3 Tamuz/ Gimmel Tammuz 5754 - Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson

the wave of passion preceded the coffin of grand Revenue as it was born out of the lubavata headquarters many tried to touch the coffin seeking a last blessing from their beloved leader of 43 years before she coming last night sneerson had clung to life for three months after a stroke last March left in chromatos to his who bothered her followers he was more than a leader he was a friend when he spoke to you he was totally totally focused on you and not in anyone else and you felt that you were the only person existing to him at that time seriously became the Revy in 1950 and although he continued to adhere to the customs of dress and ceremony of the old religion as practiced in Eastern Europe he led the Laboratories to become the most visible and outreaching of the Hasidic communities on a practical level he had true vision he was able to understand not only the talmudic and Hasidic Insight but also the world the ready also made them a political force both in Israel and in this city many politicians paid their respects today while it is a great loss he has certainly given us hope and inspiration and showed us how people working together can make a difference can make a change if some of the laboratory were in tears others celebrated already's death many believe Pearson is the biblical Messiah come to Earth there is no other rabbit there is only ever and he will take us to Jerusalem our community is somewhat in denial when you lose someone who you love I lost my father four years ago and I know the feelings you go through you don't want to accept it you want to say it's not true okay Rabbi Smithson will be buried at Montefiore cemetery near his father-in-law the ready who preceded him yet many robotics still believe he's the Messiah and will return Channel 2 news is live in Brooklyn this is JJ Gonzalez reporting back to you Reggie okay thank you JJ Rabbi steersen led a life of such piety and charity it convinced many of his followers that he was the Messiah talented with Jim Jensen takes a look at the life of this extraordinary leader was not just an ordinary man he was in fact the Messiah who was destined to usher in an era of peace on Earth he was born in Russia where the labovic movement originated in the 1800s Harrison was considered a child prodigy in his knowledge of the Torah the very definition of Jewish law he immersed himself in the study of the Torah which for thacidum is life itself Rabbi schnerson attended the University of Berlin and later received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the store bone in Paris but he would ignite more than engineering Sparks he would ignite the Sparks that electrified his followers Harrison and his wife the late represent hayamusia came to Crown Heights Brooklyn in 1941. at the time his father-in-law was the Grand revi ten years later after his father-in-law died snareson would become the Lovato leader Rabbi knerson is credited with taking a tiny nearly 200 year old Hasidic sect in Viola root and turning it into a dynamic devoted movement now boasts more than two hundred thousand members worldwide through publishing houses and other Investments the river's wealth has been estimated to be nearly 500 million dollars there are an estimated 15 to 20 000 of rabbiters in Crown Heights headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway an exact replica of Pearson's home down to the very brick built by the Laboratories in Israel waiting for the day he would come to the Holy Land around the Brooklyn headquarters the faithful have their own world sustained by kosher food stores synagogue and even a messiah store called the international Mosaic Center mashayak is the Hebrew word Miss higher every Sunday morning you can find huge crowds gathered at the robotic headquarters waiting their turn to meet the rebbe face to face to receive his Blessing he would give each individual a crisp new dollar bill to be given to charity the Jewish tradition of sudoka it was only three years ago that sneersen proclaimed that the Messiah is on the way and hinted He Could Be the One so his followers came and they prayed and they danced here in Crown Heights and in Israel where they put out banners proclaiming his arrival Jim Jensen Channel 2 News the revi and his wife who died in 1988 never had any children and smearson never gave any indication as to who should succeed him so deny the issue of who will replace him remains unsettled another huge Gathering Pearson inspired intense devotion from his quarter of a million followers around the world NBC's Gary Matsumoto reports for some lubavators it was Unthinkable the man they thought Immortal Remy Menachem schnerson had died of a stroke in the early hours of Sunday morning at lubavitcher headquarters in Brooklyn New York some members of the sect danced ecstatically in the belief that schneerson's death was just another sign the Messiah was about to come even before his body was taken from the hospital a blizzard of text messages bearing the news flashed around the world in Israel home to one of the largest Lubavitch communities mourners jammed the airport hoping to reach