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Rebbe, Rav, and Rosh Yeshivah of Satmar:

Rav Aharon
Teitelbaum, Shlita
A Memorable Visit to a Legendary Court
Although he stands at the helm of one of the most powerful chassidic groups in the world,
commanding a vast array of communal organizations and institutions, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum
of Satmar has remained an active Rav and a full-time Rosh Yeshivah. From the village of Kiryas
Yoel to the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg, Mishpacha views the varied institutions and
initiatives spearheaded by a Rebbe who is unafraid of failure; in conversations with chassidim
and gabbaim, fascinating stories and anecdotes paint a vibrant picture of the scion of a royal
family, the beloved nephew of the great visionary, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum, ztz”l. And in a quiet
room, the Rebbe speaks, his keen insight resonating in his carefully chosen, concisely worded
message. A glimpse of greatness; a visit to the Satmar Rebbe’s legendary court

by Rabbi Yitzchok Frankfurter Two gabbaim of the Rebbe are in charge furnished. A long rectangular table Street, which stands above the renowned short minutes everything has been clearly abandoned his beloved yeshivah and its
here on this late Tuesday evening. One occupies most of the tight space, which Shul of Sighet on the ground floor, to meet understood and resolved.” talmidim, but merely took on the additional
I reflect with Reb Chaim Shlomo that

S
hould you nonchalantly pass by
this modest Brooklyn brownstone
on Hewes Street in the heart of the
Jewish neighborhood of Williamsburg,
chances are you’d hardly take notice
of it, let alone imagine that this simple,
three-story nondescript structure serves
as a satellite headquarters for the spiritual
leader of one of the largest chassidic
movements of the world. But nothing
here is as it appears at first glance. The
minute you turn the knob, ascend a
steep semicircular stairwell, and enter
the inner chambers of the second-story
dwelling, you are greeted by a multitude
of startling revelations and fascinating
surprises.
gabbai, Reb Shmiel HaCohen Friedman, a
noted talmid chacham, is preoccupied with
writing the kvittlach for the chassidim. He
is sitting at a desk, listening attentively to
a middle-aged man who is reciting a list
of people that the Rebbe should pray for,
with mention of some special requests. As
the man speaks, Reb Shmiel transcribes his
requests on a small piece of paper, which
the man will hand to the Rebbe during his
audience. The second gabbai, Reb Chaim
Shlomo Fisher, an exceptionally bright
young man who serves as the primary
gatekeeper of the Rebbe, joins me for a
spirited conversation.
The narrow room in which I speak
to Reb Chaim Shlomo is rather simply
seems to serve as both a conference area
and a dining room. The door to the room
opens to an antechamber where a crowd
of approximately twenty to thirty people,
including a small number of women and
children, are speaking in hushed voices;
all patiently wait to enter the Rebbe’s inner
chamber in order to gain a private audience
with him and to receive his blessings. The
gathering is relatively small in relation to
the countless followers that this Rebbe has.
Yet there is a sense of purpose, anticipation,
and spirituality in the air that seems to
sweep me in. The Rebbe travels each
Tuesday evening from his primary home in
Kiryas Yoel, in Orange County, New York,
to this second-story apartment on Hewes
his chassidim who seek his counsel.
The line of chassidim in front of
the Rebbe’s door moves quite rapidly.
A chassid is with the Rebbe for about a
minute or two, and then leaves with a
glow of serenity. The speed with which
the Rebbe sees his chassidim is far more
akin to what I’ve seen in Gur, than in any
other place, especially Skver. When I ask
Reb Chaim Shlomo about the Rebbe’s
hurried style, he confirms that the Rebbe
is not one to engage a chassid in lengthy
conversations. “His answers are concise
and to the point. Many times a chassid
thinks that he will need hours with the
Rebbe. He subsequently learns that the
Rebbe has a very quick mind; in a few
in the relatively short period of time since
his coronation, the Rebbe has established
himself as a strong and charismatic leader,
which has not gone unnoticed by the
chareidi world at large. Reb Chaim Shlomo
seems unimpressed by this observation.
“How can one not be an admirer and
a chassid of the Rebbe?” he asks me. “Do
you know any other Rebbe like him? When
the Rebbe first became the Rosh Yeshivah
of Satmar,” he proceeds, “he became fully
involved with the talmidim of the yeshivah
while delivering many shiurim during the
week. Later, when he became the Rav of
the kehillah and got involved in rabbinical
issues such as kashrus and the like, he never
role and mantle of a Rav, while remaining
a full-fledged Rosh Yeshivah. Now that he
serves as Rebbe as well, he is still both a
full-fledged Rosh Yeshivah and a Rav.” I
am later to learn that others, including Rav
Chaim Leib Katz, the Sardiheler Rav, and
Rav Simcha Bunim Cohen of Lakewood,
shlita, have made similar observations in
public speeches.
Reb Chaim Shlomo continues: “This
Rebbe spends each day from seven in
the morning till seven at night davening,
learning, and teaching at the yeshivah.
Contrary to the customs of other Rebbes,
on Friday night he doesn’t conduct a
tisch for the chassidim, but immediately
following Maariv he makes Kiddush for

