challenging messianism and apocalyptism

337 Pages·2011·2.04 MB·English

by  Barbara Shaw

CHALLENGING MESSIANISM AND APOCALYPTISM:
A STUDY OF THE THREE SURVIVING MESSIAHS, THEIR
RELATED COMMONALITIES, PROBLEMATIC ISSUES AND THE
BELIEFS SURROUNDING THEM

by
Lilian Krawitz

submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Literature and Philosophy
in the subject
BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY
at the
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

PROMOTER: PROF C L VAN WYK SCHEEPERS
November 2010
I declare that:

CHALLENGING MESSIANISM AND APOCALYPTISM:
A STUDY OF THE THREE SURVIVING MESSIAHS, THEIR
RELATED COMMONALITIES, PROBLEMATIC ISSUES AND THE
BELIEFS SURROUNDING THEM

is my own work and that all the sources that I have used or quoted have been
indicated and acknowledged by means of complete references.
SUMMARY:

The thesis is concerned with two issues, modern messiahs and their appeal, namely
the highly successful Rebbe M.M. Schneerson from Chabad; and hostile, modern day,
militant messianists and their beliefs, namely the USA Christian evangelicals and
their rapture belief. The study directs attention at the three successful (in the sense
that their movements survived their deaths) Jewish Messiahs, the 1st century Jesus, the
17th century Sabbatai Sevi and the present day, but recently deceased (1994) Rebbe
Schneerson. The focus in the study falls on the latter two Jewish Messiahs, especially
Rebbe Schneerson and Chabad, from Crown Heights, New York, whose messianic
beliefs and conduct the thesis has been able to follow in real time. The thesis argues
that Rebbe Schneerson and Chabad‟s extreme messianic beliefs and praxis, and the
marked similarities that exist between all three Jewish Messiahs and their followers
indicate that Chabad will probably, over time, become another religion removed from
Judaism.
The thesis notes that the three Jewish Messiahs share a similar messiah template, the
“„suffering servant‟ messiah” template. The thesis argues that this template is related
to the wide appeal and success of these three Jewish messiahs, as it offers their
followers the option of vicarious atonement which relieves people from dealing with
their own transgressions and permits people to evade the demanding task of assuming
personal accountability for all their actions, including their transgressions.
The recommendations in this thesis are prompted by the “wall of deafening silence”
which is the result of political correctness and the “hands off religion” position, that
prevents debate or censure of hostile militant messianism, despite the inherent
dangers and high cost attached to the praxis of hostile, militant messianism and
militant messianists‟ belief in exclusive apocalyptic scenarios, in modern,
multicultural and democratic societies. The thesis argues this situation is not tenable
and that it needs to be addressed, especially where modern day, hostile, militant
messianists, unlike their predecessors at Qumran, now have access to the military and
to military hardware, including nuclear warheads, and are able to hasten the End
Times should they simply choose to do so.

KEY TERMS:

