Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding
Review: I had been told as a Jewish professional that this book would be helpful to both better understand Chabad as well as to learn from their marketing techniques for reaching minimally connected Jews. It was so much more. I loved this book. It balanced the personal stories with the overall look at the movement. I would highly recommend it to those involved with Jewish life.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Well Written Book
Review: I have not enjoyed a book as much as I did with The Rebbe's Army for the longest time.
The Rebbe's Army gives its readers a thorough look into the empire built by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. Sue Fishkoff did an extensive research on the Rebbe's Shluchim (emmisarries), actually travelling around the globe to different Chabad Lubavitch institutions or "Chabad Houses". She shows how these black-hatted religous Jews, are capable of building Jewish comunities, establashing schools and helping those in need with more enthusiasm than your average teen. Despite their very Orthodox garb, these Rabbis are able to get close to Jews who barely know their Jewish. From actors, to bussiness men, to your everyday store owner, these open minded yet strongly devoted leaders, spread the message of the Torah of peace, harmony, Jewish education and most importantly love for one another.
How do they do it?
Sue says it's The Rebbe.
His immense love for every single Jew rubbed off on his Chassidim (followers) in a very practical way. It is the Rebbe's teachings and guidance that causes all the commotion these Shluchim bring to the world. From Australia to Argentina, from Venice to Virgina, wherever you go you are bound to bump into one of these Lubavitcher guys.
In summarry, I highly recommend this book to someone who wants to actually live and travel into the world of Lubavitch. To see how The Rebbe was able to do so much for the world and how he managed to raise such a tremendous army.
Rating:
Summary: Loved it!
Review: I loved this book very much. The Rebbe (z''l) was such a great, dedicated and loving man. I'm glad I got to know more about him and the Lubavitchers through this book.
Rating:
Summary: a very good book "CHABAD IS GREAT"
Review: i think it is a very good book, sue fishkoff is great.
chabad is doing a great jub.
Rating: 
Summary: A spirtual army fights for Jewish souls.
Review: In Sue Fishkoff's book, "The Rebbe's Army," the reader gets an insider's look at the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which derives its strength from the wisdom and teachings of the last Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson. For forty-three years, until his death in 1994, the Rebbe was the heart and soul of Chabad, and even after his death, he is still a tremendous source of inspiration for his many followers.Chabad is not just a movement; it is a worldwide organization. Thousands of married couples act as emissaries throughout the United States and in sixty-one foreign countries. Their mission is to rekindle the spark of Judaism that they believe is present in all Jews. Fishkoff points out the apparent contradiction of Chasidic Jews who adhere to strict observance of Torah law, but who, nevertheless, seek out and live among non-observant Jews. This means that some couples, such as the emissaries who live in Thailand, are largely cut off from the support system of friends and family. Once a couple takes a position as emissaries in a foreign country, they are generally there for life. Although Fishkoff gives a brief background of how the Lubavitcher movement originated and grew, she concentrates mostly on emissaries in various parts of the United States, including Alaska. Fishkoff depicts the Chabad organizers as a savvy bunch. They are psychologically astute, great communicators and superb fundraisers. She also touches on how Chabad has used Hollywood celebrities to raise money and awareness. Although, in her preface, Fishkoff claims that she will not discuss Chabad's political strength, she includes a chapter explaining how the Lubavitcher Chasidim have become involved in Washington politics. They have become a force to be reckoned with on the national as well as the local political scene. Fishkoff tries to be evenhanded by pointing out the controversies surrounding the Chabad movement. Some Jewish organizations have felt that the Chabad emissaries who move into their towns are too aggressive. A more serious controversy surrounds the belief, still held by many Chasidim, that the Rebbe is the Messiah. Some Jews feel that this is idolatrous and that such talk has no place in Orthodox Judaism. These disputes have engendered rifts among Chasidim and have tarnished the image of Chabad in the Jewish community at large. I recommend this book for readers who are curious about what makes Chabad tick. Many questions will be answered in these pages. I must warn the reader that Fishkoff tends to be a little long-winded and repetitious at times, and this slows the narrative down a bit. However, most readers will be inspired by the spiritual strength of the Chabad outreach workers and emissaries. These are people who are willing to sacrifice their privacy and personal comfort for the satisfaction of helping others. They are, in the words of the Rebbe, "bringing Heaven back down to earth."
Rating:
Summary: TRUE
Review: It didn't tell me anything I didn't know. It is informative and neutral. It does not get into the theological differences between the Chassidim and the Orthodox. The author doesn't seem to have an "agenda", she lets the actions of the emissaries speak for themselves. I recommend the book for anyone who wants to know more about the "Jewish Salvation Army".
