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| Official White House Photo (Rationalist Judaism) |
Their Bikur Cholim Society is legendary for providing meals
to hospital patients and their visiting families, as well as providing any
other conceivable need that might arise under those trying circumstances. They
also have a general reputation for kindness to fellow Jews regardless of their
level of observance. If a Jew is in need, they are there. No questions asked
I am not here to dispute any of that. It’s all true. But I
am here to say that, despite all of these amazing acts of kindness, I have
nothing but contempt for their leadership, starting with their founder, whom
they venerate with near-sainthood status.
The original Satmar Rebbe was Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum. His
view on the State of Israel is similar to the view of Hamas. In both cases,
there is a religious belief that the State of Israel has no right to exist. And
if it were in their power, they would dismantle it.
I hasten to add that there are entirely different religious
reasons for this position. And that Satmar is not a terrorist organization that
believes in perpetrating violence against anyone, much less the kind of terror
perpetrated by Hamas. Satmar Chasidim would not harm a fly. But their goals are
the same.
The founding rabbi of Religious Zionism, Rav Avraham
Yitzchak HaKohen Kook, was referred to by the original Satmar Rebbe as an Ish
Tzar V’Oyev in his published work, Divrei Yoel (131). A
description used by Scripture to describe the “Hitler” of his day, Haman.
It doesn’t matter to me how “holy” the Satmar Rebbe is
perceived to have been in his lifetime, or how extensive his Torah knowledge
was. When he attacks the founder of a religious movement simply because he
interprets passages in the Gemara differently than he did, I lose all respect
for him and his brand of Chasidism.
The fact that his current followers venerate him and display
such tremendous kindness to all of Klal Yisrael does not wash away their
antipathy toward the State of Israel. An antipathy that is the basis of Neturei
Karta’s open embrace of the Palestinian cause, join them in public protest.
Neturei Karta’s publicly stated goal to dismantle the State of Israel and give
it to Palestinians.
That Satmar’s views do not go as far as Neturei Karta and do
not include the use of violence is kind of like saying that Tucker Carlson’s
views about Israel and the Jewish people have nothing to do with the increase
in antisemitism and its attendant violence…
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