Apocalyptism; Apostasy; Chabad; Christian evangelicals; Christian Zionism;
Compassion; Deification; Dual Covenant Theology; Evangelical right-wing;
Hassidism; Heresy; Incarnation; Jewish Messiahs; Jewish messianism; Jewish
resurrection imagery; Kabbalah; Lubavitchers; Lurianic Kabbalah; Maimonides;
Messiah templates; Militant messianism; Mishneh Torah; Modern messiahs; Qumran;
Rapture; Sabbatians; Sabbatai Sevi; Schneerson; Suffering servant messiah template;
Gabriel Stone; Vicarious atonement.
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS .................................................................................................................. 1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................... 2
1.1 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY ........................................................................................ 2
1.2 AIMS OF THE STUDY ....................................................................................................... 15
1.2.1 The Research problem ..................................................................................................... 15
1.2.2 The research problem in relation to the Chabad/Lubavitchers sect ................................. 16
1.2.3 The research problem and Israel Knohl‘s messiah hypothesis and the Gabriel Stone ..... 17
1.2.4 The research problem and hostile, modern-day, militant messianism ............................. 18
1.2.4.1 Militant Islam and its apocalyptic based jihad ............................................................ 18
1.2.5 The research problem and the Christian evangelicals‘ belief in the Rapture ................... 19
1.2.6 The research problem and the lack of rational criticism and debate ................................ 20
1.3 THE TWO CENTRAL PROPOSALS OF THE THESIS ..................................................... 22
1.3.1 First Proposal: Emergence of new messianic-based religious beliefs ............................. 22
1.3.2 Second Proposal: That the three Jewish messiahs share a common messiah template .... 22
1.4 RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................................................................................... 23
1.4.1 First recommendation: Abolition of the ―politically correct‖ approach to the discussion
and criticism of religion ................................................................................................... 23
1.4.2 Second recommendation: Obligations of leaders ............................................................. 25
1.5 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................... 28
1.5.1 Survey of messianism and apocalyptism ......................................................................... 28
1.5.2 Jewish Messiahs whose movements survived their death ................................................ 28
1.5.3 Israel Knohl‘s messiah hypothesis and the Gabriel Stone ............................................... 30
1.5.4 The Evangelicals and the Rapture .................................................................................... 32
1.5.5 Key sources, including literary and other mediums used in this thesis ............................ 33
1.5.5.1 Sources for Jewish messiahs, Jewish messianism and apocalyptism and Jewish
messianic groups ........................................................................................................ 33
1.5.5.2 Sources consulted for Sabbatai Sevi and Rebbe Schneerson and Chabad .............. 34
1.5.5.3 Sources related to the three Jewish Messiahs’ messiah template ............................. 36
1.5.5.4 The Christian evangelicals and their militant rapture belief ................................... 37
1.5.5.5 Other sources consulted ............................................................................................. 38
1.5.6 Outline of the Study ......................................................................................................... 38
CHAPTER 2: JUDAISM(S), MESSIAH(S), MESSIANISM AND APOCALYPTIC BELIEFS,
FROM THE PAST TO PRESENT: A BRIEF SUMMARY .................................................. 42
2.1 A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE IDEAS THAT UNDERLIE MESSIANIC AND
APOCALYPTIC MOVEMENTS ......................................................................................... 42
2.1.1 Talmon‘s Summary .......................................................................................................... 43
2.2 THE TERM ―MESSIAH‖ AND MESSIANISM IN JUDAISM .......................................... 45
2.2.1 Clarifying the messianic idea in Judaism ......................................................................... 45
2.2.2 The messianic idea and key elements of Jewish Messianism .......................................... 46
2.2.3 The Day of the Lord concept ........................................................................................... 47
2.2.4 The Term ―Messiah‖ in Judaism ...................................................................................... 48
2.2.4.1 The root of the term “Messiah” ................................................................................. 48
2.2.4.2 The term “messiah” in the Hebrew Bible .................................................................. 48
