Litvaks against Chabad?

To the questioner,

As far as I know, Rabbi Shach z"l’s opposition to the Lubavitcher Rebbe z"l was not a personal opposition. He respected the Rebbe as a leader and a righteous man.

Rather, Rabbi Shach was concerned that ordinary people would be drawn after the Rebbe’s words to regard him as the Messiah, and as is known from history, there were no good results when this happened in the past.

And indeed, his concern was also borne out in the fact that the meshichist sect grew and strengthened after the Rebbe’s passing.

The Rebbe himself also did not intend in his discourses to say at any time that he was the Messiah, and as far as I know, he even told his followers explicitly and shouted at them that he was not the Messiah.

And today, a large part of Chabad chassidim conduct themselves like all chassidic groups after the passing of their rebbe: they study his teachings, follow his guidance, and serve Hashem with the tools and encouragement they merited during his years of life. However, regrettably, there are also a considerable number who were drawn after the view of the meshichistim, which is simply a mistaken opinion that the Rebbe also never intended at any time.

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It would appear that Rabbi Shach’s opposition did help in this regard, in that the mistake of the meshichistim did not spread to further places and groups outside Chabad.

Thus it emerges that both leaders served Hashem in their own way, and neither one was disputing the other. Rather, Rabbi Shach wanted to prevent the spread of error to the wider public, and therefore he opposed it.

And the meshichistim themselves are mistaken people - perhaps because they lack knowledge of the foundations of the approach handed down to us from generation to generation; and this is not of the essence of the Chabad path, nor what their great rebbe intended to teach them.

With blessings,

Rabbi Nachum