36 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09 37


The Klausenburger Rebbe of Netanya checking the
kashrus of a chicken with the Satmar Rebbe at the Kiryas
Yoel shlachthoiz
“How can one not be an admirer and a chassid of the Rebbe?”
he asks me. “Do you know any other Rebbe like him?”
his talmidim and eats the seudah together
with his beloved bochurim. He spends four
to five hours with them, sharing insights
on the parshah and telling them tales of
tzaddikim — usually of a tzaddik whose
yahrtzeit falls that week.”
Reb Chaim Shlomo is suddenly
distracted as he has to tend to a phone call
from a chassid in Australia who is seeking
the Rebbe’s opinion on a medical issue.
He goes to see the Rebbe on the other
side of the apartment to relay the chassid’s
question.
On his return, I tell Reb Chaim Shlomo
that I am truly spellbound by the Rebbe’s
threefold role. And I am not overstating
my feelings. One would think that a leader
such as the Satmar Rebbe would spend
Rav Malkiel Kotler, Rosh Yeshivah of Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood, with the Rebbe.
Standing between them is the Rebbe's gabbai, Reb Chaim Shlomo Fisher
38 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09
most of his time immersed in communal
affairs and in the management of his
worldwide network of chedarim, yeshivos,
batei medrash, girls’ schools, charity
organizations, and so much more.
The Rebbe would later tell me that the
time he spends in the yeshivah make up
the sweetest hours of his day and the most
tranquil and precious moments of his life.
A Glimpse of Royalty The Satmar
Rebbe appears somewhat slighter in person
than he does in photographs. Though he’s
sitting regally in his chamber at the head of
a long table, I notice a certain restlessness
in him, or to put it more accurately, a certain
fire. The Rebbe has no time to waste. His
The Beirach Moshe, ztz”l, at the Prague
airport with Reb Elimelech Frankfurter,
the author’s father, en route to Kosice
sense of purpose and mission is palpable.
He smiles brightly at me as I approach
him. I place a kiss on his outstretched hand
and he asks me to be seated. I tell him
my name, and he tells me that he knows
my father and is aware that he hails from
the city of Kosice, Slovakia. Rav Aharon
had traveled to Kosice together with his
parents; the previous Rebbe, ztz”l; and his
Rebbetzin. My father was also present on
this memorable trip, which began with a
bomb threat by some pranksters on their
charter flight out of New York’s Kennedy
Airport, delaying their departure for
many hours. After finally arriving at their
destination, my father led the Rebbe, ztz”l,
and his family on a tour of the historical
sites of his hometown.
The Rebbe, however, is now interested
in hearing my impression of the many
Satmar institutions I had the great privilege
to visit in the past few days. I do not
hesitate to tell him how humbled I was by
the exhilarating experience of witnessing
firsthand the massive infrastructure that is
serving not only his followers, but much of
Klal Yisrael as well.
The discussion leads to the Satmar
village of Kiryas Yoel, in Orange County,
New York. I ask the Rebbe whether living
in an isolated community prevents one
from abandoning Yiddishkeit, or perhaps
vice versa. He thinks for a moment, and
then points out that the fallout rate among
the youth in Eretz Yisrael, especially
among girls, is far greater than it is in the
United States. “And the reason for this is
simple. In Eretz Yisrael, there are no social
or language barriers between the chareidim
and secular people. Even the wrongdoers
there are Jewish. In America, there is still a
social divide between a Yiddish-speaking
chassid and a non-Jew.”
I tell the Rebbe that when I was studying
in Jerusalem, I had a chavrusa who was a
Satmar chassid. Before he got engaged, he
telephoned the gabbai of the late Satmar
Rebbe, the Divrei Yoel, ztz”l, to receive the
Rebbe’s endorsement and blessings for the
shidduch. The response that he got was that
the Rebbe would agree to the shidduch on
the express condition that the girl commit
to living in America. “Is this something the
Rebbe too would demand?” I ask.
The Rebbe chuckles in a lighthearted
manner, and tells me that “today we cannot
request that everyone should immigrate to
America.”
As the discussion progresses, I realize
how many public issues and private matters
the Rebbe has to deal with on a daily basis
and wonder aloud how the Rebbe manages
to spend close to twelve hours every day in
the yeshivah. In place of an answer, I get
a warm invitation for me to join him. “If
the Rebbe would make me feel welcome
there,” I tell him half jokingly, “I would
most definitely consider taking the Rebbe
up on the kind offer.”
A Single Focus When one tries to
glean some insight into the captivating
personality of Rav Aharon of Satmar,
whose life has had its fair share of angst and
distractions, a multifaceted image emerges,
whose every facet consists of: Torah,
Torah, and once again, Torah. This Rebbe
seems to be forever immersed in learning,
teaching, or composing chiddushei Torah,
primarily on the most complicated areas
of Shas. He is a chassidic leader with
a worldwide following and a colossal
network of institutions, yet he spends his
days in the yeshivah with the bochurim
just like a small town Rosh Yeshivah
would. When he’s not davening together
with his talmidim or delivering a shiur, he
is in his room right off the yeshivah’s beis
medrash, learning together with one of the
bochurim.
One of the greatest sources of pride
for the Rebbe’s followers, I am quick to
learn, is the widely distributed weekly
publication Shulchan Shel Melachim,
which is printed by his chassidim in Bnei
Brak. It regularly transcribes a recent
conversation the Rebbe had with a Rav
or Rosh Yeshivah. These talks, his loyal
chassidim boast, demonstrate the Rebbe’s