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2.2.5 Biblical texts and the term ―messiah‖ .............................................................................. 51
2.2.6 Theological agendas: The study of messianism and the term ―Messiah‖ ........................ 53
2.3 MESSIANISM, APOCALYPTISM AND THE TERM ―MESSIAH‖ DURING THE
SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD .............................................................................................. 54
2.3.1 The shift from prophecy to apocalypse ............................................................................ 54
2.3.2 The move towards messianism and eschatology.............................................................. 56
2.3.3 Second Temple Messianic figures and the rise of Davidic messiah ................................ 56
2.4 THOMPSON‘S RESEARCH: NEW INSIGHTS INTO MESSIAHS IN ANTIQUITY ...... 59
2.4.1 Thompson questions Talmon‘s delineation of the term ―messiah‖ in the Old Testament
and post-Old Testament ................................................................................................... 60
2.4.1.1 The existence of the messiah/ruling king construct not unique to Judaism ............ 61
2.5 THE MESSIANIC IDEA AND ITS DEVELOPMENT AT QUMRAN: A BRIEF
OVERVIEW ......................................................................................................................... 62
2.5.1 Putting the Scrolls in perspective ..................................................................................... 64
2.5.2 The Dead Sea Scrolls: Messiahs and messianic beliefs ................................................... 65
2.5.3 Clarifying Messiah(s) constructs and messianic expectations at Qumran ....................... 66
2.5.3.1 Lichtenberg: Ideas and belief about Messiahs and messianism not confined to
scribal exegesis ........................................................................................................... 67
2.5.3.2 Oegema: The Maccabean and Hasmonean period ................................................... 67
2.5.3.3 Oegema: The Roman-Herodian period including the destruction of Qumran in 68
BCE ............................................................................................................................ 69
2.5.4 Vermes: Messiahs, messianism and the End of Days ...................................................... 70
2.5.5 Shanks: Messiahs, messianism and the end of days......................................................... 73
2.5.5.1 How many messiahs at Qumran? .............................................................................. 73
2.5.5.2 The apocalyptic and eschatological idea: Intertestamental biblical literature ......... 74
2.5.5.3 The apocalyptic and eschatological idea: The Dead Sea Scrolls .............................. 75
2.5.6 VanderKam and Flint: Messiahs, messianism and the End of Days ................................ 76
2.5.6.1 Messiahs at Qumran .................................................................................................. 76
2.5.6.2 The End of Days ......................................................................................................... 78
2.5.7 Schiffman: Messiahs, messianism and the End of Days .................................................. 80
2.5.7.1 The Essene hypothesis versus the Sadducean origins of Qumran ........................... 80
2.5.7.2 Messianic figures in the Qumran texts ...................................................................... 82
2.5.7.3 The End of Days ......................................................................................................... 83
2.5.8 Talmon: Messiahs, messianism and the End of Days ...................................................... 86
2.5.8.1 Talmon’s understanding of the Qumran messiahs ................................................... 86
2.5.8.2 The New Age and the Messianic Age ........................................................................ 87
2.5.9 Qumran messianism: final observations .......................................................................... 88
2.6 THE MESSIANIC AND APOCALYPTIC IDEA: FROM THE RABBIS TO THE
PRESENT: A BRIEF OVERVIEW ...................................................................................... 89
2.6.1 Post-biblical Judaism and the messianic idea .................................................................. 89
2.6.2 The Rabbis and the messianic and apocalyptic idea ........................................................ 89
2.6.2.1 The Rabbinic perception of the Messiah ................................................................... 90
2.6.2.2 The Rabbis and the messianic age ............................................................................ 91
2.6.2.3 The restorative, utopian and conservative elements of rabbinic Judaism ................ 92
2.6.2.4 The messianic age and the final redemption ............................................................ 94
2.6.3 Medieval rationalism, Maimonides and the messianic ideal ............................................ 95
2.6.3.1 The move to medieval rationalism ............................................................................. 95
2.6.3.2 Maimonides’ work and the messianic ideal .............................................................. 96
