Berel Lazar, the head of Chabad-Lubavitch in Russia, is one of the most prominent Chabadskers around today. The jet-setting Italian born leader cuts a dashing figure among his fellow followers of the Crown Heights, NY, faith, and is a leading player in global Lubavitch propaganda. He poses as "Chief Rabbi of Russia" (a questionable title, which anyway, he gained through manipulation and machination by the Chabad-Lubavitch in conjunction with the Russian government), which leads some people, who don't know the background of it, to treat him with greater deference and respect than if he would just be another Chabad-Lubavitch agent. It (sometimes) gives him access to places where he might not be welcomed otherwise. Of course, Chabad-Lubavitch deliberately promotes this, describing him as "Chief Rabbi of Russia" to outsiders, while among themselves, on the other hand, his claim to fame is being the head of Chabad-Lubavitch there, sent by their late leader.
Recently, I was surprised to see that Project Inspire was advertising Lazar prominently as a featured guest at their upcoming convention. That is sad, as it is part of Aish HaTorah, which historically, has maintained a distance from Lubavitch. R. Noach Weinberg zt"l is not shepping nachas from such a deviation from the path he laid out. Also, at a recent Lazar event in Eretz Yisrael, some representatives of the Litvishe yeshiva world participated. Evidently, some people don't understand what Lazar is about, so to help you grasp what he represents, I will share some information.
Exhibit one: As we posted in the past, in the 1993, a young Berel Lazar participated in a big Lubavitch messianic event, led by the late Shmuel Butman, promoting their late leader as Messiah, in the days when he was ill, following his stroke, before he passed away. You can see very clearly in the Chabad video, a young Berel Lazar, head of Chabad-Lubavitch in Russia, promoting his late Rebbe as Messiah, and bellowing יחי אדוננו וכו (click to play relevant segment).
Now perhaps one might say, that was a long time ago, what about more recently. That leads us to the next piece.
Exhibit two: This past summer there was a Shloshim gathering after the passing of Moshe Kotlarsky. Lazar spoke at it, ending with "there should be the real simcha with the התגלות (revelation) of the Rebbe" (just after 36:15 in the recording). Evidently he still holds him as Messiah.
Exhibit three: Less than three months ago, speaking at Lubavitch HQ in Brooklyn, Lazar stated "העולם כבר רואה שהמרכז של הכל הוא חב"ד" ('the world already sees that the center of everything is Chabad'). Click to see and hear.
These remarks, at Lubavitch events, to fellow Chabad-Lubavitch followers, show his essence. Of course, elsewhere, as typical among Lubavitchers, he is more guarded in his remarks generally, when among others.
The point that must be stressed here, is that a Lubavitcher going under another name or title is still a Lubavitcher. Even if he may call himself Rabbi rather than Shliach at times, he still is a Lubavitcher, and still must be held at a distance, as Rav Schach זצוקללה"ה, and other gedolim, who were very aware of the wiles and deceptions of Chabad-Lubavitch, taught us.
In the zechus of following our great גדולים, may הקב"ה grant us בשורות טובות, וימי גאולה וישועה בקרוב.
א גוטען חודש
Recently Lazar was posted putting Tefilin on one of the freed hostages. Chabad has changed Judaism to Tefilinism. Last year, on VIN, some Chabad Rabbi said that he tells his people that Judaism has a special sale, buy one , Tefilin, and get 612 for free. Yesterday, Feb 27, 2025, a thread started on VIN because some fellow decided to start wearing Tefilin to honor the memory of the Bibas boys. Obviously, Chabad is doing cartwheels. Someone questioned this obsession with Tefilin and he was dismissed as an anti-Chabad fanatic.
ReplyDeleteTefillin is a of course, a very choshuv thing, however, Chabad-Lubavitch uses it to promote their corrupted faith, as we see clearly from photos and videos. Take the example you just mentioned, of Lazar placing Chabad tefillin on a just released hostage. It was covered in the media. One sees very clearly that Lazar gave the hostage a bag with a large depiction of the Lubavitch headquarters on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn on it. Not the Kosel Maaravi. Rather the seat of Chabad-Lubavitch. See it here - https://anash.org/freed-russian-hostage-puts-on-tefillin-for-the-first-time/
DeleteIn other cases, Lubavitchers have the (usually pitifully ignorant Jews) put on yarmulkas proclaiming their long gone leader as Messiah along with the tefillin, thereby corrupting the mitzvah (visit the following, and note the comments there - https://matzav.com/a-nation-returning-defense-minister-yoav-gallant-puts-on-tefillin/). At times they even instruct their Jewishly ignorant "customers" to recite their messianic mantra of yechi...
How great, clear-thinking, and farsighted were the gedolim such as Rav Schach, Rav Hutner, The Satmar Rebbe R. Joel Teitelbaum, and others, who opposed Chabad-Lubavitch and their PR stunts.