New York in time for the funeral this lubavitcher arrived from Southern France I was ready to go and I thought it was the really one last thing to do from the river I never I never did anything to thank him for the way he has influenced my life so I think I can show him some respect today schneerson was seventh in an unbroken line of spiritual leaders that reaches back 200 years to the town of Lubavitch and what is now Bella Russia he is credited with making the labavager sect the most influential branch of ultra-orthodox Judaism in the world by most estimates only three hundred thousand strong the lab avatars are still powerful enough it is alleged to influence governments in Israel schnerson became so Revere that many members regarded him as the moshia or Messiah a spiritual descendant of King David who would lead his exiled people back to Israel ushering in a time of world peace mourners here at lubavitcher headquarters are divided over the meaning of the revi's death some say it proves conclusively that he was not the Messiah others insist he still is and say that he will physically rise from the dead we feel that today this is exactly what's going to happen and the Miracles are going to be experienced they're going to be wondrous and unbelievable Pearson had no children and hence no successor I think anticipation for many of those attending the funeral that the ready will indeed return Gary Matsumoto NBC News Brooklyn and implicit electoral backing the reason was simple his 40 000 followers here were prone to vote just the way he told them what I knew was that the ready wanted it and that the ready is an expert in such things and it's because he wanted it it was good for the people Blind Faith block voting gave smears an impressive clout in the Israeli knesset to pursue a conservative sectarian agenda against liberal practices like movies on the Sabbath because he controlled a small but strategic number of seats there's a good influence the shape of Israeli Coalition governments far out of proportions of the actual voting strength of the religious community when the left-wing Shimon Perez was close to ousting the right-wing Itzhak Tamir as prime minister in 1990 smearson ordered two knesset members to change their votes and deny per as a majority when Israelis took to the streets to protest their government's agreement with the PLO last year most of those in the crowd were followers of the rabbi and were there on his orders other Orthodox leaders criticized Pearson's overt Zionism and a campaign to make him the Messiah among his supporters there was never a doubt they even went so far as to build a replica here of his home in Brooklyn hoping to lure him to the Holy Land but they did not succeed so he clearly loved this country Rabbi Menachem Mendel snerson never once set foot in Israel Dean Reynolds ABC News Tel Aviv and we'll be back in a moment great thanks 92 years old the first time they met the rebbies oh I came in and gave me a broker and a dollar bill a blessing and a dollar bill and then we left and there was like a lot of people there so to ask people and what did you think of it and it's very nice very nice the Webbie and his laborator movement were virtually unknown to many Americans until the Crown Heights wise broke out in 1991 under his guidance the Laboratories became the most visible of the ultra-religious Hasidic groups long Islanders Le Bobby Toledo Rabbi Telvin says his death needs a great hole he is the heartbeat of this community it was a heartbeat of laboratory around the world he was a heartbeat in the sense that he was a driving force and made abolish what it was he took the Bible is from a small community after the war and expanded into a community which really is uh has has its influence in all corners of the globe while not all Jews believe Rabbi schnerson to be the Messiah they say he was a great man and leader I think it's universally recognized that he was a leader throughout the Jewish world that he was a tremendous scholar that he was very charismatic figure and although we weren't as active as others in the laboratory movement itself we do all feel the loss yes very sad it's a very mournful event for the for the whole Jewish uh religion and just to give you an idea of what an impact the Ruby had Jews from all over the world traveled to Brooklyn just for this event well Lisa there were scenes of people crying but also of people dancing and singing why the different emotions at the passing of the rebbe of course many people are sad and and also in shock actually they still can't believe this is happening yet many people are trying to keep their spirits up by remembering like that one little boy when he first first time he met the rebbe so it's a whole gamut of emotions they're celebrating his life yes okay thanks very much Lisa larocca in other news hurry Boeing got the new and risky Venture off the ground with popes the Israeli success special program Jews believe that he was the Messiah and now they're waiting for a miracle the 92 year old Rabbi died early this morning and even those who didn't believe Pearson was the Messiah consider him one of the world's most influential Jewish religious leaders CNN's Gary