Thanks to commentator Yosef I went back to the Rebbes family tree, to try to pin it down more.

After someone puts so much effort into trying to clear up this information, I thought it’s the least I can do to revisit it, and see if Yosef’s hard work might lead to more insights.

Short answer: it did.

Read on.

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First, let’s go back to the story of Hananya ‘Bustenai’ ben Haninai, Exilarch of Pumbeditha (589-638 CE).

A version of his story is to be found in at least four different contemporary Jewish seforim, which you can see for yourself here:

https://tablet.otzar.org/pages/?&pagenum=16&book=100597
https://tablet.otzar.org/pages/?&pagenum=15&book=105839
https://tablet.otzar.org/pages/?&pagenum=20&book=8702
https://tablet.otzar.org/pages/?&pagenum=11&book=156243
https://tablet.otzar.org/pages/?&pagenum=64&book=172487

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Long story short: he’s a descendant of King David, the Jewish leader of ‘Exilarch’, who after the Arab conquest Babylonia, is given a non-Jewish Persian princess as a slave, by the new Caliph.

At some point, Bustenai decides to marry her, and he has sons with her.

Then, there is a 300 year ‘machloket’ within the Jewish community about the Jewish status of these sons, as Bustenai’s two sons from his first, Jewish, wife claim that their father didn’t convert and free the Persian princess, before marrying her and siring children.

Sad to say, Jewish ‘rulers’ have often had middot in the toilet, and it wouldn’t be the first time that someone trampled all over halacha in secret.

The dispute goes to court – presided over by relatives of the Persian princess’s sons – and whaddya know?!

They find in favour of the Persian princess’s sons, and rule that she must have converted before Bustanai married her.

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My 5 cents is that it’s highly unlikely this would have been so controversial if there was real evidence, like a bill of manumission, usually deposited with the local Beit Din, that a slave had been ‘freed’ prior to being converted.

Why Bustanai wouldn’t have been more careful to leave real evidence behind that he had freed and converted this Persian wife, is an interesting question.

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Here is an academic snippet on the story, for those who like academia, discussing the account of Bustenai’s children in the Iggeret of Sherirah Gaon, written in the late 900s – i.e. about two centuries after all this happened.

It comes from an article called

THE POLITICAL ROLE OF SOLOMON, THE EXILARCH, C.715-759 CE (PART 1), by David H. Kelley (Foundations (2006) 2(1): 29-46).

Snippet from Kelley:

“Sherira (writing in the tenth century) indicated that Bustanai had two sons by a Jewish wife and three sons by a Persian wife, a royal princess who had been enslaved. The sons by the Jewish wife maintained that Bustanai had not freed and converted the Persian princess and that her children were, therefore, illegitimate. A court found that they should be considered legitimate.

Sherira says that some judges expressed doubts about the decision and he, himself, suggested that it was due to kinship between the judge and Bustanai’s part-Persian descendants.”

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Bottom line: two of Bustanai’s sons are Jewish, three of the sons, maybe not, and of course, those three sons of the Persian princess ar the ones who go on to hold leading positions in the Jewish community.

Because why let a small matter like a non-Jewish, unconverted mother get in the way of being a leader of the Jewish community, especially when you can show you descend from King David!

Right?

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Now, that handwritten family tree of the ‘Badd rebbes, that Yosef has worked so hard to clarify, seems to have Bustanai in some garbled form, like this:

#72
ר. רונא? חנא? הנא?
Hanna [?] Ben [son]… of Tzutzita Ana Safra [?] Zutra Sa’ada [?]ria Zutra Bistanai (Exilarch, c. 618-670 CE), his wife a righteous convert, daughter of the King of Persia.

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Then it lists another 19 generations, between Hananya ‘Zutra Bistanai’ (who the Rebbe tree wrongly dates as living between 618-670 CE, when he was historically known to have lived thirty years’ earlier, between 589-638 CE) and generation 91,  ‘Sherira Gaon’ (906-1006 CE).

Remember, Sherira Gaon stated he categorically DID NOT descend from Bustenai’s family, and apparently made this distinction publically because of the whole mess around the non-conversion of Bustenai’s Persian’s wife.

