page_title: Chabad messianism
section_title: Anticipation
hierarchical_section_title: Chabad messianism / Concept / Anticipation
context_page_description: Chabad messianism, or Lubavitch messianism, generally refers to the passion among adherents of the Chabad movement regarding the coming of the mashiach or Moshiach, and their goal to raise awareness that his arrival is imminent. In addition, the term also refers more specifically to the belief that Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad's seventh leader, is the Messiah.
  A few years before the seventh Rebbe's passing, members of the Chabad movement expressed their belief that Menachem Mendel Schneerson is the Messiah. These beliefs have been termed "Chabad messianism", and those subscribing to the beliefs have been termed Meshichists. A number of Jewish leaders have publicly voiced their concerns and/or opposition towards certain aspects of Chabad messianism.
  A chant recited by a number of Chabad messianists proclaiming Schneerson as the messiah is the "Yechi". Customs vary among messianists as to when the phrase is recited.
  The concept that the Messiah can come at any given moment is a basic tenet of Judaism. The idea that the leader of a Hasidic group could be the Messiah is a nuanced and complex idea that traces itself back to the times of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Hasidism.
context_section_description: Anticipation for the coming of the mashiach, and belief in the imminent arrival, has been on the hearts and minds of Jews through the past two millennia. Maimonides ruled that all Jews must believe with perfect faith, each day, that the mashiach will come and the resurrection of the dead will take place. He rules that anyone who does not believe this, denies the entire Torah. Yisrael Meir Kagan ("the Chofetz Chaim") wrote "our days are the days of Messiah’s coming. Hear my brothers and friends; these are the days of Messiah. It is clear that our days are the days of Messiah’s coming," and Moshe Feinstein, wrote that "we are obligated to anticipate the arrival of the Messiah on any given day as a near certainty."
caption: Yisrael Meir Kagan (1838-1933)
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