astounding fluency in every segment of
the Torah. The Rebbe always opens a
conversation with a Rosh Yeshivah or Rav
by asking: “Vus lerent men yetzt ba enk? –
What are they learning by you now?” And
The Rebbe arriving in Eretz Yisrael for his
chasunah along with his father, the Beirach
Moshe
The Rebbe at his chuppah. To his right
is the Beirach Moshe; to his left is the
Vizhnitzer Rebbe
“The Great Light”: even as a youngster,
he was recognized by the Divrei Yoel as a
luminary. The Rebbe engrossed in a sefer
as a yungerman
Respected by the leaders of the generation:
The Rebbe, the Beirach Moshe, the Pupa
Rav, ztz”l, and the Mattersdorfer Rav
whatever the reply, he delves directly into
that topic, demonstrating perfect mastery.
The chassidim tell me that many rabbanim
and Roshei Yeshivos have confessed that
they prepare themselves before they visit,
or are being visited by, the Rebbe, because
they know that he’s at home in every
subject they wish to discuss.
Reb Moshe Aharon Hoffman, an
intelligent, articulate, and charming
man, who heads Satmar’s Williamsburg
institutions, illustrates this by a personal
experience: “I had the privilege of taking
Rav Binyamin Remer, shlita, of the
Tchebiner Yeshivah (son-in-law of Rav
Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, shlita) where my
son was learning at the time, to visit the
Rebbe during the Rebbe’s trip to Israel last
year. When the Rebbe entered the room, this
was the first question he asked Rav Remer:
His chassidim have no
interest in discussing
supernatural miracles;
over and over again they
will tell you of the Rebbe’s
love for the Torah
‘Vus lerent men yetzt?’ When Rav Rimmer
named the masechta, a lively discussion
ensued between them for the next thirty
minutes in the sugyos of that masechta.
I also had the privilege of flying with the
Rebbe to London last year. The Rebbe
took along a briefcase full of seforim,
and during the entire flight he learned and
wrote chiddushei Torah. He didn’t close an
eye, although a heavy week was waiting
for him. I stayed together with the Rebbe
the entire week that followed, and other
than the two to three hours he managed to
sleep at night, every free minute he had he
grabbed a Gemara.”
Ask a knowledgeable Satmar chassid
what the Rebbe’s greatest avodah and the
spiritual high point of his day is, and he’ll
most likely tell you that it is those moments
when he recites the Bircas HaTorah each
morning. At least that is what Reb Mattes
Deitch, who as a young bochur frequently
stayed overnight at the Rebbe’s home,
tells me. Reb Mattes relates that the Rebbe
would recite the Bircas HaTorah with such
great care and concentration that hearing it
has left an everlasting impression on him.
Indeed, when the Rebbe was still a young
man, his landlord once asked his father,
the Beirach Moshe, ztz”l, to please tell his
39
son not to recite the Bircas HaTorah with
such vigor at four o’clock in the morning,
as it would wake up the other residents of
the apartment building in which he then
resided.
If you were to inquire about the Yamim
Tovim of the Rebbe, you would again hear
that the two Yamim Tovim one should not
miss spending with the Rebbe are the ones
whose central theme, interestingly, is that
of Torah: Simchas Torah, which the Rebbe
spends with his chassidim in Williamsburg,
and Shavuos, which he spends in Kiryas
Yoel. I am told that when the Rebbe dances
with the Torah on Simchas Torah morning,
there are typically over seven thousand men
present in the Williamsburg beis medrash,
in addition to bochurim and children. Many
who are unaffiliated with Satmar attend as
well in order to get a glimpse of the Rebbe "A leader interacts best with talmidim through though medium of Torah": testing the
making na’anuim, and to watch the Rebbe tinokos shel beis rabban
move the Sefer Torah in various directions,
according to the teaching of Kabbalah. While clinging to the ways is away, and posts the address where he
Twice a year, the Rebbe permits will be staying so that they may send
himself the luxury of taking a vacation of the past and insisting in him their solutions. This creates great
for a few weeks. The Rebbe takes a break enthusiasm and competition among the
from his daily routine at the yeshivah by
his conversation with me bochurim to come up with a solution, so
traveling to a mountainous climate, where that nothing has changed, that they may write it down and mail it
he learns with a chavrusa from morning to the Rebbe.
till night. The Rebbe’s longtime chavrusa this Rebbe is taking great The chassidim point out something
from his kollel years — Rav Yaakov Elye else as well. When the Rebbe travels he
Unsdorfer, shlita, of Montreal, Canada, strides to secure the future. refuses to ride in a motorcade and shuns all
who is unaffiliated with Satmar and who royal-like fanfare. The Rebbe arrives at his
happens to be a Klausenberger chassid — He is breathing new vigor Chassidus’s summer camps unannounced,
is specially flown to where the Rebbe is so that the campers and the staff do not
vacationing, for this purpose. The Rebbe’s into the life force of today, have a chance to prepare as much as a
vacations are reminiscent of the poetic
lines of Rav Shlomo Ibn Gabirol: “I run
so that he may lead his flock sign announcing his arrival. He arrives
early in the morning, spends time with the
away from G-d, to G-d.” into the unknown tomorrow, campers in the beis medrash, watches how
Prior to leaving on vacation, he tells they learn, tests them, then davens with
his beloved talmidim that he would like and into the day after them, and delivers a chizuk drashah after
to depart from them with a question on breakfast. He strongly believes a leader
the sugya that they are learning. He asks interacts best with talmidim through the
them to search for an answer while he medium of Torah.

