What the Rebbe saw

It could well be the last Lubavitcher Rebbe foresaw the impending demise of the rabbinic regime. It could be he focused on Moshiach as a way to uncover Judaic teachings that could substitute for the end of the Talmudic program. He reached out to the non-observant because he was looking forward to that time when observance could no longer be counted on to ground the Jewish people, as it historically had.