To see the invisible messiah

Messianic socialization in the wake of a failed prophecy in Chabad

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4371959
AutoresM Kravel-Tovi (0000-0002-1465-4086, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, autor correspondente)
Ano2009
Volume39
Fascículo3
Páginas248-260
Data de publicação2009-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoReligion (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0048-721X • E-ISSN: 1096-1151
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1016/j.religion.2009.01.015
OpenAlexW2066830809
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas14
Referências citadas58

The study explores how the meshichistim (messianics) among the Jewish ultra-orthodox Chabad(Lubavitch) Hasidim manage the rupture entailed by the death of their leader, the Rebbe, whom they uphold as the King Messiah. Based on ethnographic research of contemporary pilgrimage to the Rebbe's court in Brooklyn, whose rituals and pedagogical framework are constructed by the meshichistim, the study problematizes the functional assumptions and implications of the rich literature on failed prophecies in millenarian movements, a literature heavily influenced by the theoretical model of cognitive dissonance. The case of Chabad meshichistim suggests that a millenarian group can reinvent itself through multifaceted cultural, pedagogical and ritual endeavors that are rife with internal contradictions. Moreover, these endeavors reveal that the rupture has not been balanced, regularized or normalized, but rather expresses the continuous complexity of life in its shadow. Keywords: Millenarian movementsFailed prophecyChabad — LubavitchModes of knowingAnthropology of the senses Notes Tel.: +972 8 9278902; fax: +972 2 5324339. E‐mail address: [email protected]

Aesthetics · Cognitive dissonance · Messiah · Millenarianism · Pilgrimage · Political science · Politics · Reincarnation · Sociology · Theology · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Jewish and Middle Eastern Studies · Jewish Identity and Society · Law · Philosophy · Psychology · Religious studies · Social Psychology