The Lubavitcher rebbe has been advised to suspend his exhausting daily schedule, after suffering a mild stroke Monday evening.
Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, 89, is “receiving medical care, and his vital signs are all stable,” according to a statement released by Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, spokesman for the Chabad movement of Lubavitcher Hasidim.
The rebbe, who some followers believe is a good candidate to be the Messiah, reported feeling ill Monday during his weekly visit to the grave of his father-in-law and predecessor. The day before he had spent several hours, as he does every week, standing up, greeting visitors and giving them each a dollar bill to give to charity.
It is not yet clear whether this practice will continue.
Lubavitch headquarters in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section has received concerned calls from around the world, according to Zalman Shmotkin, an assistant to Krinsky.
“There’s been an automatic outpouring,” he said. He added that “everybody knows the thing that brings the rebbe the most nachas (satisfaction), that literally helps his health, is adding to one’s Judaism, one’s religious life.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