The Rebbe along with his talmidim, checking romaine lettuce to be used as maror at the Pesach Seder

40 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09 41

 the chareidi community today; he has also
left time for himself to continue to study
and teach Torah at the yeshivah throughout
the day.
Those priorities are starkly clear to
his inspired staffers, who tell me that
they know how important the study of
Torah is for the Rebbe, and they therefore
put in extra hours and effort so that the
Rebbe is free to fulfill his life’s mission:
to continuously learn and teach Torah.
Perhaps their loyalty and efforts play some
part in the Rebbe’s ability to find the time to
compose and write countless commentaries
and chiddushim, twenty volumes of which
have been published to date.

"The Sigheter's Aharon" His

Kiryas Yoel’s new reception hall, built to facilitate adherence to the Rebbe’s diligence in learning Torah was already
courageous wedding takkanos legendary when he was a youngster. Rav
Aharon was born in 1948, to the late
In addition to his diligence and Satmar Rebbe, Rav Moshe Teitelbaum,
hasmadah in limud HaTorah, the Rebbe’s Prior to leaving on vacation, ztz”l, known by the name of the sefer he
memory is equally impressive. During a authored, the Beirach Moshe. He was his
recent visit to a cheder to test the pupils, he tells his beloved talmidim parent’s’ second child, but eldest son. In
I am told by a chassid, he turned to the light of the fact that his great-uncle, Grand
teacher and asked whether he recalls a that he would like to depart Rebbe Yoel Teitelbaum, ztz”l, founding
particular tract in Avnei Meluim they had Rebbe of the Satmar Chassidus, had lost
studied together forty-five years prior. from them with a question three of his daughters during his lifetime
Rav Aharon’s daily schedule is and had no surviving offspring of his own
crammed with Torah learning. He wakes on the sugya that they are at the time, the young Aharon became
up in the morning to learn. Then he spends learning. He asks them to particularly close to him, regularly eating
the entire day in the yeshivah, studying and the Shabbos afternoon meal at Rav Yoel’s
teaching Torah. At midnight, when the last search for an answer while table, along with his older sister. Following
of his chassidim have departed, he takes out the seudah, Rav Yoel — also known as
a Gemara once again, until he falls asleep he is away, and posts the the Divrei Yoel — would test Aharon, and
while learning Torah. That he nonetheless would frequently express his admiration
finds the time during the day to manage his address where he will be for the boy’s knowledge and scholastic
mammoth projects and communal affairs talents. The Divrei Yoel would lovingly
with such great aptitude and skill is perhaps staying so that they may refer to him as “the Sigheter’s Aharon.”
one of the most wondrous of miracles Today, when the present Rebbe delivers a
that this Rebbe performs on a daily basis.
send him their solutions dvar Torah, he always recites something
Indeed, I take notice that his chassidim
have no interest in discussing supernatural
miracles; over and over again they will tell
you of the Rebbe’s love for the Torah.
There is something else at play here
as well. Satmar is not run by the Rebbe
alone, or by a single visionary aided by an
inept group of followers. Each and every
Satmar activist that I meet is exceptionally
motivated, dedicated, and astute. Clearly,
the Rebbe has selected outstanding
individuals to serve the community and its
countless institutions, and he gives them
the freedom and space for them to operate
as they see fit. Though he has the final
say in all important matters, he refuses to
micromanage their affairs. Through this
enviable managerial approach, worthy of
a most skilled chief executive officer, the
Rebbe has not only built up, in a short
period of time, one of the largest and
efficient network of chedarim, yeshivos,
community facilities, and the like to serve The Rebbe with the Gerrer Rebbe