The normalisation of attributing miracles to their dead rebbe r'l continues apace.
DeleteSee for example this PR piece in a mainstream, non-chabad website.
https://simchaspot.com/blog/2025/03/03/agam-berger-visiting-kfar-chabad-with-her-family-to-thank-the-rebbe-and-daven-for-the-rest-of-the-hostages-%f0%9f%87%ae%f0%9f%87%b1%e2%9d%a4%ef%b8%8f/
They believe he's greater than Hashem because he isn't restricted by natural law. VIN posted that the Knesset approved a center to preserve the Rebbe's legacy. One Lubavicher said that it's a fitting way to honor the greatest man who ever lived. Unless proven otherwise they have the Din of idolaters.
DeleteThis is quite comprehensive and pretty much lays out all we need to know about Lazar and Co. There is not much to add.
ReplyDeleteIt’s amusing when sometimes we hear people refer to him as הגאון הרב simply because he declared himself to be Chief rabbi of Russia (he was given this title multiple times on Kol Mevaser, a Satmar oriented news line) ער איז ניט אמאל אפי' א רב מטעם
That touches on another important issue, which is the change in Satmar since the days of the Divrei Yoel (and to a lesser degree his successor, IIRC), vis a vis relations with Lubavitch. The current Satmar Rebbes (esp. the one of Kiryas Joel, who davens at the Lubavitch House in Palm Springs for weeks while on vacation), are on much better terms with Lubavitch than Satmar was in the past (e.g. in the times of the great R. Yoel). A good portion of that may be due to the fact that they are descendants of the first Habad Rebbe, and Lubavitch invokes that with them. But I think it is more than that. Seems that in general, Satmar militancy has declined over time. Additionally, IIRC Lazar has Satmar relatives, and can converse in Yiddish (unlike many other Lubavitchers), so he interacts with them more easily, being a non-Litvak himself.
DeleteThere is more that can be added, for example, Berel is a big פוסק, he signed on to a Chabad psak that their late leader is Moshiach. Is that perhaps why Kol Mevaser called him a "gaon"? ;-)
ReplyDeleteMore at https://chabadpedia.co.il/index.php/%D7%91%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%9C_%D7%9C%D7%90%D7%96%D7%90%D7%A8
Something happened on VIN that's worth mentioning. R. Yair Hoffman apparently wrote something that didn't sit well with Chabad. Unfortunately I didn't see his original post. Several hours later he apologized and retracted what he said and he now accepts that only a handful of Lubavitchers think the Rebbe is Moshiach. Did anyone see what he initially wrote?
ReplyDelete(slightly edited)
I saw it. A small portion of it can still be seen, at another site that carries VIN content (https://virtualjerusalem.com/chabad-and-macarthur-a-nuanced-perspective/), and via search engines. As I recall, he compared the late leader of the Habad to Douglas MacArthur, saying that he was a great leader like the general, however, just like the general messed up at the end of his career, by refusing to follow President Truman, similarly the Lubavitch pushing of their leader as Messiah was a great error, that messed up his reputation and legacy. Something like that, I believe. What I know at this time was that the post was taken down after a relatively short period, after many comments, some somewhat heated, were posted to it. I am not aware of an apology/retraction, but perhaps something like that happened and I missed it. However, I suspect that it was just removed without explanation.
DeleteThe notion that "only a handful of Lubavitchers think the Rebbe is Moshiach", whether he said so or not, is as absurd as saying that only a handful of Gazans want Israel eliminated (G-d forbid). Liberals and dreamers may fantasize, but reality and facts on the ground are another matter. If R. Hoffman really wants to know the truth about Chabad-Lubavitch, he should travel from his community to Crown Heights and spend significant time there. Otherwise his thoughts on the matter are woefully lacking, and may be little different from the propaganda in Chabad-Lubavitch organs like the 5TJT paper owned and operated by the Lubavitcher Gordon family, which fired him a while ago. Hoffman should wake up, go to Crown Heights, and smell the coffee there. His Rebbeim at the Queens yeshiva he attended years ago were wise men, and he should cease trying to deviate from what he was taught in his youth vis-a-vis the Crown Heights group.
Thanks for the clarification. I had no idea what he originally said. What I know is that the uber tolerant Lubavitchers, who accept every Jew, I'm sarcastic of course, demand that everyone treat the Rebbe like a god. (edited)
DeleteThe messianic element of Chabad is not just some fluke, it's the logical conclusion of their theology. It's ingrained in the actual belief system. To put it bluntly, the Meshichisten are the true face of the Chabad belief system.
DeleteMeshichism is much more prevalent in Chabad than they publicly admit, and they manage to hide that with their well-perfected manipulations and PR stunts.
I just wish people like Rabbi Yair wouldn't be so wishy-washy about the whole thing, עד מתי אתם פוסחים על שתי הסעיפים?