Thousands of mournful Orthodox Jews gathered Monday at the grave of Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, pausing on the 10th anniversary of his death to remember the man whose leadership transformed the Lubavitcher sect into a major force in Judaism and led some to believe he was the messiah.
Men and women from around the world lined up for hours to pass Schneerson's walled-in grave in the New York borough of Queens, bowed their heads in prayer and reflected on his life and work.
Schneerson, the seventh grand rebbe in an unbroken dynastic line that began in 18th-century Russia, died on June 12, 1994, at age 92. The observance was to run from sundown Monday to sundown Tuesday, according to the Jewish lunar calendar.
"Every rabbi is a reflection of the rebbe, and that is why there has been no one selected as a leader to replace him," said Rabbi Avraham Berkowitz, who traveled from Moscow.
The Lubavitchers were one of many Hasidic groups that were uprooted from Eastern Europe by the Holocaust and came to the United States.
When Schneerson took over as grand rebbe in 1950, the Lubavitchers became the most outward-looking of the ultrareligious groups, constructing giant Hanukkah menorahs in public places, proselytizing among less pious Jews and building Chabad centers from Sao Paulo to Bangkok.
His death left a leadership vacuum that has yet to be filled. The death also created somewhat of a schism in the group between those who still believe Schneerson was the messiah and those who do not.