42 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09 43

he heard from, or saw written by, his great-
uncle.
During his teens, young Aharon
left the Satmar cheder to attend the
Sigheter Yeshivah headed by his father.
Nevertheless, whenever his great-uncle
Rav Yoelish delivered a shiur in the Satmar
Yeshivah, Aharon would always attend.
The chassidim relate that once when he
came late to a shiur, the Divrei Yoel said
that he now must start the shiur from the
beginning so that his favorite disciple,
Aharon, would be able to follow it.
When Rav Aharon was barely twenty,
his great-uncle wrote him a letter in
which he addressed the young scholar as
HaMaor HaGadol, the Great Light. This
is quite an astounding title, since Rav
Yoel addressed hardly anyone like that,
let alone a young man.
At age seventeen, Aharon married the
daughter of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, shlita, of
Bnei Brak, thus becoming a brother-in-law
of the present Rebbes of Belz and Skver,
who are married to the Vizhnitzer Rebbe’s
daughters as well. While few expected this
merging between the anti-Agudah Satmar
and Vizhnitz, during his engagement, his
great-uncle, the late Satmar Rebbe wrote a
letter to the kallah’s grandfather, the Imrei
Chaim of Vizhnitz, ztz”l, and her father,
the present Vizhnitzer Rebbe, expressing
his heartfelt mazel tov blessings that they
see much nachas from the newly engaged
couple. Out of admiration for his new
grandchild, the Imrei Chaim is known to
have kissed Rav Aharon on his forehead
during the Shabbos sheva brachos.
Following his marriage, Rav Aharon
stayed on for a period of time in Bnei
Brak, where he attended Kollel Chazon
Ish. During that time he befriended Rav
Shmuel Wosner, shlita. The Rebbe and
Rav Wosner continue to enjoy a close
relationship to this day, their age difference
notwithstanding.
A chassid tells me that when the Rebbe
was still in his twenties, he acquired
expertise in the complex halachic area of
writing a divorce. One of the first gittin
written in Staten Island, New York, was
arranged under his auspices when he was
thirty years old, in conjunction with two
other rabbanim. Until then many had
refrained from writing a get there, due to
questions surrounding the spelling of the
name of the area. The chassid later e-mails
me a copy of a teshuvah in Igros Moshe
(Even HaEzer IV 99), where Rav Moshe
Feinstein, ztz”l, writes: “The get prepared
by … Rav Aharon Teitelbaum, who is the
Rav of Kahal Atzei Chaim of Sighet … is
kosher without any hesitation and the way
it is written in this divorce is the proper way
divorces should be written there …” To the
44 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09
The rebbe with Rav Mattisyahu Salomon, mashgiach of Beth Medrash Govoha of Lakewood
The chiddushim that come to his mind then are what relax him.
Had the Rebbe never have had a worry in his life, think of all those
thousands of pilpulim the world would have been missing”
present day, he tells me, when a question
arises regarding the spelling of a name in a
divorce, many rabbanim turn to the Rebbe
for his expert opinion.
In 1980, when his father was named
successor to the Divrei Yoel, Rav Aharon’s
appointment to head the Satmar Yeshivah
in Kiryas Yoel was therefore a logical
choice. In 1984 he was crowned as the Rav
of the Satmar kehillah in Kiryas Yoel.
In April of 2006, after the passing of his
father, who had served as the Grand Rebbe
of Satmar for almost twenty-seven years,
many of his followers named Rav Aharon
as his successor. There has, however, been
a split in the community and there is a
sizable Satmar kehillah today, especially
Not your typical shtetl: A Kiryas Yoel
firefighter pictured beside his fire engine
in Williamsburg and Yerushalayim, which
is not under his leadership but that of
his younger brother, Rav Zalman Leib
Teitelbaum, shlita, a widely respected
Rebbe in his own right.
A Fearless Innovator Rav Aharon,
a faithful follower of the ways of his father
and great-uncle, is at the same time a bold
leader, and some of his greatest initiatives
are manifest in Kiryas Yoel. This upstate
village is named for the Divrei Yoel, who
conceived the idea of relocating a part of
the Satmar community to a location that
was a little over an hour’s drive from
the commercial center of New York City
but yet was also more secluded from the
harmful influences and immorality of the
outside world. The Divrei Yoel himself
helped select the location a few years
before his passing in 1979 and was the
driving spirit behind the project. Fourteen
Satmar families originally settled there.
Today, there are over 3,500.
It is a relatively mild March morning,
and the sun is out, yet I see few people on
the streets. The high-density townhouses
and condominiums that make up this
upstate village seem to be drawing a veil
over its many residents. There is certainly a
stronger sense of tranquility in the winding,
hilly, and tree lined streets of Kiryas Yoel
than one senses in Boro Park or Bnei Brak,
but it is still a far cry from what one would
imagine suburban living to be like. I learn
that less than 6 percent of housing units in
Kiryas Yoel are single, detached houses, a
lower percentage than in the urban Bronx.
Between the densely built structures,
one can still spot a breathtakingly beautiful
mountainous vista. But perhaps not for
too much longer. The population growth
here is so strong that it keeps on doubling
every few years. In 1990, there were 7,400
people in Kiryas Yoel; in 2000, 13,100.
Today the population is estimated to be
over 25,000. Due to the rapid population
growth occurring in Kiryas Yoel, the
village government, which is run almost
exclusively by loyal followers of the
Rebbe, has undertaken various annexation
efforts to expand its area.
The streets here are named after the
who’s who of Satmar, such as Getzel
Berger Street, named for the legendary
Satmar philanthropist of London. But
there are a few other fascinating things that
immediately catch my attention. There is
the Kiryas Yoel firehouse, staffed by an
all-volunteer chassidic force of firefighters.
The sanitation trucks, too, are driven by
chassidim. There are no female drivers
in sight. Should you happen to spot one,
she is most likely a non-Jewish woman
driving a car service on her way to pick up
a Satmar lady who would only travel with
a female driver.
When Kiryas Yoel was established by
the Divrei Yoel, he stated publicly that he
envisioned the village to be not a mere
shtetl, but a city. This morning as I make
my way through its streets, it is hard for
me not to think how prophetic those words
turned out to be. Though everyone residing
here is chareidi, Kiryas Yoel is not at all a
monolithic little shtetl, but a very dynamic
and multi-colored metropolis. It has no
less than sixty-six different shuls, not all
of them belonging to Chassidus Satmar
or to the adherents of the present Rebbe.
Yet there is a surprising sense of tolerance
here. In the dairy restaurant, I spot the
newspaper Der Blatt, which is loyal to
the Rebbe, right next to a newspaper of a
group that opposes his leadership.
Reb Mattes Deitch tells me that when
the Rebbe once met Rav Chaim Kreiswirth,
ztz”l, the late Rav of Anwerp, Rav Chaim
asked the Rebbe which subject served as
the basis for the bulk of his chiddushei
Torah. The Rebbe responded that his
deepest insights stemmed from “Vayidom
Aharon — and Aharon was silent.” When
he chooses to remain quiet and desists from
responding to his critics and detractors, the
Rebbe then said, he gains unprecedented
inspiration and insights into the Torah.
Another follower of the Rebbe
explained to me the Rebbe’s attitude as
follows: “The Rebbe has one way of
dealing with every difficulty: he secludes
himself in a room with a Gemara and
immerses himself in a complicated sugya.
The chiddushim that come to his mind
then are what relax him. Had the Rebbe
never have had a worry in his life, think of
all those thousands of pilpulim the world
would have been missing.”
One of the Rebbe’s pet project is
Kiryas Yoel’s recently expanded and
refurbished poultry beis hashechitah, with
an output of tens of thousands of kosher
chickens every day. This Sunday morning,
I find it to be particularly busy. Trailers and
trailers of live chickens fill the front of the
loading area, waiting for their crates to be
removed by the shlachthoiz’s Mexican
employees. I don a white cloth knee-length
The standards of kashrus and technical efficiency the Rebbe has
instituted here are of such high caliber that its chickens are in
demand throughout the kosher eating world
The Rebbe at sreifas chometz
jacket and a head covering similar to those
worn by surgical staff. Though I’m not
usually very enthusiastic at the sight of
blood, the sparkling efficiency of the clean,
shiny metallic machinery that moves the
slaughtered chickens down the assembly
line, from the five busy shochtim, to be
plucked, salted, cooled, and packed, makes
me forget for a moment the gore and strong
stench.
I am told that whenever a Rav or Rebbe
comes to visit Kiryas Yoel, Rav Aharon will
always ask him to go visit the plant, and to
subsequently advise him if it requires any
improvements. The standards of kashrus
and technical efficiency the Rebbe has
instituted here are of such high caliber that
its chickens are in demand throughout the
kosher eating world. In addition, the Rebbe
views its primary advantage as lying in
the fact that the shochtim don’t have to
travel and be away from their families for
consecutive days, which he maintains is
fraught with spiritual risk and danger. For
if the shochet is not on the required level of
purity, then the kashrus resulting from his
shechitah is compromised as well.
The Rebbe asked me later whether
I had the opportunity to see the beis
shechitah. When I responded that I did, and
that I nearly met the Rebbe there the other
day when he unexpectedly showed up to
inspect it, as he is wont to do, I noticed his
face light up in satisfaction.
In Texas, where Satmar shochtim
perform the shechitah of livestock,
the Chassidus is in the final stages of
45

