Was the Lubavitcher Rebbe a closet Kotzker?
Wednesday, 10:30 PM - Tzemach Atlas walks from �off off Broadway� after attending Jewtopia towards Broadway to grab a bite at the Kosher Delight. Simon Jacobson, the author of �Toward a Meaningful Life: The Wisdom of the Sages� orders a meal at the same time. Tzemach Atlas invites Simon to break the bread together. Tzemach is having an undercooked chicken kebob on brown rice. Simon's late dinner is a burger with fries.
Tzemach Atlas: Simon, Avrum Ehrlich in his new book writes that the Rebbe had two different management styles before and after the hear attack of the late 70s. Ehrlich claims that Rebbe management genius was that he delegated to Shluchim allowing them the freedom to be creative and innovative. During my years in Lubavitch I was troubled by the Rebbe's detachment from the grave imperfections of his own movement, what do you think, Simon?
Simon Jacobson: I believe the Rebbe was deeply skeptical about humans. I believe he decided to detach himself from active management and dedicated himself to energizing and infusing the movement with the spiritual current. But he would not get involved in any of the particulars even in the cases of grave ethical violations by the Shluchim. Do you know that the Rebbe didn�t hire a single person in his lifetime? Hodokov was hired by Raytz in Riga, Nissan Mindel was also hired by Raytz, Leybel Groner started by licking stamps and continued, Krynski had a driver�s license and Binyomin Klein was hired by Hodakov.
Thursday, 1:00 PM, Tzemach Atlas at lunch of ravioli with cholov yisroel Parmesan cheese in Cafe Napoli across from Yeshiva Chayim Berlin in Flatbush with Sy Phenomenon.
Sy Phenomenon: What Simon says is a revisionist attempt to absolve the Rebbe from any responsibility by making him removed from the mismanagement. How can a person say that the Rebbe made a decision to remain isolated when he stood for hours giving out dollars? Or how do you explain this: One day a van pulled up in front of 770, a painter came out and painted �AGUH� above the front entrance. They revived this dormant paper corporation so they can fight Berke Gourary for the ownership of the building and the library. Didn't the Rebbe then hire Yudel Krinsky for the job of running �AGUH�?
Erev Shabbos in 770, 7:15 PM - Tzemach Atlas to Simon Jacobson. How do you answer Sy Phenomenon?
Simon Jacobson: Yudel Krinsky and Jimmy Gourary were hired as figureheads of AGUH to fulfill legal corporate requirements. Yes the Rebbe had a great love for Jews and he was generous to many. But the Rebbe also was deeply skeptical about human ability to have strategic and moral vision. That�s why he did not get personally involved in the affairs of his organization.
Saturday Night, 9:00 PM, Tzemach Atlas is driving on Hutchinson Parkway, talking to himself: What Simon Jacobson describes is the concept of Tsimtsum applied to the Rebbe. G-d removed himself from this world (in what Avrum Ehrlich described as managerial genius) so the world can function. We can explain imperfection of this world because of G-d�s concealment; can we apply the same logic to the Lubavitch, Inc.? Can we even apply this logic to G-d?
Track #5 from Matisyahu's CD "Shake off the dust... ARISE": Emes.
UPDATE: Simon Jacobson - the proof is in the pudding.
Tzemach Atlas: Simon, Avrum Ehrlich in his new book writes that the Rebbe had two different management styles before and after the hear attack of the late 70s. Ehrlich claims that Rebbe management genius was that he delegated to Shluchim allowing them the freedom to be creative and innovative. During my years in Lubavitch I was troubled by the Rebbe's detachment from the grave imperfections of his own movement, what do you think, Simon?
Simon Jacobson: I believe the Rebbe was deeply skeptical about humans. I believe he decided to detach himself from active management and dedicated himself to energizing and infusing the movement with the spiritual current. But he would not get involved in any of the particulars even in the cases of grave ethical violations by the Shluchim. Do you know that the Rebbe didn�t hire a single person in his lifetime? Hodokov was hired by Raytz in Riga, Nissan Mindel was also hired by Raytz, Leybel Groner started by licking stamps and continued, Krynski had a driver�s license and Binyomin Klein was hired by Hodakov.
Thursday, 1:00 PM, Tzemach Atlas at lunch of ravioli with cholov yisroel Parmesan cheese in Cafe Napoli across from Yeshiva Chayim Berlin in Flatbush with Sy Phenomenon.
Sy Phenomenon: What Simon says is a revisionist attempt to absolve the Rebbe from any responsibility by making him removed from the mismanagement. How can a person say that the Rebbe made a decision to remain isolated when he stood for hours giving out dollars? Or how do you explain this: One day a van pulled up in front of 770, a painter came out and painted �AGUH� above the front entrance. They revived this dormant paper corporation so they can fight Berke Gourary for the ownership of the building and the library. Didn't the Rebbe then hire Yudel Krinsky for the job of running �AGUH�?
Erev Shabbos in 770, 7:15 PM - Tzemach Atlas to Simon Jacobson. How do you answer Sy Phenomenon?
Simon Jacobson: Yudel Krinsky and Jimmy Gourary were hired as figureheads of AGUH to fulfill legal corporate requirements. Yes the Rebbe had a great love for Jews and he was generous to many. But the Rebbe also was deeply skeptical about human ability to have strategic and moral vision. That�s why he did not get personally involved in the affairs of his organization.
Saturday Night, 9:00 PM, Tzemach Atlas is driving on Hutchinson Parkway, talking to himself: What Simon Jacobson describes is the concept of Tsimtsum applied to the Rebbe. G-d removed himself from this world (in what Avrum Ehrlich described as managerial genius) so the world can function. We can explain imperfection of this world because of G-d�s concealment; can we apply the same logic to the Lubavitch, Inc.? Can we even apply this logic to G-d?
Track #5 from Matisyahu's CD "Shake off the dust... ARISE": Emes.
UPDATE: Simon Jacobson - the proof is in the pudding.
posted by Tzemach Atlas at 8:49 PM
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