After the Rebbe was niftar, I expected to see mass depression or going off the derech – after all, how does one continue after everything that was predicted proved wrong? It had the potential to be another shabtai tzvi disaster. Yet, that didn’t happen (BurnTFACE seems to be in the minority of those who were disillusioned and left Chabad) -and now after reading this thread, I understand why. The “abandoned” flock never perceived themselves as abandoned! Because to Chabad, the Rebbe’s shita wasn’t proven wrong. The Rebbe is still the Rebbe, still Mashiach, the 7th Dor continues as long as there is no new Rebbe. A whole generation has come of age since the Rebbe was niftar, and still nothing really changed!
Meanwhile, the rest of us wait for Mashiach without cheshbonos of who he might be – that part we leave up to Hashem.