The Rebbe with Rav Nissim Karelitz
building separate living quarters for their
shochtim. The residence will contain a
mikveh and a beis medrash, so that the
shochtim will have their religious needs
at their fingertips, sparing them from hotel
stays in questionable atmosphere and
surroundings.
Inside Kiryas Yoel’s kollel, several
rooms are devoted to the beis din. In
keeping with the Rebbe’s ruling, litigating
parties pay a mere $100 for the resolution
of their dispute. Additionally, no side
In keeping with the Rebbe’s
ruling, litigating parties pay a
mere $100 for the resolution
of their dispute. Additionally,
no side is permitted to attend
the hearings with a costly
toen prompting many to
elect rabbinical arbitration
as the forum to resolve
their misunderstandings
is permitted to attend the hearings with stay in kollel. He tells me that there isn’t
a costly toen, prompting many to elect one standard that applies to all. The length
rabbinical arbitration as the forum to of time one is to stay in kollel is dependent
resolve their misunderstandings. on one’s talents and accomplishments.
Though Satmar never maintained In this area, the Rebbe has been
a “Torah Only” philosophy, and a new innovative as well. He insists that young
building has recently been constructed for scholars whose fathers are businessmen
the express purpose of teaching people should have an equal opportunity to
trades, Rav Aharon has placed renewed become Dayanim and morei hora’ah
emphasis on continued Torah studies after within the community as those who come
marriage. I ask the Rebbe how many years from rabbinical families. Otherwise, he
after one’s marriage he believes one should feels, we will discourage many from
rising in Torah scholarship. In a departure
from past practice when most of the
Dayanim were from rabbinical families,
today Satmar has tens of young Dayanim
scattered throughout its various shuls and
neighborhoods who are chosen solely
on their own merits, and neither garb nor
yichus matter.
Along with the Rebbe’s innovative
sense is the fearless manner in which he
champions social causes. Recently, he
has made a concerted effort to curtail
extravagant weddings, and the financial
hardship that they often cause, by issuing
Unusual diligence, a phenomenal memory, and a burning love for learning mark every strict guidelines for wedding spending
shiur that the Rebbe gives in the community. In mid-February,
the Satmar community of Kiryas Yoel
inaugurated a wedding hall for families
looking to celebrate weddings in line with
these rules, and on my visit I’m impressed
to see how nicely furbished it is. I am
told that just weeks after the hall opened,
there’s already a waiting list for families
hoping to utilize the facility. In additional
cost-cutting measures, the Rebbe has
instructed parents of brides to refrain from
presenting their future sons-in-law with a
kosher Megillas Esther; parents of grooms
should refrain from presenting their future
daughters-in-law with a real diamond ring
but they should give a cubic zirconium
stone instead; one cannot celebrate a
The Rebbe learning in a mountain retreat with his long-time chavrusa, Rav Yaakov Elye separate tenayim event and should make
Unsdorfer

