Extreme Messianism

The Habad Movement and the Impasse of Charisma

Authors

  • Vincenzo Pace University of Padova

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i1.48

Keywords:

Habad Movement, Jewish Mysticism,

Abstract

The article deals with the ultra-orthodox Jewish movement Habad movement. The movement represents a form of extreme messianism, capable of mobilizing its militants to perform a type of social action which is rational and undoubtedly oriented toward the affirmation of religious and political values. However, it is also a means to an end: if the age of the Messiah has come, its announcement must know no limits. The Habad movement is thus authorized to push the tradition to the very limits, inventing new and innovative repertoires of religious action and narratives. At the same time, the announcement of the Messiah cannot rest or accept compromises, especially not in Eretz Yisrael, that extraordinary place in the universe which is both real and symbolic. The restitution of even the smallest part is perceived not only as an attack on the “lives of the children of Israel” (according to the principle of pikuach nefesh), but also as an intolerable delay in the coming of the Messiah. In this case, messianic extremism is a form of inner-world asceticism which ensures the Habad movement not only social success and a relatively efficient organization, but also a type of rational action: extremism becomes a factor of rationalization in individual and collective life. From being a mystical community of pious Hasidim, it has become a successful modern charismatic enterprise on the market of symbolic and religious goods, able to compete with other socio-religious subjects in the same social environment.

Author Biography

  • Vincenzo Pace, University of Padova
    Enzo Pace is Professor of Sociology and Sociology of Religion at the University of Padova in Italy. In 1995 and 2000, he was Visiting Professor at the École des hautes études en sciences sociales and has been President of the International Society for the Sociology of Religion (ISSR/SISR). His recent publications include Los fundamentalismos (Mexico 2006), ‘Salvation Goods, the Gift Economy and Charismatic Concern’, in Social Compass (2006), ‘Religion as Communication: The Changing Shape of Catholicism in Europe’, in Ammermann’s Everyday Religion (New York 2006), Introduzione alla sociologia delle religioni (Rome 2007), ‘Globalization and the Conflict of Values in the Middle Eastern Societies’, in Beyer and Beaman’s Religion, Culture and Globalization (Leiden 2007) and Raccontare Dio. La religione come comunicazione (Bologna 2008). For more information, see http://www.sociologiapadova.it/?pagina=pagina_generica.php&id=43.

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Published

2008-08-20

How to Cite

Pace, V. (2008). Extreme Messianism: The Habad Movement and the Impasse of Charisma. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 21(1), 48-57. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.v21i1.48