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Man leaves the world with open hands, as if to say, 'I take nothing with me.' Midrash Ecclesiastes R. 5:14 |
Joel (Yoel) Teitelbaum, (born 1887 - died August 19, 1979) known as Reb Yoelish or the Satmar Rav (or Rebbe), was a prominent Hungarian Hasidic rebbe and Talmudic scholar. He was probably the best known Haredi opponent of all forms of modern political Zionism. But his opposition to Zionism was only part of a much wider approach to Judaism that revitalized many Hungarian and Transylvanian Jewish survivors of the Holocaust and led to a renaissance of the 'Ungarish' (Hungary-originated) Hasidic community.
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Teitelbaum was the second and youngest son, and fifth child of, Grand Rabbi Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum (died 1904), who served as the rabbi of Sighet in Romania (at that time Hungary). A spirited child, he was renowned from a young age for his sharp tongue and brilliant analytical skills. During the 1920s, he served as the rabbi of Krole (Nagykaroly or Carei) near Satmar (Satu Mare). In 1928, he was invited to become the rabbi of Satmar, but vigorous opposition to his appointment led to bitter fighting and he was unable to take up his position until 1934. Upon his departure from Krole, the local community appointed Rabbi Abishel Horowitz, a son-in-law of the Spinka Rebbe.
By the age of 17, he married Chavah, the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Chaim Horowitz, the Plontcher Rav of Polaniec. She died in 1936 and, after a number of years, he remarried to Alte Faige née Shapiro. He had three daughters from his first marriage: Esther, Rachel and Roysele. They all died in his lifetime: Esther died during childhood; Rachel died 6 months after she married her first cousin, Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum (II), the rabbi of Sighet; and Roysele (the only of his children to survive the holocaust), who married Lipa Teitelbaum, the Semihaya Rav, and died in 1953 in the US. His second wife did not bear him any children. Thus, whilst his second wife survived him, he was not survived by any children. This was the source of a succession dispute after his death.
Teitelbaum was rescued from death in the Holocaust during 1944 in Nazi-controlled Transylvania as a result of a deal between a Hungarian Zionist official, Rudolph Kastner, and a deputy of Adolf Eichmann. En route, the train was re-routed by the Germans to Bergen-Belsen, where the 1600 passengers languished for four months while awaiting further negotiations between rescue activists and the Nazi leadership. In the end, the train was released and continued on to Switzerland.
Teitelbaum briefly lived in Jerusalem after World War II, but, at the request of some of his followers who had emigrated to the United States, he settled there instead. He attracted many new followers and established a large community in the densely Orthodox neighborhood of Williamsburg located in northern Brooklyn in New York City. Starting in the 1960s, he searched for a location outside of the city to establish a new self-contained community for his disciples and their families, eventually deciding upon Monroe, New York where a new town known as Kiryas Joel was launched. The name Kiryas Joel means "Town of Joel" which alludes to the awe in which he was held by his adherents. Upon his death, he was the first individual to be buried there in 1979. Reputedly over 100,000 Jews attended his funeral. He was succeeded by his nephew Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, who divided the control of the Williamsburg and Monroe Satmar communities between two of his own sons.
Teitelbaum's works include collections of responsa and novelae (scholarly contributions to Talmudic debates) entitled Divrei Yoel and Al HaGeulah V'Al HaTemurah this was written with the help of the late Rabbi N.Y. Meisels. He also authored a brief introduction to the Talmudic tractate Shabbos for a Holocaust-era printing in Romania. His exposition of his belief that Zionism is prohibited by Halakha ("Jewish law") is entitled VaYoel Moshe. There are also collections of his speeches entitled, Hidushei Torah MHR"I Teitelbaum.
Teitelbaum was renowned for his vocal religiously motivated opposition to Zionism in all arenas. This approach was consistent with his father's views and those of many other prominent rabbis. His father and predecessor was Rabbi Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum. He encouraged his followers to form self-sufficient communities without assistance from the secular State of Israel and forbade any "official" engagement with it.
Before World War II, most Hasidic rabbis, as well as many other prominent Orthodox rabbis and leaders, believed that God had promised to return the Jewish people to the land of Israel by means of the actions of the Jewish Messiah alone, and who would arrive when the Jewish people had merited redemption. During the current exile, the Jewish people are expected to perform the mitzvot. In addition, they are advised not to antagonize or rebel against the gentile nations of the world in the course of their long exile in the diaspora. In the years following the Holocaust, Teitelbaum undertook to maintain and strengthen this position, as did many Orthodox Jews and communities.
