Even though this book was not written by a Chabadnik, it gives a very thoughtful sensitive balanced critique of this fascinating all-emcompassing lifestyle and community. Most people only know Lubavitchers by their wonderful outreach work in encouraging their co-religionists to become more observant, asking men to put on tefillin, giving out Shabbos candles to women, and their thriving Chabad Houses on countless college campuses all over the world, particularly in America. For many people, be they college students or not, who have never had much of a connection to their birthright or who fell away from it over the years, Chabad has had a deep profound long-lasting impact on their level of religious observance and how they relate to the Jewish community. But Chabad just isn't about reaching out to the disaffected and curious on college campuses; they are also in cities which don't have universities, sometimes being the only Jewish group or synagogue in the area. People who might not agree with all of their theology or politics often glowingly report what wonders it has done for them, like enabling their son to have a bar mitzvah, or giving them a place to go for the holidays. They also do magnificent work abroad, sometimes, as in the case of Eastern Europe, bringing Judaism back after decades of persecution, being underground, and having been all but completely wiped out, and in other places, such as Thailand and India, serving small lesser-known Jewish communities and people who otherwise might never have any outlet for their faith to be manifest.

To a large extent, these people are doing it out of the goodness of their hearts, but they also expect something in return, as evidenced by the chapters devoted to their telethons and fund-raising, efforts which are hugely successful in raising money for Chabad. Many times the largest donations come from people who aren't even Orthodox and who have profound disagreements with their theology and political outlook, but who nevertheless admire the work they do. They also have vocal critics; some people don't criticise them mainly because of their disagreement on religious and political matters, but because they feel like they're taking over the local Jewish community or drawing people away from the more established synagogues. And many people dislike them because of what they feel is a cult of personality.

Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe, was an extraordinarily kind compassionate learned human being, certainly on the short list of people who might have been Mashiach, someone who had a very long fruitful life, a man after whom many Lubavitcher boys are named to this day. I've known a number of them, as well as a number of Lubavitcher girls named for his wife Mushka and nicknamed Mushke. He certainly wasn't someone everyone would agree with, but everyone who ever met him reported feeling like they were in the presence of someone truly great, sensitive, compassionate, and many people reported wondrous things happening to them after following the Rebbe's instructions, such as an infertile couple being blessed with their first child after years of trying, single people finding spouses, and someone down on one's luck suddenly being very successful and well-off financially. Even today many Lubavitchers and non-Lubavitchers alike visit his grave to pray and leave requests. And when the Rebbe died in June of 1994, he left no appointed successor or heirs (sadly, he never had any children). Even before his death, there was already a movement to declare him Mashiach, and people who felt he agreed with this assessment, but as some Chabadniks have pointed out, the poor man was so old and out of it that he didn't know what was going on, and what some people interpreted as agreeing he was Mashiach were merely the reactions of a very old man whose brain was a cucumber, who didn't know where he was half the time. Even though the majority of Lubavitchers seem to have made it clear they do not feel he was Mashiach, there is still what many outsiders feel to be a troubling cult of personality. But love them or hate them, Chabad is here to stay, and for all some people disagree with them, there's no denying they have done superb work all around the world and that the majority of them are wonderful sweet welcoming kind gracious nonjugdmental people.

I had been told as a Jewish professional that this book would be helpful to both better understand Chabad as well as to learn from their marketing techniques for reaching minimally connected Jews. It was so much more. I loved this book. It balanced the personal stories with the overall look at the movement. I would highly recommend it to those involved with Jewish life.