Everything about Joel Teitelbaum totally explained
Rabbi
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 revivified many Hungarian and
Transylvanian Jewish survivors of the
Holocaust and led to a renaissance of the 'Ungarish' (Hungary-originated) Hasidic community.
Early years
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). An impetuous 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. Teitelbaum was opposed to Horowitz's appointment - mainly because those who had appointed him were eager to change various decrees that Teitelbaum had imposed on the Krole Jewish community - and he nominated another successor in his place, his relative 'Rabbi Shmual Gross'. As a result of Teitelbaum's interference in the affairs of the community after his departure, a nasty feud developed between his devotees and the hasidim of Spinka - who supported Horowitz. The feud smoldered on right up until the community was destroyed during the
Holocaust. Horowitz himself was murdered in
Auschwitz. After
World War II, Horowitz's son,
Samuel Tzvi Horowitz (aka 'Reb Hershele Spinker'), became the Spinka Rebbe of
Williamsburg, NY. He reconciled with Teitelbaum and they maintained cordial relations.
Private life and family
By the age of 17, he married Chavah, the daughter of Rabbi Abraham Chaim Halbershtam, the Plantcher Rav. She died in the 1920s and, after a couple 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, R' Zalmen Leib Teitelbaum, the Rav of Sighet; and Roysele (the only of his children to survive the holocaust), who married R' Lipa Teitelbaum, the Semihaya Rav, and died during pregnancy in 1953 in the US. His second wife didn't bear him any children. Thus, whilst his second wife survived him, he wasn't survived by any children. This was the source of a succession dispute after his death.
The Holocaust
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. Although Kastner intended to rescue only Hungarian Zionists on a special train bound for
Switzerland, Teitelbaum and a few other religious Jews were also given seats. (Some of Teitelbaum's followers believe it was the result of a dream in which Kastner's father-in-law was informed by his late mother that if Teitelbaum were not included on the train, none of the passengers would survive.)
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.
Criticism has been leveled against Rabbi Titelbaum for having advised his flock not to emigrate to British controlled
Palestine before and during the war years due to his opposition to the
Zionist ideology whereas he was rescued by a a Zionist mission.
Community builder
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.
Scholar
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.
He loved scholars and sharp people, and visionaries like the great Reb
Chaim Michael Dov Weissmandl and Reb
Shraga Feivel Mendlowitz.
Opposition to modern Zionism
Teitelbaum was renowned for his vocal religiously motivated opposition to Zionism in all arenas. This approach was a continuation of his father's views and of other prominent
Hasidic rabbis. His father and predecessor was Rabbi
Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum. He encouraged his followers to form self-sufficient communities without the help of the
State of Israel and forbade "official" engagement with it.
Before World War II, most Hasidic rabbis, as well as many other prominent
Orthodox 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 who would be sent if the Jewish people merited his arrival. During the current exile, the Jewish people are expected to perform the
mitzvot. In addition, they're 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 Torah Jews and communities.
In the view of Rebbi Teitelbaum's followers, the current
State of Israel, that was
founded by people that included some anti-religious personalities and 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 three oaths
The core citations from classical Judaic sources cited and utilized by Teitelbaum in his
ideological war of words against modern Zionism are based on an important teaching from the
Talmud in tractate Kethuboth 111a: Based on a passage from the
Song of Songs in the
Tanakh (
Hebrew Bible) wherein God made the Israelites promise "to wait for Him before arousing his love."
» King Solomon in Song of Songs thrice adjured the "daughters of Jerusalem" not to arouse or bestir the love until it's ready." The Talmud explains that we've been foresworn, by three strong oaths not to ascend to the Holy Land as a group using force, not to rebel against the governments of countries in which we live, and not by our sins, to prolong the coming of moshiach; as is written in Tractate Kesubos 111a . (External Link
)
The Zionist State of Israel then, is seen by Satmar Hasidim 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 seen as "fulfilment" of that prophecy.
Thus, 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. Rabbi 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.
Bibliography
- Vayoel Moshe (1958)
- Al HaGeulah VeAl HaTemurah (1967)
- Divrei Yoel
- Dibros Kodesh
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