tuckman joins us from the cemetery where mourners are paying their respects Gary O'Brien thousands of people from throughout the world have converged upon this Cemetery in Queens New York the leader of the Jewish Orthodox lebovester movement Monastery schneerson is being laid to rest at this hour schnerson who died early this morning after suffering a stroke three months ago was considered the Messiah by many of his followers and right now he is inside this family crypt right behind us there are literally hundreds of people still waiting to get a chance to go inside this trip he's being laid to rest next to his father-in-law who was the last grand rabbi of lubavitcher movement now the service was only expected to last about a half an hour they're now on two and a half hours because of the outpouring there are still people who are flying into Kennedy and LaGuardia airports who want to come to this Crypt where they close it off so they plan to continue the service indefinitely right now so anyone who wants to gets a chance to walk by this crib and my doctor's nursing was 92 years old when he passed away today and to many of the people here he was the most important person in the world for 44 years he resided in the world headquarters of the Jewish Orthodox laborator movement as its leader when his body was carried out of the Brooklyn New York building a simple coffin Rabbi monoxide's admirers pressed forward trying to get close trying to touch the casket in a sign of affection the leader of the largest ultra-orthodox branch of Judaism had died at 92. a man some of his followers believe that the Messiah now we are out we live without leadership always we had a leadership that they can tell us what to do and what's gonna be but now we have no leadership it's very bad here the cemetery in Queens New York where he was buried in a family crypt next to his father-in-law the grand rabbi before him hundreds of the faithful stood on the Crypt many weeping many more surrounded it there are hundreds of thousands of the buffeter Jews throughout the world thousands of them flew to New York to come to this funeral for a man many of his followers could never imagine dying Israel dozens of charter flights were hastily arranged as labovachus flew across the Atlantic to get to the funeral many of the devoteds say they feel lost so painful and it's the pain of the entire world that was guided and led by him over to over four decades and I feel here expressing God truly became not only of the movement of the village and it it's millions of adherence for the entire world that lost such a great spiritual reason before his death Rabbi schneerson had said the arrival of the Messiah known as moshia was imminent is ready to come now it is only from our staff to do some additional in the realm of good looking kindness his followers all agree that after four and a half Decades of schneerson's leadership things will never be the same was the seventh generation of his family to be the grand rabbi of the labovacher movement he and his wife who died in 1988 had no children however so no air fulfill the position so a decision has to be man and who will succeed Rabbi schnerson today officials with the love of your movement are telling us no one replaced near sin and important decisions for at least now will be ruled by committee Brian back to you Gary we've had reports that some of uh Rabbi Pearson's followers apparently have been drinking and uh singing and dancing and drinking beer is this part of a celebration or or a funeral well a very very and I think very three times because the people here emphasize that the leaders the laboratory movement small minority of the bubbagger movement people have been dancing celebrating the fact that they think that since Mr schneerson has passed away that means he will soon return as the Messiah most of the people with the above your movement are saying that it's very inappropriate that God forbids dancing at a funeral event like this and they are trying to disassociate themselves from this people but the fact is Brian that there were some people dancing today at the headquarters in Brooklyn because they believe the arrival of the Messiah is now imminent Gary tuckman thank you very much for reporting uh live from New York let's go now to Gene joining us now to discuss a life of Rabbi smearson from New York Rabbi Herbert weiner Rabbi weiner is an author and Rabbi from South Orange New Jersey he knew Rabbi steersen for over 30 years thanks a lot for joining us tonight first if you'd explain to us the lubavitcher movement where did it start what are its beliefs the laboratory movement is a branch of the Hasidic movement which started in the 18th century and Rabbi nanakamando snailsen is the Seventh Generation descendant of an individual who began this particular branch which emphasized the prominence of mind and thought over emotions that is that the mind and thought should be wrecked the emotions and the actions was a kind of intellectual mystical movement why was Rabbi smearson viewed by Sam as the Messiah in first of all we have to understand that what the Messiah who the Messiah how what the Messiah is in Judaism Messiah is a human being