Messianic Activism in the Works of Chaim Elazar Shapira, the Munkacz Rebbe, between Two World Wars

UNCP Author/Contributor (non-UNCP co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Dr. Mordechai (Motti) Inbari, Assistant Professor of Religion (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP )
Web Site: http://www.uncp.edu/academics/library

Abstract: The article discusses messianic tension that developed in the Hasidic court of Rabbi Chaim Elazar Shapira (1871 – 1937), the Munkaczer Rebbe. In his lifetime, Shapira was the leader of radical ultra-Orthodoxy, and he completely rejected modernity, especially modern Jewish politics. Therefore, the Rebbe was one of the greatest opponents to Zionism within Orthodox circles. He also opposed the modernization of Jewish education. The messianic tension that started in the period following the First World War and remained for the rest of his life, included eschatological calculations; sermons of a supernatural nature intended to expedite the End of Days; a visit to the Land of Israel during which Shapira hoped to crown the King Messiah (and which ended in failure and disgrace); and a fierce and public dispute with the Gerrer Rebbe, Avraham Mordechai Alter, which I believe can also be attributed to tension regarding the identification of the messiah. Analyzing messianic tension in the Munkacz Hasidic court can shade light into a wider phenomenon of messianic expectations in Jewish Orthodoxy prior to the Second World War.

Additional Information

Publication
Cathedra 149 (2013)
Language: Hebrew
Date: 2013
Keywords
Israel, Zionism, Hasidic Courts, the Munkaczer Rebbe, the Gerrer Rebbe, Jewish Orthodoxy, the Messiah, Jewish Politics, Jewish Education, World War I
Subjects
Shapira, Chaim Elazar, (1871-1937)
Alter, Abraham Mordechai, -1948

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