Read about It. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 30 стр.

the Catholic Church of those who – after death – are officially recog-       that afternoon and, in the meantime, to have her family put mezuzas
nized as saints. Restored to God themselves, they are, Catholics and         throughout the house, do good deeds and light Shabbos candles. Her
Orthodox alike believe, able to aid others who sincerely seek favors in      mother reluctantly did as her daughter instructed, writing several
this life.                                                                   checks for charitable causes. That afternoon Shoshana was told that the
        A year ago Tyler Clarensau shuffled to the altar in the gym of       rebbe had granted his blessing. Three days later, when doctors did a
Park Crest Assembly of God Church in Springfield, Mo. It was, he             biopsy on her mother, there were no signs of the cancer. «Someone’s
thinks, probably the 200th time he’d sought healing for malformed knee       prayers were answered,» the doctor said.
joints that surgery had failed to correct. Suddenly, a group of 40 other            Of all religious groups in the United States, surveys show, Jews
Pentecostal teenagers encircled him and began to pray. Gradually the         are least likely to believe in miracles. One reason may be the Hebrew
whole congregation was raised to a prayerful roar. An hour later, when       bible itself. Miracles gradually disappear as the Bible moves from the
silence fell, a church volunteer pronounced that God had finally healed      first book to the last. In Genesis, only God works miracles – that’s what
Clarensau’s legs. Shakily, he stood up, all eyes on him. He began to do      God does. But after Moses is introduced, control over miracles begins
deep knee bends, something he hadn’t accomplished in years. Now he           to shift from God to his prophets. Moreover, from Moses to Elijah and
can run – slowly. «I’d heard stories about people getting healed,» says      Elisha, miracles change from public performances for large groups to
Tyler, 15, «and I thought it was pretty cool. But I didn’t really know for   private miracles on behalf of individuals. Finally, God himself ceases to
sure until it happened to me.»                                               appear in the Biblical texts – and miracles cease, as well.
        The leaders of the Protestant Reformation rejected the Catholic             Religious Jews believe that life itself is a miracle. Nonetheless,
«cult of the saints» as pagan superstition. But the heirs of the Reforma-    the Talmudic literature contains a number of miracle stories about a few
tion continued to believe that God shows «special providences» over the      great sages whose deep immersion in the Torah gave them the power to
faithful – in effect, miracles by another name. Visions and prophecies       work miracles. By the 18th century, Jewish mysticism developed the
accompanied the waves of «awakenings» and revivals among American            figure of the tzaddik ha-dor, a rebbe of exceptional holiness whose very
Protestants. Many new sects and movements – including the Mormons            soul is rooted in a higher realm; in this way he acts as a channel through
– believed that God was restoring the church of the New Testament,           which God’s blessings flow to the community and, in turn, as the agent
with all its signs and wonders. If individual believers could experience     of his people in petitioning God for favors. In Israel today – and in Ha-
God for themselves, they could also experience his miraculous touch.         sidic communities elsewhere in the world – rebbes are still regarded as
But only in the last century, with the rise of Pentecostalism, has Protes-   saints with unusual powers, and after death their grave sites become
tantism democratized the miraculous. Empowered by the Holy Spirit,           shrines.
Pentecostals believe they themselves can work, as well as receive mira-             As a great soul, Rabbi Schneerson belongs to a long line of Hasi-
cles – just like the apostles of Jesus.                                      dic saints. According to Chabad philosophy, a rebbe can work miracles
        Shoshana Levin is a singer-songwriter from a liberal Jewish fam-     when he perceives that an illness or other misfortune is the will of God.
ily on the West Coast. But for the last 10 years she has also been a stu-    In those cases, he can beseech God to change what he has willed. More
dent of the Torah and a member of Chabad Lubavitch, a Hasidic group          often, however, the rebbe shows his followers how to use mezuzas and
in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a devout believer in the power of its late rebbe,     other artifacts of Orthodox observance to open the regular channels to
Menachem Mendel Schneerson. In July 1992, Shoshana’s mother was              God’s grace. Even after his death in 1994, Shneerson has remained a
diagnosed with stomach cancer and not expected to live. The day after        channel for those seeking miracles. His office still receives more than
she heard the news, Shoshana went to the rebbe’s secretary with a letter     1,000 letters requesting blessing every day.
asking Schneerson for a blessing (berucha). She was told to call back

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