Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Anecdote

Once a week in yeshiva, we would be shown a Rebbe video before davening. The videos, part of the "Living Torah" series, generally included a sicha (speech) by the Rebbe relating to the parsha of the week (the videos were taken years earlier, as I was in yeshiva after the Rebbe's passing.)

In one week's video, the Rebbe mistakenly confused "Asara B'Teves" (the 10th day of the month of Teves, which is a fast day in orthodox Judaism) with "Asara B'Shvat (the 10th day of the month of Shvat, which is the anniversary of the previous Rebbe's death). Any sane person would conclude that it was simply a slip of the tongue, certainly understandable for a man in his eighties. However, when asked by a bochur why the Rebbe made this mistake, the mashpiah (the rabbi in charge at the time) answered that it was impossible for the Rebbe to make a mistake, chas veshulem, and there must be a reason in the spiritual realms that we don't have access too, which caused the Rebbe to make the apparent error. If we were holier people, we would be able to see that the Rebbe's mistake is not really a mistake at all.

Infallible leader. Sounds like a cult to me.

4 comments:

  1. That's an amazing anecdote. I've witnessed ridiculous attempts to preserve the Rebbe's infaillibility but that is more extreme than anything I've either personally witnessed or encountered.

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  2. Unfortunately, I've seen worse.

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  4. "I mean, it's completely ridiculous. Anyone with a critical, non-hagiogryphic eye can see that."

    I agree that it's ridiculous to deify the Rebbe, but I don't think it's much more ridiculous than the rest of Judaism, or all religion for that matter.

    "Of course I wish you were a frum Jew. I've got a religious duty to feel that. But I totally understand why you are where you are, and I wish you best of luck."

    Thanks. If wish more frum people had that attitude.

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