flesh and blood he could be called a catalyst who helps to raise the consciousness of of mankind to a level where there will be no more Wars and no more exploitation and where the world will achieve an ecological kind of Purity in other words especially Anna green is a dream shared by all human beings not just Jews the Jews have been the progenitors of it but it's shared by all of us and the Messiah is a catalyst an individual who somehow has the power to bring that kind of Consciousness about in the world now every Jewish prayer service concludes with a expression of yearning for the coming of the Messiah it's like looking at a flower which which is budding you know and waiting waiting for it to flower and sometimes that waiting for the budding it becomes so intense that you begin to think over there the flower the flower has come this has happened more than once in Jewish history will you tell us how a successor will be chosen to Rabbi Pearson himself was not even chosen but they didn't he didn't come to the throne so to speak until more than a year after the previous rugby died it may be that somebody may become manifest as a leader in the course of time unfortunately for the Civic movement called the bubbage they don't seem to be any candidates even in terms of male heirs to the succession is it possible that the movement will die out it is possible that seven generations of a wonderful movement may be the end of the movement but not the end of the teachings the teachings are profound marvelous psychological religious teachings which can go on and on however it's also possible that may go on just as it is now mainly led by an executive board that is carrying on magnificent activities all over the world taking children out of Chernobyl and and conducting your school activities in every continent and and building and ranging for all manner of spiritual growth in all areas of the of the world a kingdoman like this also it was not that larger movement movement was its influence felt far beyond its its numbers well it started off as one of many Hasidic sects and then through the activities of the previous red beer and and the present review just centered upon high as we say the president do not like the word death so they think it describes a non-existent reality and so they say you send it up on high and that's why incidentally there's a bit of rejoicing also and along with morning because the soul has ascended on high but but in in answer to your uh question um it is possible for the the movement to continue in a say and to Simply uh uh find the leader in the course of time and Rabbi weiner I'm afraid we're going to have to leave it there thanks so much for joining us tonight appreciate it Brian in other news the Palestine Liberation so this morning at the age of 92. a devoted crowd of Pearson's followers filled the streets of Crown Heights this afternoon walking for miles behind the funeral procession of the grand rebbe of the laborator set in Israel hundreds of ultra-orthodox Jews rushed to the airport to board flights that would bring them to the rubbies burial here in New York to many Laboratories schnerson was more than a rabbi he was the Messiah and so his passing was met with both tears and celebration Jada Dapper explains it is Jewish law that the deceased must be buried before the next Sundown and so it was today for lebovature Grand rebbe Menachem schnerson but it was not so easy hundreds of followers crowded the mausoleum and thousands more climbed fences and barricades to get a look inside the cemetery move back an hour earlier at least 35 000 hasidum filled Eastern Parkway as the rebbe's body was taken from his home men dressed in traditional black ran and mass through Crown Heights following the casket and just then a rainbow appeared over Brooklyn a sign perhaps for those who believed schnerson to be the Messiah all right I definitely believe in the Messiah I don't know how it's going to be the process you know the if the rambam said that he has to die in Dental this event will become historic people will see this resurrection that we call it the transformation of this man into becoming the Messiah it's the reality but those who celebrated the rebbies death as a sign of the messiah's coming those who celebrated in the streets of Brooklyn at three o'clock in the morning they were chastised by others in the sect who felt this was an occasion for mourning not for dancing the river was the foremost Jewish leader of Our Generation possibly in the last 500 years losing your father the lion Has Fallen no words to describe but they're a boy the whole world 18 hours after the word first started spreading through this community that their spiritual leader of some 40 years had passed away there are still hundreds of hasidum here at the cemetery Apparently after 40 years it is difficult to say goodbye in Springfield Gardens Queens Jenny Dapper Channel 7 Eyewitness News as soon as word of the grand rebbies death reached Israel hundreds of Laboratories hurried to make the trip here to New York to pay their respects many of the rebbies followers boarded chartered planes in Israel they arrived a short time ago in New York they did not arrive in