I propose the question, “Whose interests do these stories serve?” Based on ethnographic fieldwork in Lubavitch, I present a number of narratives pertaining to the Rebbe’s miraculous feats. Following his death, stories surrounding the Lubavitcher Rebbe not only bolster his “charisma” but lead to a sense of his continuing presence. These stories are produced predominantly by the messianic faction of Lubavitch and following his death are published regularly on messianic websites.
Highlights
The focus of this paper is on storytelling among Lubavitcher Hasidim, those stories related to the miraculous feats of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Miraculous narratives generally pertain to three contexts: those occurring during the Rebbe’s life, those relating to visits to his gravesite, and those surrounding the use of his religious texts—the Igros Kodesh—commonly deployed today as a modern form of bibliomancy
These stories are often contested by the non-messianic faction of Lubavitch and as I shall discuss below one website Failed Messiah.com is devoted to disproving the Rebbe’s miraculous abilities and his messianic status
Summary
Folklorists and anthropologists have a longstanding interest in collecting personal stories, the analysis of which deepens their understanding of culture. Our journals regularly bring theoretical discussions about the centrality of narrative, about narrative as a key to understanding life, about the ways in which the great narratives of history mirror the small narratives of personal lives, and so on; but we rarely get on with telling stories. Telling stories reconstructs lived experiences, facilitates engagement in sense making, relates events to other events, sustains religious communities, and reproduces religious culture They ensure particular interpretations of events and privilege certain cultural meanings while suppressing others. The focus of this paper is on storytelling among Lubavitcher Hasidim, those stories related to the miraculous feats of the Lubavitcher Rebbe
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