Meet the Satmar Hassidim Planning a Zionist Settlement

Sanguine

Sun, May 03 2015, 11:55 am

Quote:

Meet the Satmar Hassidim Planning a Zionist Settlement

They take part in anti-Israel demonstrations but secretly, they plan a haredi-Zionist agricultural community in Israel.

The Satmar Hassidic sect is infamous for its anti-Zionist creed, but according to a weekend exposé by Zvika Klein of Makor Rishon & NRG, a small group of the hassidim in New York City is secretly planning to make aliyah and establish a Zionist agricultural community.

The organization is named “Zoreah – Hassidim for Settling the Land of Israel” and includes mostly Satmar hassidim, as well as some hassidim from other dynasties. They were all raised to hate Zionism and the state of Israel, and some of them even attend anti-Israel protests to this day. But they all decided, after deep study, that making aliyah should be their main goal in life.

"There is great hatred for Zionism in the community I live in,” one of them told Klein. “Anything I say that can be understood as support for Zionism, will haunt me and my family. There is a real mafia out there that can threaten to throw my children out of the educational institutes, and since we do not have an alternative at the moment, I and the rest of my friends cannot expose our identities yet.”

Instead, the hassid said – they are opting for an approach to their dream that is gradual – “like everything having to do with the Redemption.”

The Satmar stream was established in Satu-Mare, Transylvania, in 1905, and moved its center to Williamsburg, Brooklyn, after World War 2. Its founder, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, saw Zionism as the root of all evil and the main cause of the misfortunes that befell the Jewish people in the 20th century. The stream is currently divided into two sections, both of which abhor Zionism.

"I grew up as a complete anti-Israeli,” one of the members of the secret stream told Klein. He is 34, married with seven children, and works in marketing. “In the Satmar institutes we were taught that there are 613 mitzvot plus the 'three vows' of the nation of Israel, one of which is not to make aliyah to the Land of Israel in an organized fashion. Once in a while, the Yeshiva Head would give a speech and tell the students that the State of Israel is based on the uprooting of religion, and that it tries to turn Jews into non-Jews.”

Starting to ask questions

In addition, he said, the students would be bused to 2nd Avenue several times a year to demonstrate opposite the Israeli consulate, when an Israeli prime minister or MK visited. However, in his late 20s, he began asking questions. “When friends in the yeshiva told me stories, I simply fell in love with the Land of Israel. The access to internet and to the world also exposes you to a different reality, one you did not previously know. I decided that Israel is the place for me.”

The man, who is referred to by the pseudonym Aaron in the report, went on to relate that he and other Satmar hassidim who were frustrated with the anti-Zionism they were raised upon, began praying together in Williamsburg, at their own “shtibel,” and did so in the style of Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, which is not accepted in any other local synagogue.

"Bit by bit, more congregants who were looking for something more free joined us. It made sense that these people would also open up and begin to love Israel. We have a Whatsapp group with 50 members and an internet blog as well.”

The plans to make aliyah are very real. Members of the group have alreaady visited Israel in search of a suitable location for their agricultural community. Aaron visited Givat Ze'ev, became enamored with the scenic view and the proximity to Jerusalem, and told the other members – “this is the spot.”

The members' wives and children speak Yiddish and some English. However, Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Bet Shemesh and other haredi concentrations are “irrelevant for us,” Aaron said, because the haredim in Israel “are not in love with the Land they live on, like we are.” Finding the right place is not easy, he conceded: “finding a Yiddish-speaking congregation that is not anti-Zionist is very hard. If you are a nationalist, you do not speak Yiddish.”

The first group of Zoreah olim will take a few years before it makes aliyah, according to Aaron, but he does not intend to wait. He plans to make aliyah this summer, with his family.

The group does not have a spiritual leader, but informally, they are guided by a 35-year-old resident of Monsey who is identified by the pseudonym "Shabtai." Shabtai's own rabbi introduced him to the writings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hakohen Kook, one of the founders of modern religious-Zionism. He sees Rabbi Eliezer Melamed of Har Bracha as his halachic decisor.

Asked by Klein how he defines himself, Shabtai answered – “nationalist-hassidic.” When he is asked about service in the army, his answer is clear: “I am from the Levite tribe, which was always in the front ranks, with the Ark of the Covenant and a drawn sword. Until the Sanhedrin of 72 wise men is established, the IDF is apparently the holiest organization in the Nation of Israel. And if there are religious problems in the army, that will be only be solved through communication and carrying the burden together, not by running away.”

Between Feiglin and Kahane

Zoreah's advisor on aliyah and contact to Israel is journalist and aliyah activist Yishai Fleisher.

“They are Zionists in the full sense of the word,” he explained. “They want to live in the Land of Israel, fulfill Zionism and serve in the army. In the basement where they meet, you can see a book by Rabbi Kook leaning on a book by the Satmar Rebbe. It moved me very much.”

Some of the members dream of living in Judea and Samaria and establishing farms, but according to Aaron this is “probably less possible in reality, because our children are not used to that kind of life.”

The group is very knowledgeable about Israeli politics. “We love Moshe Feiglin very much. Regrettably, he did not enter the Knesset, so some of our guys support Eli Yishai, others Naftali Bennett. Our guys are further rightward than Bennett, some are even in the direction of Kahane.”

A member of the group identified as Yaakov told Klein he wants to live in the Land of Israel and does not care where. “It can be in Damascus, as far as I am concerned. I'm not joking, That, in my eyes, is the problem of the religious-Zionist public, which is always fighting not to give back territory. It's absurd – we should talk about annexing more territory. “

amother

Violet

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:00 pm

Oy.

leave the satmerers alone.

its getting kind of boring rechewing them again and again.

let it go.

