NEW YORK -- Rabbi Yehuda Krinsky, the chauffeur-turned-Richelieu of the court of the late Lubavitcher Rebbe, appears to be doing a masterful job of outmaneuvering his rivals as he asserts day-to-day control of his late master's empire -- and cracks down on Lubavitch's still-potent Messianic faction.
Less than 72 hours after the death of the Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the streets of Crown Heights were buzzing with talk of the Rebbe's will, which was read Tuesday night to a crowd of thousands of Chasidim at Lubavitcher headquarters. The talk centered not so much on the will itself, but on Rabbi Krinsky, the man designated by the Rebbe as executor of his estate, and on the rabbis who witnessed its 1988 signing -- most importantly, Rabbi Leib Groner, Rabbi Krinsky's rival in the Rebbe's fractured secretariat. Chasidim see the Rebbe's deft hand at work in the will's construction: By having Rabbi Groner as witness, Lubavitcher insiders say, the Rebbe forestalled any challenge to Rabbi Krinsky's bona fides as executor.
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