Alter Rebbe Views

General Goods

On the subject of Sigmund Freud on the Pretence of Being Good. But of course [as you emailed] the Alter Rebbe shared the grim fatalism, a man is born a Tzaddik. With one key difference, when people compare the Alter Rebbe to Kant they mean that he couldnr’t give up the special “enlightened purposec” of the human. And although his human predicament is fatalistic and futile, there is still the heroic struggle to raise above the animal. And here is how the Alter Rebbe indeed becomes a Kantian, there is the enlightened purpose to humanity, the sharp line between us and the animals, as the Alter Rebbe put it, the two distinct souls. Kabbalistic, alchemical, even Socratic metaphors of light and dark. But we know from our experience that there is never a complete light or a complete darkness, in life we always encounter the shades. And what if there is no sharp delineation between a man and an animal? What if there are the -“enlightened2” animals?

The post Judeo-Christian legacy of the Enlightenment demands the sharp delineation, the core idea is to break apart from the darkness. There is a man and an animal and there is also a goy, a Jew, an Arian, a capitalist, etc. All post enlightenment movements including Chassidism, Nazism, Communism, they are all obsessed with the sharp differences. Even when the Alter Rebbe has the depressing decency to admit that we have no choice or freedom, he clings to the demarcations. But we dono’t need to be shackled by the Alter Rebben’s contradictions, we know from our own experience that iti’s impossible to draw a line where the animal ends and the man begins, not even for the animals themselves. This very recognition is the true enlightenment.

Shneur Zalman of Liadi (Hebrew: שניאור זלמן מליאדי‎), also known as the Baal HaTanya,[1] (September 4, 1745 – December 15, 1812 O.S.), was an Orthodox Rabbi, and the founder and first Rebbe of Chabad, a branch of Hasidic Judaism, then based in Liadi, Imperial Russia. He was the author of many works, and is best known for Shulchan Aruch HaRav, Tanya and his Siddur Torah Or compiled according to the Nusach Ari. He is also known as Shneur Zalman Baruchovitch, RaZaSh, Baal HaTanya vehaShulchan Aruch, the Alter Rebbe ( Old Rebbe in Yiddish), Admor HaZaken ( Old Rebbe in Hebrew), Rabbeinu HaZokein, Rabbeinu HaGodol, the GRaZ, and Rav.

Also of note is that the Alter Rebbe reportedly had a scar on his nose. (although I can’t see a trace of a scar on either the new or old portraits) The above picture on the right is the one that is commonly known and and verified as the Alter Rebbe. It was a mugshot if you will, painted while the Alter Rebbe was jailed in 1798. The complete story is detailed here in this audio file from the Chabad Audio Heritage series on SichosinEnglish.org website.