time for the funeral but they will be part of the morning process over the next week it's a very difficult situation because everybody's very sad because we just lost someone apparently he was very uh dear to us on the other hand we should be very happy because uh we have so many lessons to learn from them in Israel some ten thousand Laboratories live in the village of kafar khabad today some gathered around tables drinking and singing in anticipation of the return of their Messiah others were in a State of Shock the community was so intent on schnerson's coming to Israel they had built a replica of his Brooklyn home but the rabbi never visited the Holy Land Rabbi Pearson was something of a paradox he dressed in 18th century Garb but addressed his followers by satellite he rarely left his home but tried to bring his message to the world and although his followers numbered in the tens of thousands Rabbi steersen's Faith touched millions of lives here was an enigma a savior to his followers a powerful man feared by others he displayed incredible personal charisma an uncanny wisdom about Empire building and Leadership schneerson who went in 10 languages was born in the Ukraine and educated as an engineer in Paris and Berlin the Nazi Holocaust galvanized his religious life after moving to the U.S in 1941 he joined a group of Holocaust survivors in Brooklyn and over 44 years built a religious and political Empire his High-Tech Communications network broadcast his message from Brooklyn to the Himalayas and his Publishing House is now the largest distributor of Jewish books in the world the Enterprises are worth an estimated 500 million dollars but the revi's influence was more than just religious he became a significant power in Israel as 40 000 followers there would vote as a powerful block and many Israeli officials visited his Brooklyn home what I knew was that the rebbe wanted it and that the review is an expert in such things and that because he wanted it was good for the people but it was his spiritual side that Drew people to him his messages of Charity and piety helped transform the ultra-conservative lubavators into a powerful force within the Jewish community and although Rabbi schnerson made no Divine claims many called him their messiah in recent weeks as the rabbis condition deteriorated labavators kept a constant outside the hospital they never gave up hope that their leader would miraculously recover leaders of diverse Faith remembered Rabbi sherson today as a religious scholar and a man of great charity Rabbi schnerson was a great leader of the Republican people the great religious leader of the Jewish people he was also a great religious leader of all people all throughout the world he is a man whose commitment to the Hebrew idea which is to cure the world to make it all better expressed his commitment to all people everywhere and he was an instruction to all of us and from the Reverend Herbert Daughtry of the association of Brooklyn clergy for Community Development maybe in this time of sadness and grief somewhere that may be the reflections as to what can better bring about Harmony and peace I'm certain that this is what Rabbi schnerson would want although the lubavitchers make up only a small fraction of Jews globally the devotion of smearson's followers has made the head ready the world's best-known Jewish religious leader the question now who will step in to lead the Laboratories Lucy Yang investigate many mourners told us they feel like orphans with their charismatic scholarly and much adored grand rabbi now gone there is a void in the laboratory movement which will not be easy to fill unfortunately we have no one there's no one as they say uh in The Dugout that can take the place of this great leader um we were spoiled schmussen was so loved by his followers that many believe it'll take an all-out Miracle to find his replacement schnerson did not have any children to follow him and were told he had not groomed a protege to succeed him the Laboratories have no hard and fast rules on how to choose a leader so with no obvious choice in sight rabbis here say there's no need to rush the decision this Earth above is concerned there is so much leadership speaking of the coming of the Messiah some labavators in a highly controversial move today began singing and dancing convinced that smearson is their savior our Levy is the Messiah and he's going to come and we're just sitting everyone sitting around and waiting for it to happen many though consider such talks sacrilegious schneerson himself never claimed to be the Messiah already a rift in the group as for what the grand rebbe would have wanted first people were told Pearson did make a will before he died it is not clear right now what is in that document but those who do not believe he is the Messiah say they are hoping at the very least it names a successor in Crown Heights Luther Yang Channel 7 Eyewitness News the revi's followers now begin the process of sitting shiva a period of mourning that will last for the next seven days Rabbi Menachem schnerson was 92 years old all life that um I think this is a moment of reflection for um for everyone in Crown Heights JJ Gonzalez Channel 