gnosis92

Menachem_Mendel_Schneerson rabbi regarded as messiah by some
Chabad-Lubavitch may gives us clues in much the same way modern reptiles and modern mammals and birds may give us clues in understanding dinosaurs, in that his community of ultra-orthodox Jews believe he is the messiah, and there's no doubt he existed, and they proclaim his resurrection invisibly of course, and how the world will be restored, as did the early Christians.

The early first century Christians are all dead, just like the dinosaurs. If they were raised as orthodox Jews, well we have orthodox Jews today. And one branch of Hasidc Orthodox Jews claim Schneerson as the messiah. So while the first century Christians are all dead, we have this group today. Similar ideas would be studying today's hunter and gatherers to understand cro-magnon and Neadnerthals, or studying today's chimpanzees and bonobos, in understanding the australopithecines or Homo habilius

If the early Christians had beliefs and values similar to the orthodox Hasidic Jews who believed Schneerson is the rabbi, and we can look at what these Hasidic Jews today believe and say about him, we could draw some educated guesses as to what a first century group of ultra-orthodox Jews may have thought of Jesus, and as a guide from seperating fact from fiction.


For example, those Hasidix orthodox Jews who believe Schneerson is the messiah believe he'd be coming back to life, that he lived a sinless life, that he was Torah-observant, etc.

THere are other examples of Jews following a "messiah" including Simon Bar Kochba and Tiev (Josephus mentions Theudas, and the Samaritan prophet, and even John the Baptist), and every example I know of involves at some point, a historical figure. I'm not aware of any documented examples of Jews following a purely spiritual figure as the messiah as required by the Jesus-Mythicist -- one who failed to realize their messianic expectations and was crucified. Indeed, Bar Kochba's failure is why he was ruled out as the messiah.

What these Hasidic Jews tell us about Orthodox Jews today, which may be applicable to the first century, is that they believe that the messiah must be a physical person, for example, they believed Sncheerson was a physical line of David, and not a purely spiritual figure, but that after his death, he has become a purely spiritual figure. So if Paul believed as these Hasidic Jews today, and he writes of Jesus as being born of a woman, born of seed of David, it is Paul saw Jesus as a human being, just as Hasidic Jews see Schneerson was, even if they then spiritualize his existence and attributes.

quote
Messianism

During the later years of his life Rabbi Schneerson's teachings were interpreted by many to mean that he was claiming to be the Messiah. The development of this messianism and its impact on Chabad in specific — and Orthodox Judaism in general — has been the subject of much discussion in the Jewish press, as well as within the pages of peer-reviewed journals.

There are various expressions of the Messianic message:

* Some express the belief that Rabbi Schneerson was the best candidate for the Messiah in his generation, but now say that people were mistaken to believe that he was the Messiah. Rather, he could have been the messiah if God willed it to be so, but it was not to be. As such, the Messiah will come nonetheless in the person of some other great leader.
* Some emphasize the belief that the classic meaning of death does not apply to a truly righteous person such as Rabbi Schneerson. [21] In this view Rabbi Schneerson never "died", and is still alive in some way that ordinary humans cannot perceive. According to this view, the Rebbe would later be revealed as Messiah. [22]. Many Chabad Hasidim refuse to put the typical honorifics for the dead (e.g. zt"l or zecher tzaddik livrocho, "may the memory of the righteous be for a blessing") after Rabbi Schneerson's name. They rely upon the Rebbe's statement that the world has entered a new period in its history and that, contrary to what has happened in the past, the leader of the generation will not be hidden "even through burial", but that he would remain alive until the revelation of the Messiah. [23].