2.6.3.3 The concept of the Few Righteous Men and the Messianic secret ......................... 100
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2.6.3.4 The shift from medieval rationalism to the Zohar and kabbalistic beliefs ............. 100
2.6.4 Modern Jewish Thinking: Messiahs, messianism and the end of days .......................... 101
2.6.4.1 The Cornerstone of Jewish faith ............................................................................. 101
2.6.4.2 Modern Orthodox Jewish tradition and the messianic ideal .................................. 102
2.6.4.3 Orthodoxy, Zionism and the messianic ideal .......................................................... 102
2.6.4.4 Reform (Progressive) Judaism and the messianic ideal ......................................... 104
2.6.4.5 The Conservative (Masorti) Movement and the messianic ideal ............................ 104
2.6.4.6 The Reconstructionists and the messianic ideal...................................................... 105
2.6.4.7 Modern Jewish thinkers and the messianic ideal ................................................... 105
2.7 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 105
CHAPTER 3: JEWISH MESSIAHS AND MESSIANIC MOVEMENTS THAT SURVIVED THE
DEATH OF THEIR MESSIAHS: PAST AND PRESENT .................................................. 106
3.1 SABBATAI SEVI AND THE SABBATIAN MOVEMENT .............................................. 108
3.1.1 The Sabbatian Movement .............................................................................................. 109
3.1.1.1 The Sabbatian movement stands apart .................................................................... 109
3.1.1.2 Sabbatianism and Lurianic Kabbalism ................................................................... 110
3.1.1.3 Events, social protest and the Sabbatian movement .............................................. 112
3.2 SABBATAI SEVI ............................................................................................................... 115
3.2.1 Sabbatai‘s early youth and education ............................................................................. 115
3.2.2 Sabbatai‘s marriages and the onset of his bipolar disorder ............................................ 116
3.2.3 Sabbatai‘s followers see him as a Suffering Messiah .................................................... 118
3.3 THE PROPHET, NATHAN OF GAZA, AND SABBATAI ............................................... 118
3.3.1 Nathan of Gaza, Sabbatai‘s main proponent .................................................................. 118
3.3.2 Nathan persuades Sabbatai that he is the messiah.......................................................... 119
3.3.3 Nathan‘s messianic doctrine reveals Christian characteristics ....................................... 120
3.4 THE SABBATIAN MOVEMENT ..................................................................................... 122
3.4.1 The movement begins in Palestine in 1665, and spreads throughout Western Europe .. 122
3.4.2 Sabbatai and the Polish Jews ......................................................................................... 123
3.4.3 The Sabbatian Movement in the East ............................................................................ 125
3.4.5 The Turks arrest and imprison Sabbatai on February 8, 1666 ....................................... 128
3.4.6 Sabbatai‘s apostasy: September 16, 1666 ...................................................................... 129
3.4.7 Nathan and Sabbatai‘s apostasy ..................................................................................... 130
3.4.8 The Sabbatian movement after the apostasy 1667-1668 ................................................ 130
3.4.9 The Sabbatian movement and Christianity .................................................................... 134
3.4.10 Summary ........................................................................................................................ 138
3.5 THE HASIDIC CHABAD/LUBAVITCHERS, MODERN-DAY MESSIANISTS ............ 140
3.5.1 A brief overview of Hassidism and its key teachings .................................................... 141
3.6 HASSIDISM: WAS IT A MESSIANIC MOVEMENT AT ITS INCEPTION? ................... 150
3.7 THE SPREAD OF HASSIDISM AND THE OPPOSITION OF THE ORTHODOX RABBIS
............................................................................................................................................ 152
3.7.1 Hassidism and the Mitnaggedim .................................................................................... 152
3.7.2 The Hassidim Today ...................................................................................................... 155
3.8 THE CHABAD/LUBAVITCHERS: A BRIEF OVERVIEW FROM THEIR INCEPTION
TO THE PRESENT ............................................................................................................ 155
3.8.1 Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Lyadia, the founder of Chabad ............................................. 155
3.8.2 Rebbe Yosef Schneerson ............................................................................................... 157
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3.9 REBBE MENACHEM MENDEL SCHNEERSON: THE CHABAD/LUBAVITCH
