Q&A: Is the Rebbe a Kind of Deity?
Is the Rebbe a Kind of Deity?
Question
Some Hasidic group claims about its Rebbe that he is the Messiah, that he is alive even though he died, and now I saw that he is also somehow not just flesh and blood, but described in terms whose meaning is something like divinity.
Did I understand them correctly?
Is this a legitimate part of Judaism?
Answer
There is no prohibition against claiming that a person is the Messiah. This is the phenomenon of false messianism (there is a work on this site by my daughter that discusses it at length). There is also no prohibition against claiming that a person who died is alive. That is simply stupidity, and stupidity is not a prohibition. Admittedly, Maimonides interprets the prohibitions of idol worship as prohibitions against being stupid, but that is not the plain meaning.
Chabad is indeed a sect in every sense. They have many great merits, and still, it is a sect. But there are other parts of Judaism that are sects as well (such as Gur or Breslov, for example). Rabbi Shach already said that Chabad is the sect closest to Judaism.
Perhaps one should distinguish between messianists and those who are not, but I am not sure even about that.