This already shows us that this part of the ‘Rebbe Genealogy’ is not accurate.

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If we assume that a generation is 20 years, then it would take 380 years, minimum, to get from #72 Hananya ‘Zutra Bistanai’ to Sherira Gaon, as the Rebbe Tree shows.

Except – less than 200 years separate these two figures.

This is more indisputable evidence that the Rebbe Tree is not accurate.

(And if you didn’t take the time to actually do all this nitpicking, you’d never know it.)

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In the process of trying to figure this out more, and trying to see whether the Badd Rebbes conceivably descend from the unconverted Persian princess, I went to try and fill in more of the supposed family tree, HERE.

I know I’ve stated this a million times, but let’s state it again for clarity: I don’t use geni trees indiscriminately. I mine geni as a source of info – there is a ton of sourced genealogical info on the notes and discussions pages, that often helps to shed a lot of light on where the geni gatekeepers are deliberately muddying the waters.

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From the discussions on the page of Hananya ben Bustenai, I understand that there are many,  many non-Jewish descendants of King David, including tons of monarchs and royals all over the world, most of whom claim descent via Bustenai’s suspected ‘non-Jewish’ sons.

I.e. these sons of his, and their descendants, enthusiastically married out all over the world, and apparently, especially with the royal houses of Europe.

Why?

Because in xtian-Europe, the monarchs wanted to claim they had a divine prerogative to rule over other people, and claiming descent from the biblical King David was a fantastic excuse to act like a tyrant, whilst still claiming to be a holy saint and beyond reproach.

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Further down on the notes page, I see that original family tree that someone uploaded years ago into the notes, because the Geni gatekeepers kept distorting it on the site itself.

I am reproducing part of it here. Meet me at the bottom, for the discussion:

(65) Haninai (Hainai), Gaon of Sura (above)

(66A) Hillel, Gaon of Sura 694-712

(66B) Yakob, Gaon of Sura 712-730, the father of (67) Mari, Gaon of Sura 748-756/or 751-756, the father of (68) Hillel, Gaon of Sura 788-797/or 792-798 (below)

————————————————————————————————————-

issue of (68) Hillel, Gaon of Sura 788-797/or 792-798 (above) was:

(69A) Ivomai (821) (below)

(69B) Natroi, Gaon of Sura (d853)

(69C) Rivyai, the father of (70) Joseph (841)

————————————————————————————————————-

issue of (69A) Ivomai (above) was:

(70) Tzedek Ha-Kohen (d848) (below)

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issue of (70) Tzedek Ha-Kohen (above) was:

(71A) Nahshon, Gaon of Sura 874-882, the father of (72) [K]Hai, Gaon of Sura 889-896 (below)

(71B) Hophni, had issue (below)

(71C) Nehemiah

————————————————————————————————————-

descendants of (71B) Hophni (above) were:

(72) Rabba[n] [his son], the father of

(73) Mari [went to Spain 941], ancestor of the Mariite Line , which is also called the Meirite “B” Line, the father of

(74) Samuel, the father of

(75) Hophni (d963), = [name], daughter of Tzadok Kahana (above)

————————————————————————————————————-

issue of (75) Hophni (above) was:

(76A) Samuel Ha-Kohen (d1013)

(76B) Joseph Na-Nagid, the father of (77) Samuel, the father of (78) Joseph Ha-Nagid, killed 1062 in a pogrom

————————————————————————————————————-

issue of (76A) Samuel Ha-Kohen (above) was:

(77A) Israel (1017)

(77B) Joseph Ibn Nagrela [Al-Nagrila] Ha-Nagid (d1034), had issue

(77C) Asmouna, wife of [K]Hai, Gaon of Pumbedita (d1038) (above)

————————————————————————————————————-

issue of (77B) Joseph Ibn Nagrela Ha-Nagid (above) was:

(78) Samuel Ha-Nagid, vizier 1027 (d1056)

Eve [his cousin], daughter of [K]Hai, Gaon of Pumbedita,

————————————————————————————————————-

descendants of (78) Samuel Ha-Nagid (d1013) (above), by generation, were:

