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RABBI MENACHEM MENDEL'S teachings about the messiah revealed a beautiful vision to his followers. For many, this meant willing participation in an intense messianic movement focused on the person of Rabbi Menachem Mendel as the messiah. Then, on 12 June 1994 (3 Tamuz), after two years of severe illness, he passed away. What would be the future for the Habad- Lubavitch movement? This chapter explores the idea of a continued sense of relationship with Rabbi Menachem Mendel through visiting his grave.
FROM ITS EARLIEST GENERATIONS, the hasidic movement has been noted for its spiritual intensity as regards prayer and other aspects of Jewish religious practice, and also for its veneration of ‘holy men’, the hasidic tsadik or rebbe. While the focus in most branches of hasidism is on the relationship with a living rebbe, there remains in the background the kabbalistic heritage of experiencing a connection with a tsadik who has passed away, most tangibly at his graveside. In some branches of hasidism, such as Bratslav and now contemporary Habad, where there is no living rebbe, the graveside relationship is paramount. Investigating this topic raises the more general question of the function of a hasidic rebbe in relation to his followers. This function could be defined as ‘opening the door to the spiritual’. We find ourselves in a physical world, and beyond are boundless reaches of spirituality expressing godliness. The individual seeks to enter these realms of the spiritual and draw closer to the Divine. As understood in hasidism, this is facilitated by the spiritual leader, whether through personal contact, studying his teachings, following his guidance, or coming to his grave, often called an ohel (tent), and connecting with his soul.
Let us begin by considering a few ways in which the hasidic rebbe ‘opens the door to the spiritual’. The most obvious context of the quest for the spiritual is prayer in the synagogue. The various branches of hasidism have differing approaches to prayer. For the Habad follower, contemplative prayer entails awareness of the boundless spiritual realms, the olamot (‘worlds’) described in the kabbalah, which constitute the inner reality beyond the surface of existence.
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