IN ORTHODOX JEWISH circles there is a widespread genre of leaflets or booklets ranging from one to six or so pages containing discussions connected to the weekly Torah reading, or parashah. After Sukkot, the annual reading cycle resumes with the beginning of Genesis (Bereshit). In that week's issue of Siḥat hage'ulah [‘Discourse on Redemption’, 11 Oct. 1996], a fourpage messianist parashah booklet, the standard formula declaring the Rebbe's messiahship (‘May our Master, Teacher, and Rabbi, the King Messiah, live for ever’, often described simply as the Yeḥi after its first Hebrew word) appeared in a modified form. One of the regular features of Siḥat hage'ulah is a story of a miracle effected by the deceased Rebbe. In the account published in the Bereshit issue, a beneficiary of the miracle bursts out into thankful praise, declaring, ‘May our Master, Teacher and Creator [bore'enu] the King Messiah live for ever’. The relevant section was reproduced in a religious newspaper called Yom hashishi and caused a flurry of discussion in Israel, with a number of Lubavitch rabbis expressing dismay.

At about the same time, the individual who had arranged the meeting in Crown Heights spoke to Rabbi Sherer, who told him that the Council of Torah Sages would probably not act unless some additional messianist provocation emerged. I was, of course, deeply disappointed and wrote a letter to Rabbi Sherer in which I may have allowed this disappointment to manifest itself more forcefully than I should have: