WE HAVE LOOKED at a number of aspects of the Habad-Lubavitch movement in their historical context: its relationship with general Jewish society, the theme of outreach, including beyond the Jewish community, rationalism, the role of the individual, contemplation, women, the messianic idea, and the fact that Rabbi Menachem Mendel passed away without a successor. This concluding chapter explores some further theological questions: What are the positions within Habad in relation to the teachings of the last Rebbe and his messianic thrust? What might the contemporary movement have to say for the future?

Habad Theologies in the Twenty-First Century

This concluding chapter seeks to suggest a contemporary Habad theology which, I believe, emerges from the teachings of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, particularly as regards his statements concerning the imminence of the advent of the messiah in the context of other aspects of his thought. The Rebbe did not have just one project, and even his messianic thrust was not one-dimensional, as indeed we have seen above, in Chapter 9. On the basis of his initial pronouncements as Rebbe, which have been discussed earlier but will be further considered below, and upon consideration of the nature of his life's work and his teaching, I suggest that his central themes were: (1) ahavat yisra’el (love of the Jewish people) in a way which deconstructed all borders, resulting in the special forms of outreach and inclusivism which he created and promoted; (2) ahavat hashem (love of G-d), and (3) ahavat hatorah (love of the Torah) in intense forms which he sought to extend to others, leading to what is described as personal redemption. These three concepts are set within a general frame of yearning for the messiah, belief in his imminent arrival, and efforts, fuelled by a sense of unique empowerment, to bring about the general redemption.

The latter theme was indeed central to Rabbi Menachem Mendel's thought, and he sought to impart his own sense of yearning, expectation, and empowerment to his followers. He believed that through this yearning a person's relationship with G-d and with other people, ahavat hashem and ahavat yisra’el, were enhanced to the optimum.