Personally, I was able to relate to the introduction and first chapter to “Race and Religious Among the Chosen People of Crown Heights” more than any other reading we’ve done up until this point. This is because the Lubavitch culture is much more familiar to me than any other culture that we have read about up until this point. I am not an immigrant, or Catholic, or Italian, or Mexican, or African American. In a way, this unfamiliarity made the previous reading more interesting because it exposed me to the complexities of cultures that I knew very little about. However, this was the first time I was able to complete the reading with personal experiences and a wealth of background information in mind.
I have never been to Crown Heights and have very little experience with the area’s racial and religions tensions. Nevertheless, as an Orthodox Jew, throughout my life I have had many experiences with Lubavitch Chasidism. Speaking from my own experiences, Goldschmidt does a very good job of introducing Lubavitch Chasidism, and explaining the complicated dynamics that exist between the Rebbe and his followers. For people who have never spoken to or interacted with a Lubavitcher, it could be very hard to begin to understand their entire lifestyles. They dress differently, speak differently, and have very different ways of thinking about the world from the average American.
In particular, one aspect of Lubavitch Chasidism that is very different from most of the religions that we have discussed so far is the unique relationship between The Rebbe and his followers, which has become even more complicated since his death. Unlike Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Our Lady of Guadalupe, and San Juan Diego, The Rebbe wasn’t declared to be a holy or saintlike figure by the equivalent of the Catholic Church or the Pope. Rather, the Rebbe built a large following during his life because respected his actions, his words, and his way of life. His followers became so devoted that as Goldschimdt explains, thousands of people overflowed the synagogue every time he spoke. And not only did they show up, but they closely followed each and every word he said. For example, even as other groups of Chasidism moved out of Crown Heights during the “white flight,” the Lubavitch community remained in the neighborhood because The Rebbe said so. This kind of absolute devotion to a spiritual leader is very hard to find. For example, even the Italian immigrants in Harlem, who were so devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe of Mount Carmel, did not have the same kind of respect for their clergy members. In fact, much tension existed between the Italians their priests because of the threat he posed to the domus values. However, the Rebbe was seen in an entirely different by his followers; unlike the priest in Italian Harlem, the Rebbe in Crown Heights represented the exact values that his followers tried to emulate in their own lives.
Since the Rebbe’s death, one might argue that the Lubavitch devotion to the Rebbe has only increased. Although in Judaism there is no notion of sainthood, many of his followers believed and still believe the Rebbe to be the Messiah. This issue has been very controversial among Lubavitch Chasidim themselves, as well as the rest of the Jewish world. Nevertheless, even the Lubavitch Chasidim who don’t believe that the Rebbe is the Messiah still cherish his writings and implement his ideology in their own lives today.