2 News to believe that he was the Messiah who would bring peace to the world Channel 2's Jim Judson takes a look back at this extraordinary Jewish leader was not just an ordinary man he was in fact the Messiah who was destined to usher in an era of peace on Earth he was born in Russia where the Lubavitch movement originated in the 1800s nursing was considered a child prodigy in his knowledge of the Torah the very definition of Jewish law he immersed himself in the study of the Torah which for the Sedum is life itself Rabbi schnerson attended the University of Berlin and later received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the sorbonne in Paris but he would ignite more than engineering Sparks he would ignite the Sparks that electrified his follower schnerson and his wife the late represent hayamusia came to Crown Heights Brooklyn in 1941. at the time his father-in-law was the Grand revvy ten years later after his father-in-law died nirson would become the Lovato leader Rabbi schnerson is credited with taking a tiny nearly 200 year old Hasidic sect in Viola root and turning it into a dynamic devoted movement that now boasts more than two hundred thousand members worldwide through publishing houses and other Investments the lavavitch wealth has been estimated to be nearly 500 million dollars there are an estimated 15 to 20 000 rabbiters in Crown Heights Home of the lavavic headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway an exact replica of schneerson's Home down to the very brick built by the barbatos in Israel waiting for the day he would come to the Holy Land around the Brooklyn headquarters of faithful have their own world sustained by kosher food stores synagogue and even a messiah store called the international Mosaic Center Messiah is the Hebrew word Messiah every Sunday morning you could find huge crowds gathered at the Lubavitch headquarters waiting their turn to meet the rebbe face to face to receive his Blessing he would give each individual a crisp new dollar bill to be given to charity the Jewish tradition of sudaka it was only three years ago that sneerson proclaimed that the Messiah is on the way hinted He Could Be the One so his followers came and they prayed and they danced here in Crown Heights and in Israel where they put out banners proclaiming his arrival Jim Jensen Channel 2 News [Music] the Robbie and his wife who died in 1988 never had any children and snareson never indicated who he wanted to succeed him to the future of the lubavitcher movement could be in doubt but many followers say it's still too early to be talking about a successor in other news tonight police outside the gate rebove it to leader Rabbi Menachem Pearson was laid to rest in a clean Cemetery good evening from Crown Heights to Europe to Israel this is a time of reflection and mourning for lubavat for Jews yes the spiritual leader of a quarter of a million members of a worldwide Hasidic sect died today at the age of 92. and tonight the faith will continue to gather outside the lubavitcher headquarters in Brooklyn to pay their respects Dave broughty joins us now live from Crown Heights Dave well Ralph Orton early at this hour of this the Lou Roberts are two headquarters synagogue would be virtually empty but tonight it's quite different you can see it's quite crowded and in fact at this hour the chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel who has just flown in on that chartered flight that was delayed many hours trying to get to the funeral is now downstairs praying for Menachem stairson it is the part of a formal morning service a service that began tonight and it is a formal morning period that will last a full 12 months the formal morning process began with sitting shiva that's what these men in the basement synagogue at Blue Bromwich World Headquarters are doing many of them in tears among the lubometers it's customary to tear a piece of clothing to show that someone in your family has died many here not just those in Pearson's immediate family did so I did it because it makes it gives me a more feeling it's basically usually the family tears of garments and that feels like part of the family many of Pearson's followers believe that he was the Messiah there are still banners saying that here and many of those who flew in for the funeral bore his picture on small cars but rabbis here tonight are saying that it seems sneerson in fact is not the Messiah that ever being mashir is a personal belief of individual citizen it has never been a ideological position of the babic movement which the rabbi is the only one who made that would have made that position he never did at this hour they they can pray for monachum smearson sitting shiva in the synagogue down there many of the faithful wearing yamakas as they do someone just handed me one this service uh will continue into the early morning hours and the formal morning process will go through a year after which it is possible that the lubavators will name a successor the Monaco's Pearson reporting live from Crown Heights I'm Dave Brawley News 4 and now back to you in the studio all right Dave and while we are in Crown Heights the acidic community's grief over the passing