A Glorious History
The Satmar Chassidus which was founded and led by  Rebbe
Yoel Teitelbaum, ztz”l, (1887–1979), traces its roots to Rav Moshe
Teitelbaum, ztz”l, (1759–1841), of Ujhel, Hungary, known by the
name of the sefer he authored, the Yismach Moshe. Himself a
disciple of the great Polish chassidic leader Rabbi Yaakov Yitzchak
of Lublin, ztz”l, (the Chozeh of Lublin), the Yismach Moshe was
instrumental in bringing Chassidus to Hungary. He was succeeded
by his son, Rabbi Eluzar Nissan Teitelbaum of Drobitsch, ztz”l,
who was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum
of Sighet, ztz”l, author of Yetev Lev. The Yetev Lev was succeeded
by his son Rabbi Chananya Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum, ztz”l, author
of Kedushas Yom Tov.
The Kedushas Yom Tov had two sons: Rabbi Chaim Tzvi
Teitelbaum, the present Rebbe’s grandfather; and Rabbi Yoel
Teitelbaum, ztz”l, the present Rebbe’s great-uncle. The elder son,
Rav Chaim Tzvi, author of Atzei Chaim, succeeded his father as
Rebbe of Sighet. The younger, Rav Yoel, author of Divrei Yoel, was
rabbi in Urshava, Ukraine, and later in Kruly, Romania, eventually
moving to Satmar, where he became the Rav and formed the
chassidic community of Satmar. He was considered one of the
most respected and influential chassidic Rebbes in Hungary before
World War II.
In June 1944, the Divrei Yoel was one of a group of 1,640
people who were miraculously released from Bergen-Belsen.
The twenty-first of Kislev 5705 (1944), the day that the Divrei
Yoel crossed the border into Switzerland and was saved from the
Nazis, is celebrated to this day as a joyful holiday among Satmar
chassidim worldwide.
At first the Divrei Yoel emigrated to the British Mandate of
Palestine, where he founded a network of yeshivos in a number
of cities. However, he soon came into financial difficulties and
subsequently left for New York City to raise money for his growing
institutions. Shortly after his arrival in New York, the State of Israel
was founded, which he vehemently denounced. After living in
New York for a year, his American followers convinced him to
stay, largely due to political changes occurring in the Holy Land
concerning the founding of the State of Israel. In 1953 after the
death of Rabbi Zelig Reuven Bengis, ztz”l, the Divrei Yoel became
the fourth chief rabbi of Jerusalem’s Eida HaChareidis community;
however, he remained in New York, giving input and guidance
to his followers and colleagues in Jerusalem through personal
communications and his advisers.
In New York, the Divrei Yoel established a community in
Williamsburg, Brooklyn, beginning in the early 1950s, under the
name Congregation Yetev Lev. The Divrei Yoel’s efforts to rebuild
what was lost in the Holocaust also resulted in the acquisition
of land in upstate New York during the 1970s, where he spent
his final years and which was subsequently named Kiryas Yoel.
Other Satmar communities sprang up in London, Manchester,
Montreal, Buenos Aires, Antwerp, Bnei Brak, and Jerusalem,
where they continue to have a strong presence.
The Divrei Yoel was not survived by any children: his three
daughters died in his lifetime, and he never had sons. He was
succeeded by his nephew, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, author of
Beirach Moshe, who had been the chief rabbi of Senta (Serbian:
Cehta or Senta, Hungarian: Zenta) before World War II. After the
war, the Beirach Moshe returned to his father’s town of Sighet,
where he set up Jewish religious institutions. After being warned
of communist opposition to religion in Romania, the Beirach
Moshe fled to America, founding the Sighet beis medrash in the
Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. In 1966, the Beirach
Moshe moved to a new shul in the Boro Park section of Brooklyn,
and was known as the Sigheter Rav until 1980.
After his uncle’s passing, the board of directors of the central
Satmar congregation, with the overwhelming support of the vast
majority of Satmar chassidim, asked him to be the new Satmar
Rebbe. He told them to wait one year before formally crowning
him, and he was formally installed as the new Satmar Rebbe in
1980, on the first anniversary of his uncle’s death.
The Beirach Moshe steadfastly adhered to the ways of
the Divrei Yoel and would frequently say before he had to do
something or make a decision: “What would the Feter, ztz”l,
have said or done in this situation?” That was his guiding light to
everything he did.
Reb Moshe Aharon Hoffman relates the following story:
“Before I made my first son’s bar mitzvah I went with my family
to the Beirach Moshe for a brachah. It was in his later years when
he was already frail and would sometimes repeat something
many times. He started saying over and over that ‘this [pointing
to my children] is all the Feter’s arbet,’ meaning that he deserves
no credit for any of it. So I took the chutzpah and said: ‘Rebbe,
I understand that my wife and I, who are older, are the Feter’s
work, but the kids are already the Rebbe’s peiros.’ He became
emotional and motioned to my wife who was standing at the end
of the room: ‘Do you hear the nonsense he’s saying? If not for
the Feter I myself would have been nothing. So everything is the
Feter’s!’ This is one moment that I will never forget.”
Since the passing of the Beirach Moshe, many of his
followers chose Reb Aharon to lead them. He has proven to be
an exceptionally dynamic and charismatic leader in his own right.
The Beirach Moshe would tell his chassidim: “I pray that when
Mashiach will come that I will return the deposit that was placed in
my care to the Feter in the same condition I received it.” Though
Reb Aharon, too, seeks to emulate his great-uncle and father, he
seems to have taken a more proactive leadership role, as he seeks
to invigorate Satmar Chassidus as never before.

46 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09 47


Embracing the Torah that consumes his
entire existence: the Rebbe dancing at
a hachnassas sefer Torah
A constant presence in the beis medrash
Two chassidim enjoying the serene
atmosphere of Kiryas Yoel, a bastion of
Chassidus amid modern America
48 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09
do instead with reading the tenayim during
the vort, and much more.
The Rebbe was urged by some not
to institute these cost-cutting measures,
since past efforts had met only with
failure. His response: Past failures would
not discourage him from trying to do it
once again. And should his measures too
fail, he said, so be it. This Rebbe does not
suffer from the fear of failure, and many
see that indefatigable determination as
one of his greatest strengths.
During my audience, the gabbai
mentions that Mishpacha has recently
written an article about the Rebbe’s
guidelines for wedding spending, and I
notice that it warms his heart. The Rebbe
wants these measures to be publicized
so that people throughout the chareidi
world emulate them. When the Bobover
Rebbe, Rav Ben Zion Halberstam, shlita,
complimented him about these wedding
rules, he responded that although he
appreciates compliments, he would
much rather see Bobov institute similar
measures.
When I wonder aloud to Reb Moshe
Aharon Hoffman whether perhaps the
brief Mishpacha article didn’t do the
topic justice, his on-target response is:
“Even a bad article about extravagant
chasunah spending is okay, because it
keeps the issue alive. Churchill used to
say, you may speak about me good or bad;
just spell my name right.”
There can be no doubt that the Rebbe
has instilled a sense of purpose in this
community as it has seldom known
before. This renewed vigor has enabled it
do the unimaginable. In Williamsburg the
huge shul of the Rebbe, which is probably
the biggest in the neighborhood, was
built from scratch in just fourteen days!
The Rebbe’s new Talmud Torah building
in Williamsburg, with 110 classes for a
student body of 2,500 — considered to
be the world’s largest — was recently
constructed in a mere six months. Under
normal circumstances a project like that
should take a minimum of two years.
As of today, the Williamsburg
operation has cost approximately $60
million, and all of the funding came
from the Rebbe’s followers. Rav Shaya
Wolf Lev, the rosh hakahal of Satmar
in London, donated five million dollars
towards the purchase of the Talmud Torah
building, while Reb Meir Zelig Rispler, a
successful CPA and businessman, donated
another five million dollars towards the
purchase of the girls’ school building.
Reb Chaim Shlomo Fisher, the
Rebbe’s dedicated gabbai, tells me that
many wealthy followers would give more
if the Rebbe would pay them a visit, but
he is not ready to give up his post as Rosh
Yeshivah for that.
Perhaps what strikes me as the most
intriguing as I inspect the meticulously
maintained classrooms in the new
cheder building in Williamsburg is
how misconstrued is the public’s view
of Satmar as overly isolationist. In the
hallways, I see countless individuals in
modern dress. When I ask Reb Moshe
Aharon who these people are, he asks
me whether I ever heard of the slogan
“No Child Left Behind.” “We have over
twenty full-time therapists on staff for the
children who need such help; our Rebbe
doesn’t want a single child to be left
behind.”
Focusing Inward There are so
many things that captivate me about the
Rebbe, not the least being the clarity of
his thoughts. His statements to me might
be concise, but they are undoubtedly most
profound and thought provoking.
I ask the Rebbe whether he advocates
outreach programs for those who are
not shomer Torah and mitzvos. While
declining to give me a yes or no answer,
The Rebbe in a wheat field in
Arizona, where he is mehader
to obtain the driest possible
wheat for his matzos. Due the
minimal rainfall, Arizona’s wheat
is exceptionally dry. Rav Aharon
will go so far as to lie down
and check the wheat stalks to
ensure they are totally dry
49