(79) Joseph Ha-Nagid [his son] (executed 1066)

[name here], daughter of Rabbi Nissim Ben Yaakov, the parents of

(80) Yechiel, the father of

(81) Avraham, the father of

(82) Azariah (Azarya), the father of

(83) Ezekiel (Yekhezkel), the father of

(84) Laemiel, the father of

(85) Azariah, the father of

(86) Elijah (Eliyah), the father of

(87) Joseph (Yosef), the father of

(88) Nachman, the father of

(89) Kalonymos Kalman, the father of

(90) Leibush, the father of

(91) Eleazar, the father of

(92) Yerakmiel, the father of

(93) Arye-Zeev (Arieh-Zeev), the father of

(94) Yaakov, the father of

(95) Belzalel Ha-Zaken, the father of

(96) Isaac, the father of

(97) Yehuda Lev Hazaken (d1439/40), the father of

(98) Betzalel, the father of

(99) Hayyim (d1565), the father of

(100) Bezalel Loew (Lowe), ancestor of the Lowe, Loew, Loeb, & Lieb families, &, the father of three sons, who were:

(1)/(101a) Yehuda Lieb, ancestor of the Schneerson Family

(2)/(101b) Sinai Loeb, ancestor of the Eskeles Family

(3)/(101c) Mendel Lieb, ancestor of the Mendel Family & Menachem Mendel, called “Tzemach Tzeddek”, adopted wife’s surname, “Schneerson”, the father of (a) Shmuel Schneerson, called “Maharash” (d1882) [the father of Sholom Dovber (d1920), the father of Yosef Yitzchak (d1950)] & (b) Boruch Schneur, father of Levi Yitzchak (d1944), father of Menachem Mendel Schneerson, claimant (d1994)(below)

————————————————————————————————————-

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BEFORE WE CONTINUE WITH THIS LIST – notice this:

Generation # 70: Tzedek Ha-Kohen

This is a kohen – a priest. This is NOT a line of descent son-after-son from King David.

The sons are listed, tho, son-after-son, until 30 generations later we get to #100: BEZALEL LOEW (LOWE).

This is the father of the MAHARAL OF PRAGUE.

Again, a line of kohanim could NEVER be the Moshiach, even if they happen to also ‘descend’ from King David on their mother’s side. Kohanim can’t be the Moshiach. It’s impossible.

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So now, get to that part I screenshotted in the previous post, HERE:

It shows that BEZALEL LOWE had three sons:

#101 a – YEHUDA LEIB, THE MAHARAL OF PRAGUE, ANCESTOR OF THE SCHNEERSONS

#101 b – SINAI LOEB, ancestor of the ESKELES family.

#101 c – MENDEL LEIB, ancestor of the TZEMACH TZEDDEK.

These all seem to be ‘kohanim’, paternally….

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Let’s continue with the list from the Geni notes:

section 13.2: The Maharel’s House

(101) Yehuda Lieb, called “The Maharel of Prague” (above), a rabbi (d1609), who, by wife, Pearl Shmelkes, begot 3 sons & 6 daughters, of whom the sons were:

(102A) Shmuel Zvi, whose descendants end with Jacob Frank (d1791) and his daughter, an heiress, Eve, called “The Divine Lady” (d1826)

(102B) Betzalel Loewe, ancestor of “The Alter Rebbe”, ancestor of another modern family, the Schneersons

(102C) Zvi Mendel, or Mendel Lieb, among whose descendants was Israel of Rushin

---

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So now, things are getting even more interesting.

#101 YEHUDA LEIB, THE MAHARAL OF PRAGUE has three sons:

#102 a SHMUEL ZVI – who leads us to the false messiah JACOB FRANK.

#102 b BETZALEL – who leads to the ALTER REBBE

#102 c ZVI MENDEL / MENDEL LIEB – who leads to ISRAEL of RUZHIN.