of Rabbi sneerson was centered on the headquarters there at 770 Eastern Parkway news 4's Ariana was there as mourners arrived by the thousands it was an inconceivable moment for many of the True Believers lubavitcher leader Menachem schneerson dead carried out in a casket followed by mobs of Anguish supporters who even in their grief believe schneerson is still the Messiah the moshia yeah we're supposed to Proclaim long live the king Michelle forever and then Michelle will be revealed we feel that today this is exactly what's going to happen and the Miracles that are going to be experienced they're going to be wondrous and unbelievable and you're not expecting a funeral to happen there I'm not expecting the actual piano to happen no I mean there might be a procession but I don't think that it's actually going to be completed personally why that's going to happen instead I think the third is going to get up and we're going to see the revelation of Michelle not all of Menachem schneerson's followers could hide their emotions as people left the building where schneerson's body lay many cried a lubavitcher rabbi explains the emotions of schneerson's followers that's something that that words can in any way describe grab a breath is our entire life more than a father more more than a teacher more than a rabbi and without a doubt at this point we're orphans in in the true sense of the word the river has taught us that a Jew should never give up hope I never and always believe that tomorrow will be will be better that is what's holding us today with this charismatic personality schneerson turned the once obscure lubavitcher sex into a worldwide movement many of his followers arrived here today from as far away as Israel Europe and from around the United States never proclaimed himself the Messiah but also never discouraged his followers from believing he was the vast majority of Jews worldwide reject the Lubavitch belief in schneerson as Messiah but his followers are praying for the revi's return and pledging to keep the Lubavitch movement and the rebbies teachings alive in Crown Heights Brooklyn our Rihanna News 4 New York overcome by grief and passionate in their wish to did farewell to their Revy blue lovitzers jammed the old Montefiore Cemetery in Queens where Rabbi fearston was laid to rest they came by the thousands and from all over the world say goodbye was buried in the Crypt that holds his late wife and other members of his family more now from news 4's Chuck Gomez okay we're apparently having some problems once with that piece we'll move along now once news spread about Rabbi Pearson's death airports in Europe the mid East and Australia were packed with Lou beverages trying to make their way to get to America Dave Rowdy reports on the international coming together in Crown Heights with word of the death Obamacare Jews started heading for airports worldwide with the time difference they just might be able to get to New York from Europe or the Middle East in time for the funeral in Tel Aviv they charted a 747 to fly to Kennedy Airport we still hope and we certainly hope that his yes had come even today and very soon until they got out from all the safety links here at Kennedy some arrived with a few hours to spare we need to give in this respect to come for the spinner so when you heard this morning in Paris you had to come yeah straight away as they race through terminals looking to find transportation to Brooklyn some said they are not sad they still expect snarrison to show himself to be the Messiah others said their faith is untaken but they couldn't say where the sex will go from here this has been a very very strong very very heavy blow through the movement into the world but that doesn't mean that anything comes to an end and it comes to a stop on the contrary now we have to try our best to do even more more strength and be able to to fulfill all the the rabbit's wishes I hope they will find a way to communicate to uh to lead themselves and to fulfill the vision of the late rabbit many of the followers actually got here after the funeral was over but they said they didn't care they felt they had to be here to help wound the death of their leader at Kennedy Airport I'm Dave browding News 4 New York and as they came from all over the world to say goodbye the Ruby was buried in the Crypt that holds his late wife and other members of his family as he told you more from news 4's Chuck Goldman they waited they wept they prayed their leader was gone but hardly forgotten as crowds gathered at Queen's Montefiore Cemetery some who bothered her followers could not contain their grief they scaled the walls of the mausoleum where schnerson and his father-in-law who schnerson succeeded as ready will I everybody must move away from the mausoleum everyone must get away from the mausoleum everybody wants to see the father being buried and probably the capacity of 50 people and there were thousands and thousands and everybody was climbing the walls just try to get inside and see what it was all about finally supporters follow police orders to leave the as the funeral procession came into view now Loretta was a source of great strength to uh hundreds of