MESSIAH .......................................................................................................................... 157
3.9.1 Chabad‘s kiruv/proselytising campaign ......................................................................... 158
3.9.2 The teffillin campaign .................................................................................................... 161
3.9.3 The Moshiach campaign ................................................................................................ 161
3.9.4 Chabad followers begin to believe that Rebbe Schneerson is the Messiah .................... 163
3.9.5 Rebbe Schneerson‘s messiahship: the response beyond his community ....................... 165
3.9.6 The Rebbe‘s death shocks, and then divides his followers ............................................ 166
3.10 CHABAD: A DECADE AFTER SCHNEERSON‘S DEATH ............................................ 170
3.10.1 What is driving modern-day Chabad messianism? ....................................................... 173
3.10.2 The Ba‟alei Teshuvah: The key proponents of messianism within Chabad................... 174
3.10.3 The significance of Chabad‘s rejection of its traditional markers .................................. 179
3.10.4 Chabad Today ................................................................................................................ 181
3.10.5 Chabad‘s messianic beliefs and Maimonides‘ Mishne Torah ........................................ 188
3.10.6 Does the messianic-focused Chabad have a future? ...................................................... 195
3.11 THE SABBATIANS, THE CHABAD/LUBAVITCHERS AND CHRISTIANITY: THE
KEY SIMILARITIES ......................................................................................................... 197
3.11.1 Chabad‘s beliefs and the Christian doctrine of Incarnation ........................................... 199
3.11.2 What Chabad‘s beliefs and theology reveal ................................................................... 200
3.11.3 Sabbatian theology and Christianity .............................................................................. 201
3.11.4 The writings of Nathan of Gaza, Paul and Rebbe Schneerson ....................................... 203
3.12 CHABAD‘S MESSIANISM DETERMINES ITS ATTITUDE TOWARDS JEWRY
BEYOND CHABAD.......................................................................................................... 204
3.13 CHABAD‘S ATTITUDE TOWARDS CHRISTIANS AT THE END OF DAYS, AS
DEFINED BY SCHNEERSON ......................................................................................... 210
3.14 SUMMARY .............................................................................................................................. 213
CHAPTER 4: ISRAEL KNOHL AND THE GABRIEL STONE: SUFFERING SERVANT
MESSIAHS, VICARIOUS ATONEMENT AND JEWISH RESURRECTION IMAGERY
.................................................................................................................................................... 215
4.1 THE TORAH AND THE CONCEPT OF THE SCAPEGOAT .......................................... 219
4.1.1 The Jewish sages and scholars: the concept of the ―suffering servant‖ ......................... 223
4.1.2 The Dead Sea Scroll‘s messianic hymns and the ―suffering servant messiah‖ .............. 225
4.1.3 Suffering, Dying and Rising Messiahs, Knohl‘s theory and The Gabriel Stone ............ 228
4.1.3.1 The Gabriel Stone .................................................................................................... 228
4.1.3.2 Knohl’s theory, the Gabriel Stone and resurrection imagery ................................. 230
4.1.4 Sabbatai Sevi as the suffering, dying, and rising Messiah ............................................. 234
4.1.5 Rebbe Schneerson: Chabad‘s suffering, dying, and rising Messiah .............................. 235
4.1.6 Similar ―historical events‖ provide the required catalysts for messianic movements? .. 237
4.2 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 243
CHAPTER 5: A BRIEF EXAMINATION OF THE CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS, THEIR
BELIEF IN RAPTURE AND THE RISE AND THREAT OF THE MILITANT
CHRISTIAN RIGHT-WING .................................................................................................. 248
5.1 THE USA CHRISTIAN EVANGELICALS ....................................................................... 248
5.2 CARL HENRY AND MODERN EVANGELISM ............................................................. 250
5.3 THE NEW PROPHECY AND RAPTURE AND TRIBULATION LITERATURE ........... 251
5.3.1 LaHaye and Jenkins and the LEFT BEHIND series ....................................................... 251
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5.3.2 John Hagee ..................................................................................................................... 254
5.3.3 Joel Rosenberg ............................................................................................................... 255
5.4 THE PROFILE OF THE MODERN BELIEVER IN RAPTURE ...................................... 255
5.5 THE CHRISTIAN EVANGELICAL RIGHT-WING ......................................................... 256
5.6 THE RIGHT-WING‘S ―CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW‖ .................................................... 258
