On the subject of The Time will Tell His-Story.
I understand there was Rayal's (Лёва’s) Yahrzeit. I suddenly see a flood of visitors, the record, but because of terrible Substack stats, I never know what people are reading. They all go with no trace or comments, all the broken Chabad souls. They worship Rayal by association.
I asked Grok to define “Leader Worship”:
“Power Consolidation: Leaders cultivate worship to centralize authority, suppress opposition, and legitimize their rule. By appearing infallible or godlike, they deter dissent.
Propaganda and Control: Regimes use media, art, and education to glorify the leader, creating a unified narrative that fosters loyalty and discourages critical thinking.
Psychological Appeal: In times of crisis or uncertainty, people seek strong, charismatic figures for stability. Leaders exploit this by projecting strength, wisdom, or divine favor.
Cultural Factors: Some societies have traditions of revering authority figures, making it easier to deify a leader.
Manipulation of Identity: Leaders tie their image to national or group identity, so loyalty to the leader equals loyalty to the cause or nation.”
I always had a question about why men slide into the cult of personality, and the second question, why people seem to crave it that much. It requires all your life’s energy, so the price is steep and people more than willing to pay it. It’s some primordial force that takes over cult-ures.
Not only that, but it cheapens the leader and the people simultaneously. It breaks the energy. Suddenly, the subject of the cult doesn’t have to be measured by objective standards, like the wellbeing of the citizens but the opposite. In fact, the terrible condition of the subjects is conducive to a cult of personalty. It’s an inverse incentive.
America was designed to withstand these pressures. Despite the Calvinist roots, it was founded as an ideological correction to the British Monarchy. Stalin had a background in Christian seminaries, so the universal idea of man-God was baked-in, and then he weaponized it with the pathological cruelty. This is what I wrote about CHANGE, it’s worth suffering, dying, or even being sacrificed for if you can CHANGE the world.
As I watched the clips of the Victory Parade on the Red Square this year, I observed who is who of the neo-Stalinist revival. Russia for sure is sliding back to Stalinism.
Trump enjoys the attributes of the cult of personality as a business and marketing tool. But the question again, why do people that surround him, his cabinet, are so comfortable with the attributes of the cult, excessive praise, etc.? Always about the worshipers.
Getting back to Chabad. The God-like image deprives you of humanity. And you start judging a person on a different scale. And the price is always that you are no longer judged as human.
Tzemach Tzedek:
You can say that he only cared to enrich his sons, engaged in a disastrous fight with maskilim that denied to Jews basic economic advancement, that he didn’t anticipate near complete assimilation of his grandchildren, etc.
Or you can say that he was a human who sincerely cared for his people, a complex genius that struggled to bring light into the world. But then you would have to deny Tzemach Tzedek his cult to allow him human qualities.
Rayatz:
You can say that he was a mediocre nepo baby, at times unkind to his students, who was blind to the catastrophes occurring in his lifetime.
Or you can say that he was a dutiful general of the retreating army.
Ramash:
You can say that he was a scheming genius that created a messianic yellow fever, betrayed some of his most important principles for money and created a business empire that defers to tyrants and trades in the Jewish nostalgia.
Or you can say that he was a tragic man who lived in tragic times and left it all on the field. But only if you judge him a man.
I was “damaged” by my experience in Russia. I witnessed the cults of Stalin and the Brezhnev. Furthermore, I grew up with the resentment where “Leader Worship”, it was the root of all evil. So when I saw a Jewish leader use the same tools and language, I was ashamed of him and even more ashamed of the people who worshiped him. After the dark century that weaponized this hero worship in fascism and communism? Ramash witnessed it personally and still wanted to emulate?
For a Christian country, where the Messiah is the central idea, “Leader Worship” it’s the way of life. Maybe it is the universal way of life?
Not my project
If you could change anything about Chabad, what would it you do ?