Redoing the Rebbe's Choizer - Lubavitch Scholar Reb Yoel Kahn Gets a Posthumous Makeover

 Recently, a leading, iconic Chabad-Lubavitch figure, Reb Yoel Kahn, known as the Choizer of their late Rebbe, passed away. In the wake of his passing, Lubavitch reaped a PR bonanza, with much of the frum media (even an English language newspaper calling itself Yated Ne'eman🤣) publishing glowing obituaries of him, portraying him as a great scholar and teacher. The New York Times (with whom Lubavitch has a long relationship) as well, published an obituary hewing to the official Lubavitch PR line (though interestingly, in the course of it, they described Chabad-Lubavitch as a "missionary movement", something I doubt Lubavitch PR was crazy about).

However, one major thing was typically left out in the mainstream media that I saw, namely Reb Yoel's role in, and relationship to, Chabad-Lubavitch messianism. It was as if they (the Chabad-Lubavitch PR machine, and their fellow travelers) endeavored to present an airbrushed portrait of Reb Yoel to the world at large, as if it didn't exist at all, as if he had absolutely no connection to it. Since people are being dangerously misled by that omission, about Reb Yoel and about Chabad-Lubavitch in general, it is important to set the record straight about it.

People should know that Reb Yoel was involved in promoting the late Rebbe as Moshiach quite openly toward the end of the last Rebbe's life. A photo seen online (h/t:H1) after his passing shows this quite clearly.  

In the photo, Reb Yoel is seen at a podium with the words יחי מלך המשיח and a photo of his Rebbe on its face, next to his brother-in-law Lubavitch Rabbi and ardent messianist Shmuel Butman, well-known Lubavitch Rabbi and Tanya broadcaster Yossel Weinberg, and others.

For more on Reb Kahn's messianism, Wikipedia and Chabadpedia are quite revealing. When one looks at the English Wikipedia on him, it is totally missing. Presumably thanks to the Chabad-Lubavitch PR machine. In the Hebrew Chabadpedia on him, however, a much different picture is seen. In the section entitled דעותיו, toward the bottom of the entry, much information is given there about his fervent messianism. It says that it continued after the passing of his Rebbe, however, he felt that it should not be publicized outside Chabad circles after that point.

Also instructive in this regard are two videos from close to thirty years ago featuring Reb Kahn speaking fervently, showing how strongly Reb Kahn was involved in promoting the late Rebbe as Moshiach. The first one, just recently revealed to the public at large, can be seen here. Another one, that has generally been available longer evidently, is available here.

 

Another interesting and important thing to note in the Chabadpedia entry on Reb Yoel can be seen about halfway down the page, in the section entitled מסעות בקרב גדולי תורה. There it talks about journeys of his to various gedolim for PR and propaganda purposes, to increase acceptance of Chabad-Lubavitch in the frum world, a deceptive act in which גדולי ישראל, גדולי ומנהיגי הדור were cynically used for Chabad propaganda.

The bottom line is that people should know that yes, Reb Kahn was a great Lubavitcher scholar, but no, his beliefs, particularly that his late Rebbe was/is Moshiach, and his deceptive visits to gedolim, were/are beyond the pale, and totally unacceptable, and we therefore need to continue to firmly and resolutely maintain our distance from him and them.

P.S. For those who think that such beliefs are a thing of the past, especially among the establishment of the officially "non-messianist" Chabad-Lubavitch, just a few days ago, one of the leading Lubavitch establishment figures, R. Moshe Kotlarsky, prayed openly for the return of the late Rebbe, who he called " נשיא דורנו", to bring the redemption.

In the זכות of rejecting the false PR machine narratives, and following the דרך התורה הצרופה המסורה לנו מדור דור, may we be zoche to the coming of משיח האמיתי, במהרה בימינו, אמן.