5.7 THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT-WING: ITS INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN SOCIETY ........ 259
5.9 THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT-WING, THE PARAMILITARY FORCE, BLACKWATER AND
THE USA MILITARY........................................................................................................ 261
5.9.1 Right-wing apocalyptic violence and the paramilitary force, Blackwater ..................... 262
5.9.2 The right-wing: Its infiltration and attempt to transform the USA military into a
―Christian defense force‖ ............................................................................................... 264
5.9.3 Three reasons why the Christian right-wing‘s belief in the Rapture is a dangerous choice
in the US military and its academies .............................................................................. 266
5.10 ADDRESSING THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND THE SUBSEQUENT
RECOMMENDATION ...................................................................................................... 268
5.11 THE RAPTURE BELIEF AND ITS AFFECT ON SOCIETY .......................................... 270
5.11.1 The effect of the Rapture on compassion .......................................................................... 270
5.11.2 The psychology of the Rapture belief and its use in evangelical society .......................... 271
5.12 THE YOUNG EVANGELICALS: DO THEY OFFER A VIABLE ALTERNATIVE? ...... 272
5.13 THE EVANGELICALS, THE RAPTURE AND THE JEWS ............................................ 276
5.13.1 The Rapture, Israel and Dual Covenant theology .............................................................. 279
5.14 SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 284
CHAPTER 6: CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................... 288
APPENDIX NO 1: THE DEFINITION OF ATZMUS ..................................................................... 291
APPENDIX NO 2: LIST OF SCHNEERSON‟S WORK ................................................................. 295
APPENDIX NO 3: ISRAEL KNOHL‟S ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF “GABRIEL‟S
REVELATION” ON THE GABRIEL STONE ..................................................................... 300
APPENDIX NO 4: THE FIFTH LUBAVITCHER‟S REBBE‟S INFAMOUS LETTER ON ANTI-
ZIONISM .................................................................................................................................. 304
APPENDIX NO 5: BLACKWATER SAID TO PURSUE BRIBES TO IRAQ AFTER 17 DIED309
BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................................ 315
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1: Rosenberg‘s first letter sent to Rebbe Schneerson ……………….. 206
Figure 2: Rosenberg‘s second letter sent to Rebbe Schneerson …………….. 207
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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
And almost every one, when age,
Disease, or sorrows strikes him.
Inclines to think there is a God,
Or something very like Him.
Arthur H Clough, Dipsychus, 1850.
1.1 MOTIVATION FOR THE STUDY
The oppression-redemption or messiah myth as it is also known, which entails a belief
in the coming of an agent (usually with supernatural powers) known as a saviour or
messiah, who will save/redeem his/her followers from oppression, whether real or
perceived, is an ancient belief that forms an integral part of the three mainstream
organised monotheistic faiths, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The messiah myth is,
however, also in found in many other cultures and in many other different forms
dating back to the earliest records of civilisation. Some of the more recent and well
known messiah myths include the 19th century Native American Ghost Dance, also
known as the 1890 Ghost Dance, the Cargo Cults of the South Pacific (Shermer
2000:174-186), as well as South Africa‘s own oppression-redemption inspired myth,
the Xhosa cattle-killing incident of 1856-57 that was triggered by the Nongqawuse
prophecies. This oppression-redemption incident has been discussed in depth by Peires
in The Dead Will Arise: Nongqawuse and the Great Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856-
7 (JB Peires, 1989, Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball).
The first century Mediterranean CE world was also familiar with the concept of
oppression-redemption messiah myths. Apollonius of Tyana is probably one of the
most notable first century messiahs from the first century Mediterranean world,
besides Jesus. Apollonius is said to have had powers that were virtually identical to
Jesus, in that he too could raise the dead and heal the sick and, like Jesus, he also
preached love and forgiveness as well as the worship of one true God. Just as in the
case of Jesus, the Roman authorities were troubled by Apollonius‘ expanding
movement and the possibility that he could pose a social or political threat. This is
why the Romans arrested Appolonius and killed him in 98 CE (Shermer 2000:186).
The messiah myth has also permeated modern pop culture. The messiah myth motif
can be seen across the spectrum, from children‘s toys, books and television programs,
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