Shaul Shimon Deutsch
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Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch, the Liozna Rebbe (born 1969), is a rabbi and author from New York City. He wrote a critical biography entitled Larger than life of the Chabad-Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson which proved extremely controversial in Chabad circles. The multi-volume work disputed the notion that Schneerson was the Jewish Messiah, and was outlawed within the Chabad community following its publication in 1995.[1] He founded and curates the Living Torah Museum in Brooklyn, New York.
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[edit] Biography
Shaul Shimon Deutsch was ordained as a rabbi by Chabad and subsequently earned a business degree. In 1988 he won first place in a national entrepreneurial competition.[2]
Deutsch now styles himself the Chabad-Liozna Rebbe of Boro Park, Brooklyn, having been crowned as the "Liozna Rebbe" in 1995.[3] A group of dissident Chabad followers crowned him as their Rebbe in a ceremony on December 5, 1996 at their synagogue on 45th Street in Brooklyn.[4]
He took the name of the town of Liozna in Belorussia (where the early Chabad movement was founded) with the intent of enticing Chabad followers away from the belief that their late leader was the Messiah. [4] His actions have made him a hated figure within the mainstream Chabad community.[5]
In 1998 he was the victim of a campaign of character assassination via the Internet.[6] A forged Jewish Telegraphic Agency press release claimed that he had been arrested for "embezzlement" and the "counterfeiting" of "ten-dollar bills". After receiving regular death-threats from Chabad followers he lived under police surveillance for a time. In response to the repeated threats against his life he installed bulletproof glass in the windows of his home and synagogue.[7]
Along with many other controversial books within Haredi Judaism his book is rare and highly sought after, with used copies retailing at around $350 as of 2007.
Deutsch is married to Pe'er Deutsch and they have five children.
[edit] Activities
He runs a City Harvest-affiliated food charity that feeds more than 1,000 poor people each week, with dozens of volunteers. The charity distributes $5.5 million of food annually.[8]
He presented a weekly radio show on Saturday night on Talkline Communications Network, however this was stopped after the company's director received repeated threatening and obscene calls at his home.[8] The show has since recommenced. He has also been an executive director of the Manhattan landmark electronics store J&R Music World, and still works as a consultant.[8] He writes a weekly column for Hamodia.[8]
His museum called the Living Torah Museum containing 979 archaeological objects that he says are worth nearly $15 million at his home in a building adjacent to his home and synagogue in Boro Park. The Museum was featured in the journal Biblical Archaeology Review and archaeologist Hershel Shanks, has declared that this was "the first museum that he knew of in the United States devoted to biblical archeology" adding that Deutch "has done what no one else in the United States (perhaps in the world outside of Israel) has done. ... All the big shots, all the people with access to the most sophisticated knowledge and current excavations, have not accomplished what Rabbi Deutsch has."[8]
[edit] Bibliography
- Larger than Life: The Life and Times of the Lubavitcher Rebbe Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Shaul Shimon Deutsch, January 1997 ISBN 0964724308
[edit] References
- ^ Special delivery, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 5, 1996
- ^ Mark, Jonathan, "A Rebbe’s Amazing Attic The greatest Torah and archaeology museum grows in Brooklyn," The Jewish Week, November 24, 2006
- ^ Jolkovsky, Binyamin L., "The "Messiah Wars" heat up: Online gets out-of-line", Jewish World Review, February 19, 1998
- ^ a b "Dissidents Name 'Rebbe'," The Forward, December 6, 1996
- ^ Heinon, Herb, "Bigger than Death," Jerusalem Post, August 15, 1997
- ^ Jolkovsky, Binyamin L., "The "Messiah Wars" heat up: Online gets out-of-line", Jewish World Review, February 19, 1998
- ^ Segall, Rebecca, "Holy Daze The problems of young Lubavitcher Hasidim in a world without the Rebbe," The Village Voice, September 30, 2000
- ^ a b c d e Mark, Jonathan. "A Rebbe’s Amazing Attic: The greatest Torah and archaeology museum grows in Brooklyn", The Jewish Week, 2006-11-24. Retrieved on March 25, 2007.
[edit] External links
[edit] See also
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Deutsch, Shaul Shimon |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Liozna Rebbe |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | 20th century American rebbe and museum curator |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1969 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | living |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