Rating:
Summary: A great contribution!
Review: Reading Sue Fishkoff's The Rebbe's Army was a great joy. This is neither a work of Chabad history nor Chabad theology. Rather, it's Fishkoff's attempt to understand what animates the shluchim and what lies at their success. How does a small movement from Russia become an essential force in the American -and global- Jewish landscape? What lies at the core of the shluchim's envied self-sacrifice...the actual implementation of Jewish values that the rest of us merely speak about? Interviewing countless shluchim and m'kuravim primarily throughout the USA, Fishkoff enables us to attain much clarity and insight into these matters. The chapter about the Rebbe was dealt with fairly and objectively. Case in point, the quote from Chaim Potok presented: "You have to be very honest about the good and the not-so-good when you come to dealing with a very great man." Fishkoff certainly captures the Rebbe, his ahavas-Yisroel, his scholarship, piety etc. She enables the veneration lavished upon him to be understood more clearly through presenting in context the role of a "rebbe" throught three centuries of Chasidism. The chapter about the Messianism within the movement was likewise dealt with fairly. Fishkoff writes, "But so long as the leadership continues to speak out against declaring the Rebbe to be the Messiah, and so long as the majority of new shlichim distance themselves from such positions and stop teaching it to outsiders, how much does it really matter?" I couldn't agree more. This work contains a beautiful photograph section, including one I'm never seen previously of the Rebbe together with former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani. The epilogue and its various predictions for Chabad's future are fascinating and backed up, although I prefer Fishkoff's alternative to transpire, one mentioned in the very last sentence. I won't give it away :-) I can't omit that the book is also equipped with a thorough bibliography, with great suggestions for those looking to pursue studying about the Rebbe, Chabad history, theology, and general Chasidism, in greater depth. Thank you Miss Fishkoff for your great contribution. I can only imagine how you're giving the Rebbe so much nachas up in Shamayim.
Rating: 
Summary: Appalling Bigots
Review: The above reviews typify the lowbrow adoration of Chabad and Hasidic bigotry and racism. Read Postville, for instance, written by a Jew about the Lubavitcher assault on an Iowa town. Better, even look into the many Jewish critiques of ultra-orthodox Jewry by reformist, conservative and secular Jews within Israel for a sense of how fundamentalist Judaism reeks of a hateful, inbred insanity -truly! Go to the website of Hemdat, which recounts tales of this breed assaulting old, Jewish women for using their electric wheelchairs on Saturday, or slinging their own excrement at synagogues they regard as deviant. The pretense that Hasids are even remotely spiritually generous to any human being outside of their narrow faith is complete stupidity, hypocrisy or cowardice. Like Bloom's work on Postville, the author here has failed completely to transcend her tribe in order to provide a fair critique of this entirely ugly movement.
Rating:
Summary: Informative, engaging, thought-provoking and much more!
Review: The author is a masterful storyteller and her subject fascinating. The Lubavitchers have long captured the imagination of American people of faith -- while also winning the grudging admiration of First-Amendment advocates. Finally someone reveals their behind-the-scenes story so the rest of us can learn and adopt. If, like me, you're interested in the trajectory of religion in the 21st century, or would like to learn about an American success story, or are simply intrigued by these Jewish cowboys picking us out on street-corners, this book is for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Oblivious to Excess
Review: The author paints a glowing picture of Habad. What is missing is the other side of the movement: namely, the de-stabilizing impact Habad has on communities and the tendency to devalue all other streams and movements of Judaism. What has happened in Rome, Milan, Florence and the FSU are examples of what takes place when the Rebbe's soldiers---never locally elected/appointed---but always thrust on a community---show up, kipah in hand, with seemingly unlimited resources with which to seduce both the affiliated and unaffiliated. Then, there is the veneration of the Rebbe. While Habadniks may see this as a part of the time-honored Hasidic tradition, normative Judaism addresses this adulation as worship---in Hebrew, avodah zara---which means idolatry. And the idea that Shneersohn is the messiah (more wide spread than Habadniks acknowledge and certainly more central than the author considers) is definitively more Christian than Jewish (Jews do not have ANY apocalyptic notions about a messiah who dies and then returns from the grave). The vignettes and character studies are interesting and, I'm sure, quite faithful. But this is more of an homage and less of an accurate picture of an ultra-orthodox community which ironically---as it reaches out---becomes more and more cult-like with each passing day.
|