In the view of Teitelbaum's followers, the modern State of Israel, which was founded by people that included some anti-religious personalities in seeming violation of the traditional notion that Jews should wait for the Jewish Messiah, is seen as contrary to Judaism as Satmar Hasidism understands it to be. Moreover, the Satmar Rebbe taught that the existence of the Zionist State of Israel is preventing the Messiah from coming.
The core citations from classical Judaic sources cited by Teitelbaum in his arguments against modern Zionism are based on a passage in the Talmud, Rabbi Yosi b'Rebbi Hanina explains (Kesubos 111a) that the Lord imposed "Three Oaths" on the nation of Israel: a) Israel should not return to the Land together, by force; b) Israel should not rebel against the other nations; and c) The nations should not subjugate Israel too harshly.
According to Teitelbaum, the second oath is relevant concerning the subsequent wars fought between Israel and Arab nations. He views the Zionist State of Israel as a form of "impatience" and in keeping with the Talmud's warnings that being impatient for God's love leads to "grave danger". Satmar Hasidism explains that the constant wars in Israel are a fulfilment of ignoring this oath.
Teitelbaum saw his opposition to Zionism as a way of protecting Jewish lives and preventing bloodshed. Although some Haredi rabbis may agree with this idea, the general view of Agudath Israel and many other orthodox rabbis is that for all practical purposes, through participating in the Israeli government, efforts can be made to promote religious Judaism in Israel. Teitelbaum, however, felt that any participation in the Israeli government, even voting in elections, was a grave sin, because it contributes to the spiritual and physical destruction of innocent people. He was openly opposed to the views of Agudath Israel, and until the present time, the official Satmar movement refuses to become a member of the Agudath Israel organization or party. The Satmar view is that only the Jewish Messiah can bring about a new Jewish government in the Holy Land, and even if a government declaring itself religious would be formed before the Messiah, it would be illegitimate due to its improper arrogation of power.
While the Satmar Hasidim are opposed to the present secular government of Israel, many of them live in and visit Israel. Teitelbaum himself lived for about a year in Jerusalem after his escape from Europe, but before the establishment of the State of Israel, and visited Israel after moving to the United States.
Teitelbaum was very stringent in many particulars of Jewish law. He argued with Rabbi Moshe Feinstein over the proper height of a mechitza (divider between men and women in the synagogue). Feinstein held that the mechitza need go only up to the shoulders of the average woman, while Teitelbaum opined that the mechitza should not allow women to be seen at all.
Teitelbaum was very opposed to the use of a tube for metzitza during circumcision of a baby boy, and felt that this change in the procedure would spiritually lead to more promiscuity.
Teitelbaum encouraged all married chassidic men to wear ceremonial fur hats. Although these were not worn by most chassidic men in Hungary before the war, Teitelbaum felt that in America it was more important for people to look very different from the non-Jews, in order to prevent assimilation, which was far more rampant in America than it had been in Hungary.
Teitelbaum stressed the importance of tznius for women. He was a strong proponent of the Hungarian hasidic custom for married women to shave their head every month before immersion in the mikveh (ritual bath). He also strongly opposed the wearing of wigs by married women. He felt on Jewish legal grounds that this was prohibited; he wanted women to cover their hair with something else instead, such as a turban. He also insisted that all women and girls wear thick, brown stockings with seams. The stockings had to be at least 90 denier. Due to the lack of a general market for such stockings, Teitelbaum encouraged one of his hasidim to manufacture the stockings on his own. The stockings were called "Palm," the English translation of Teitelbaum's last name.
Teitelbaum prohibited the ownership of a television in the house. This was in the 1950s, when TV was still heavily censored for promiscuous content. He also bought and oversaw his own Yiddish language newspaper, Der Yid, for two reasons: First, he felt that the other Yiddish newspapers at the time contained articles that were prohibited to read--because of their promiscuous content and because they didn't respect haredi leaders. In addition, Teitelbaum wanted a platform from which to spread his anti-Zionist ideas.
Teitelbaum held that boys and girls shouldn't meet more than two or three times before getting engaged, just like it had been done in Hungary.
Joel Teitelbaum
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