For the bochurim of Satmar, it
is clear that Torah learning is
valued above all by their Rebbe
When the Rebbe was asked whether to apply for the
grant, he replied that you can’t teach a kid to stay away
from a computer when there’s one in his classroom
he instead articulates kernels of wisdom
about life.
“Outreach,” he tells me, “is not for
everyone. It can be fraught with danger.
The person who is trying to influence a
secular person to return may suddenly
find himself on a slippery slope, as he
may be influenced by the secularist.
True, Lubavitch and others have adopted
the approach of outreach. But the most
effective way to influence others is by
improving your own self. When you’re
behaving better, others, too, will improve.
Light is bound to spread. The Divrei Chaim
once said: ‘In my youth, I believed I’d be
able to change the world. A little later, I
thought I might change my countrymen.
As I grew older, I hoped to change the
people of my town. When I aged more, I
was hoping to change the members of my
family. Now,’ he said, ‘I wish that at least
I’d be able to change my own self.’ ”
Some have stated that the secular
people of our time are not the same as
those of the past, since they are considered
tinokos shenishbu, captives from infancy,
who are not responsible for their actions.
The Rebbe, however, takes perhaps a
more balanced approach. “Maybe those
who have recently come from Russia fall
under the category of tinokos shenishbu.
Regarding the others, there has been no
change in status.”
I shared with the Rebbe a response
I got from Reb Moshe Aharon when I
asked him how involved the Rebbe is in
the day-to-day operations of the mosdos.
Reb Moshe Aharon had told me that no
major decision is made before asking
the Rebbe for his guidance. Recently,
50 12 Nisan 5769 4.6.09
Satmar had the opportunity to receive a
large sum of money from a government
program that required that all classrooms
have computers with access to the
Internet. When the Rebbe was asked
whether to apply for the grant, he replied
that you can’t teach a kid to stay away
from a computer when there’s one in
his classroom, obtained in exchange for
money.
“Without meaning to brag,” the
Rebbe tells me, “I was one of the first to
recognize the danger of computers. Long
before the Internet was around, I saw in
the computer a machine that was destined
to cause great harm, and spoke about
this inherent danger publicly many years
ago. The problem is like this. I’m going
to teach the girls how to use a computer
and then I will scream how many spiritual
problems computers are fraught with?
Therefore, computer education is not in
our curriculum. If one wants to learn how
to use a computer on their own, that’s one
thing. But I will not teach it to them.”
He shares with me with apparent pride
that Mr. Rosenthal, owner and founder of
the kosher Internet program, JNet, had
told him that the ratio of customers in
Kiryas Yoel is proportionally much higher
than anywhere else.
Our conversation leads to the present
financial crisis, and I ask the Rebbe
whether the prohibition for yeshivos
in Israel to accept government-funded
assistance, a proscription that the Satmar
Rebbes have always insisted on, may
perhaps be relaxed due to the current
recession.
“Regarding the financial crisis,” he
tells me, “remember this: Hashem has
not declared bankruptcy in the past, nor
will He declare bankruptcy in the future.
We have an old Father, the Chasam Sofer
said, who has never changed, nor will He
ever change.”
When I reflect on my fascinating visit
to Satmar, the high point is doubtlessly
the audience I was privileged to have
with its revered Rebbe. While clinging to
the ways of the past and insisting in his
conversation with me that nothing has
changed, this Rebbe is taking great strides
to secure the future. He is breathing new
vigor into the life force of today, so that
he may lead his flock into the unknown
tomorrow, and into the day after. In
so doing, he has forged alliances with
many the leading rabbanim and Roshei
Yeshivos, and has become, in many ways,
not merely a Rebbe of Satmar but also a
rabban shel Yisrael.
But there was so much else as well.
I came to take a close-up look on a
chassidic movement that I had believed I
knew well, and I came away mesmerized
and transfixed by an experience that was
new, unfamiliar, and at the same time
exhilarating. n
Lag B’Omer in Kiryas Yoel
51