Iymnok

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:06 pm

So where are they going?

ora_43

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:16 pm

I saw this in Makor Rishon and was wondering if/when it would be on imamother. Very Happy

I don't understand the need for secrecy. Surely if they're planning to go live together on a Satmar-Zionist moshav, they expect someone to notice at some point. And once your rabbi is Rav Eliezer Melamed and your political views align with those of Eli Yishai or Moshe Feiglin - what would you be gaining by pretending to be part of mainstream Satmar?

I kind of assumed the whole "super top secret" aspect was just the media making it sound dramatic.

tigerwife

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:18 pm

I've noticed more and more young Satmar couples moving to my neighborhood in Jerusalem. Can't say how Zionist they are, and I doubt they made Aliyah, but I did find it interesting that they came to live here.

The article is a bit strange, though. Do these people still consider themselves Satmar, or a legit break-away group (Zoreah?)? What are their thoughts on secularism in Israel (what I assumed the Satmar Rebbe was against in his opposition to the state)?

Sanguine

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:20 pm

Iymnok wrote:

So where are they going?

I guess it's a secret. They don't want anyone in Williamsburg to know so will it be a secret here too?

Doesn't being a Chassid mean that you follow that Rebbe's way? If they're so opposed to something that Satmars believe in maybe they're really not considered Satmar anymore.

Maya

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:33 pm

We are part of this group in a small way. We are not Chassidish anymore but a lot of our friends who are are also a part of this.

It's a secret because there will be serious repercussions for them if word gets out who they are, such as their kids being instantly expelled from schools and flack from their families.

The article states the possible location.
The one problem is that the wives are much more resistant to the idea of moving that far away from their families. That's why it hasn't actually happened yet.

Sanguine

Sun, May 03 2015, 2:41 pm

So what schools will their kids go to in Israel?

Maya

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:02 pm

Sanguine wrote:

So what schools will their kids go to in Israel?

They are/were planning to open their own, but I wonder if that's feasible.

Onisa

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:20 pm

Do I understand right that they want to work on the land? Be farmers? Or just settle but do not grow? Do they know anything about farming are they ready for such drastic change in lifestyle?

Sanguine

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:20 pm

Maya wrote:

They are/were planning to open their own, but I wonder if that's feasible.

That may be OK depending on how many people they're actually talking about and how much money they have.

How many families are they talking about? Do they want to be part of Israeli society? (They said they want to go to the army) or do they want a closed society like Meah Shearim? (I'm just trying to understand this)

ora_43

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:23 pm

Well, it wouldn't be the first time a bunch of Yiddish-speaking ex-chassidim decided to go be farmers in the land of Israel against all odds. That's pretty much how this whole crazy country got started.

I do worry that if someone joined because they're looking for "something more free," actually moving to Israel could be a nasty shock. Being in a new country halfway around the world, dealing with an unfamiliar language and culture, can be a freeing experience - but it can also be the opposite.

Sanguine

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:27 pm

Onisa wrote:

Do I understand right that they want to work on the land? Be farmers? Or just settle but do not grow? Do they know anything about farming are they ready for such drastic change in lifestyle?

Those were my next questions. Are they trying to make a kibbutz? They're kind of passe' now. Most kibbutzim hire foreign workers these days. Farming is a lot of hours of work. (OK, I'm trying not to laugh but I'm imagining these men in their Bekeshes and streimels driving tractors and milking cows LOL

). Maybe a Yishuv is more what they want.

Sanguine

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:30 pm

ora_43 wrote:

Well, it wouldn't be the first time a bunch of Yiddish-speaking ex-chassidim decided to go be farmers in the land

Kind of sounds like the Amish.

zaq

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:35 pm

Onisa wrote:

Do I understand right that they want to work on the land? Be farmers? Or just settle but do not grow? Do they know anything about farming are they ready for such drastic change in lifestyle?

Those are the very questions people asked the original chalutzim in the late 1800s and again in the early-mid 1900s. Many of them knew less than nothing about farming and had no idea what they were in for when they sailed off with a few crumbs in their pockets and an almost 2000-year-old dream in their hearts--but they learned. And eventually they succeeded. And if these people have that same honest dream in their hearts and are willing to work their heads off and do without the creature comforts that they are used to, in the name of fulfilling that dream, then more power to them. I will watch with interest to see how they do.

Maya

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:38 pm

I think they mean a yishuv rather than an actual kibbutz style settlement.

Onisa

Sun, May 03 2015, 3:40 pm

zaq wrote:

[/b]

Those are the very questions people asked the original chalutzim in the late 1800s and again in the early-mid 1900s. Many of them knew less than nothing about farming and had no idea what they were in for when they sailed off with a few crumbs in their pockets and an almost 2000-year-old dream in their hearts--but they learned. And eventually they succeeded. And if these people have that same honest dream in their hearts and are willing to work their heads off and do without the creature comforts that they are used to, in the name of fulfilling that dream, then more power to them. I will watch with interest to see how they do.

For a lot of them it wasnt easy. Was not easy at all. They succeeded in mass and also came in people who helped, supported, explained. I have a great belief that any person can learn and work the land with todays sources. I am just thinking if really Farming the goal or just settling. Anyways I am also welcoming them.

Shuly

Sun, May 03 2015, 4:10 pm

The article says Givat Zev. There is a large community of Stoliner chassidim in Givat Zev and the Stoliner Rebbe lives there. I wonder if they are planning on joining them.

Chloe

Sun, May 03 2015, 4:22 pm

I wanted to ask about the women. I figured they would be what's keeping it back from happening.

sped

Sun, May 03 2015, 4:23 pm

It is a stretch to call Stolin / Karlin in any way Zionistic.