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All three of these illustrious descendants were accused of being ‘false messiahs’ by their opponents…

And we see, what a very small pool of DNA our Jewish leadership actually comes from…

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That list continues by detailing the ancestry of JACOB FRANK, like this:

section 13.3: senior-line

(102a) Shmuel Zvi, father of

(103) Yanai Loewe, father of

(104) Zalman Lieb, father of

(105) Yosef, father of

(106) Yehuda [Jude] Lieb “of Prossnitz”, claimant 1724 (d1730), father of

(107) Jacob Frank [Jacob Ben Judah], claimant (d1791), treated as a “king” by many of Europe’s royal courts, he was the father of

(108) Eve (daughter), considered the dynasty’s heiress & rightful queen; called “The Divine Lady” among other epithets, titles & styles; resided in a palace and presided over a lavish court; d 1816 without issue

---

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JACOB FRANK was the son of another very famous Sabbatean ‘false messiah’ called YEHUDAH LEIB PROSSNITZ.

Prossnitz had a huge following, including the MEIR PANIM, Meir Eisenstadt, and Prossnitz was also the teacher of the young JONATHAN EIBSHITZ. The Meir Panim only turned against Prossnitz, and expelled him from Eisenstadt, in 1706 – the ‘deadline’ Prossnitz had given for the return of Shabtai Tzvi.

This is in line with the ‘story’ told about Jacob Frank’s family, that his father was a rabbi; that his father was a ‘Sabbatean’; and that his father was expelled at a certain point in time, leading to the ‘Frank’ family having to wander around.

(Read more about Prossnitz HERE, on the YIVO website.)

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But bottom line:

The ‘Badd rebbes seems to literally be the cousins of Jacob Frank.

And apparently, so was ‘Israel of Ruzhin’, whose own lavish court, ‘wonder working’ and false messianic tendencies led to a huge machloket between his house, and the SANZER Rebbe, as discussed HERE.

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So, little surprise then, that the ALTER REBBE’s mum was RIVKA SHOR, a close family member of ELISHA SHOR, leading Frankist who converted to xtianity with his children and became a ‘WOLOWSKY’.

The Badd family tree is one and the same as Jacob Frank’s, right down to that same amazing yichus, descending from the Maharal of Prague.

[Let me just add in here, that most of our leaders were close family of Jacob Frank. In the second installment of this article, I am going to start pulling together some very interesting stuff about the Baal Shem Tov hakadosh, including the story of his father – another area where the ‘Badd went back and re-wrote chassidic history. This stuff is very mixed-up, and the nuances are crucial to ‘unmixing’ it all.]

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‘Badd probably faked their family tree for a lot of reasons.

Reason Number 1: If this is the correct family tree, above, they apparently descend son-after-son from a ‘TZEDEK COHEN’, and thus, the ‘Badd rebbes could NEVER have been Moshiach, no matter how good and pious they were.

Reason Number 2: Jacob Frank is literally their close cousin – and their whole tree is riddled with Sabbateans and Frankists, backwards and forwards.

Maybe, the Alter Rebbe may have tried to ‘buck the trend’, and to bring his family back to the good way, via the Baal Shem Tov.

However, it’s also possible that he was ‘parachuted’ into the chassidut movement at a late stage,  by the ruling oligarchy, to ensure they still got their mucky hands firmly stuck in the chassidut pie, where they could continue to ‘lead Jews’ – and subvert the community from within.

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Last week, just as some of the ‘Bring them home NOW!!!’ signs finally started disappearing, a little, from the streets, they got replaced by a big new banner with that picture of Menachem Mendel #7, against the exact same shade of  ‘yellow’ backdrop, ordering us to ‘Greet Moshiach NOW!!!’

Cynic that I am, I can’t help but wonder if all this propaganda is being designed by the same people, and printed in the same place…

What I can tell you, is that Chabad has done more than anyone else to keep us stuck in a super-unhelpful, halachically-distorted discussion about ‘moshiach’ for the best part of 50 years, already.

(If not way, way more. But that’s a discussion for another time.)

Moshiach cannot be a dead person.

Moshiach cannot be a Kohen.

Moshiach cannot be Menachem Mendel.

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Dead messiahs are not a Jewish idea.

But, they are for sure a xtian and a Sabbatean one.

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I have got some very interesting info for part two of this study… stay tuned.