This thesis explores the messianic doctrine of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994). I have chosen to focus primarily on the messianic theology. The dissertation falls into four main parts.

Part One sets the scene. It defines the questions that I want to investigate, the sources which I propose to use, the methodology which I will apply, and provides a biography of the Rebbe, highlighting the emergence of his messianic role. Chapter 1 introduces the Rebbe, his place in history, his messianic optimism and utopianism, and his style of messianic leadership. Chapter 2 outlines the written sources for his teaching and discusses the problems which these present to the would-be interpreter of the Rebbe’s thought and also highlights the dearth of secondary literature on the Rebbe’s theology, from the academic world. Chapter 3 discusses the methodology of this dissertation. It argues that any exposition of the Rebbe’s theology must be based on his ‘canonic’ discourses. I have attempted to ‘check’ my interpretations against the views of people within the movement who have acted as dialogue partners in this enterprise. Chapter 4 gives a brief overview of the Rebbe’s biography, which concentrates on the growth of his messianic consciousness.

Part Two is an exposition of the Rebbe’s messianic theology itself. Chapters 7 and 8, expound the two main ideas of the Rebbe’s messianic theology, viz., the doctrine of Atzmus and the doctrine of the New Messianic Torah. Chapter 5 examines briefly the sources of the Rebbe’s messianism. It argues that, the Rebbe’s messianism is rooted in a spiritualizing interpretation of the messianism of Maimonides. Chapter 6 surveys the direct evidence that Rebbe did regard himself as Messiah. Chapter 7 then attempts to set out in more or less linear and propositional form the complex doctrine of Atzmus. Chapter 8 offers an exposition of his doctrine of the New Torah, and argues that the heart of this New Torah is the doctrine of Atzmus. The exposition takes the form of a commentary on a particular discourse on the New Torah, the full text of which is given in Appendix 1.

Part Three attempts to set the Rebbe’s messianic theology in a wider context. In Chapter 9 it is argued that although there are antecedents to the Rebbe’s thinking, the overall impression that it leaves is one of radical innovation. Chapter 10 looks at the question of the Rebbe’s messianism in the context of the history of Hasidism. I argue that the growth of this movement within Hasidism seriously challenges Gershom Scholem’s famous view that messianism was ‘neutralized’ within Hasidism. Chapter 11 considers the reaction of modern Jewish Orthodoxy to Chabad-Lubavitch messianism. It is structured in the form of a critique of a recent book by the eminent American Orthodox Jewish scholar, David Berger.

Part Four draws some general conclusions from the analysis, and in particular tries to assess the extent to which, for all its Orthodox Jewish dress, the Rebbe’s messianic theology is radical, and challenges and even subverts Orthodox Jewish theology. A series of Appendices give samples of the Rebbe’s discourses. Appendix 1 provides a full text of the discourse on the New Torah discussed in Chapter 8. Appendix 2 provides a text of the discourse on the Miniature Temple, which is referred to in Chapter 6.