thousands of people and he is a link with the uh with our past Generations it's very important that the young people understand that this is a continuity rubby Manaka Nielsen was a Jewish leader known the world over but he told followers that he preferred to think of himself as lesser leader and more a servant of his people on this day his followers mourn both the leader and the servant even as they wondered who his successor might be at Montefiore Cemetery I'm Chuck Gomez News 4 New York what impact will the death of Rabbi monach and Pearson have on the lubovic sect coming up in just a few moments we'll talk with an educator who has written extensively about the Lubavitch Community he was among the thousands at today's funeral and yes there is much more ahead as we continue for you on this late news night Haiti declares and the effect of his loss of Professor Samuel Cowman of City University he's written extensively about the loop of its Community welcome Professor thank you all day we've been watching the lubavis community in the morning the grief is obviously so overwhelming that one wants to know a little bit more about the relationship of the rabbi to the community well I think as one of the people said on an earlier clip the rabbi is more than a father he is a kind of a super father somebody for whom they have enormous respect and to whom they turn for the most fundamental questions of Their Lives who to marry how to live what the future will bring and what God promises but you know Professor Just one thought here he led a rabbi but a very vigorous life but he was 92. it seems surprising I guess to most people that the SEC the group was not preparing for a success well that's I think they're both a great strength and the great weakness the strength is that it demonstrates the depth of their faith in this man but it's a weakness as well I mean not only did they not uh prepare for a successor I think if anyone looked at the way the funeral was today they didn't prepare for the funeral very well either we're taking a look now at some video of Rabbi schnerson can you tell us Professor what you think will be next for this community will there be another Ready Or there's no question in my mind that there will be another Webby the question is whether there'll only be one ready or whether there'll be several rubies depending on how long it takes them to in a sense get their act together it could be that we'll find a review in Israel and Arabian Australia and Arabian Europe and Arabia here for their sake I hope that doesn't happen they do need a strong Center and it has to be somebody with an enormous amount of Charisma to be able to hold this worldwide movement together we're going to take a look at some of the mourners today an indication of just How Deeply felt this event has been one of the things I have to ask you though is that it's obvious that many people in the Jewish Community don't take that time why is that well I think part of it is that the the emphasis on the immediate messianism that they began to promote in the last number of years not only expecting but in spite of the fact that a lot of people now are saying they didn't really mean him they did mean him and they proclaimed it and they proclaimed it on billboards around signs and on posters and on television and everywhere else and for many Jews this kind of emphasis on the Messiah has been Troublesome it's been Troublesome throughout it was history the Jewish people are very good at waiting for the Messiah they're not very good at reading one when he appears there's also a uh it was also something of a dispute was it not because the rubbishes are opposed to allowing citizenship in Israel for Christians to convert is that right no I don't think that they have a uh I'm not certain what their particular stance on that is but uh I don't think that plays a large part in their ideology it certainly influenced political they influence political events a great deal because part of what they were concerned about is that if the Messiah is imminent then they don't really want to give away the land over which he will rule and that includes all the territory the Holy Land you tell us a little Professor getting back to the issue of who would be next as a Revy how the selection process actually takes place is anybody under consideration currently well I imagine there are people under consideration but without really getting into the details of how the selection process occurs what we can say is what what the rebbe will be like rebby will be a person who likes his predecessor can make claims to be in touch with his predecessor he'll go to the grave site he'll bring messages from this redbeck and he will finally be able to give blessings to the people who are following him and in fact in time it will be the people the Chabad followers the lubavators who will determine if this man is irrever or not not any committee just as in uh in the in the 50s when this man became the Revit it wasn't immediately a panic it would be the charismatic leader that he turned out thank you very much for joining us thank you we appreciate you staying up with us and Professor Hallman from City University and up next as