The sin of Zionism was so grave that even its bitter opponents, Rabbi Yoel’s anti-Zionist followers were punished for it. It was through Jacob the Patriarch that a few of the believers, in the true way of the Torah, that is, Rabbi Yoel and his Hasidim, were saved. Survival during the Holocaust, although effected through human beings, should be attributed to God’s mercy. Praise for the Zionists’ rescue efforts is forbidden, as is praise for Germans who saved Jews for money.
Above: The first Satmar Rebbe, Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum
The first Satmar Rebbe, Joel "Yoeilish" Teitelbaum, behaved deplorably during the Holocaust and in its aftermath (see here, here, here, here, and here for examples).
To deal with his personal failures and with the actions he took (or failed to take) that put other Jews in harm's way, Teitelbaum had to invent a theology to explain what had happened and kasher (spin) his failures and bad behavior.
So, according to an article published by Menachem Keren-Kratz in the journal Dapim (and published – without any footnotes in slightly amended form – in Tablet yesterday and today), this is what Teitelbaum did to try cover for his atrocious behavior:
. The Holocaust is God’s punishment of the Jewish people for its sins, and primarily for the sin of Zionism. The Zionist concept implied a denial of God’s ability to deliver his people and disrupted the natural place of the people of Israel, destined to remain exiled until the true deliverance.125 The main sin was the violation of the three oaths adjured by God upon the people of Israel.126 ‘Forcing the end’, meaning actively promoting redemption in practical ways, was a grave act of collective heresy and, as such, warranted the harshest punishment – the Holocaust.127
. Zionism’s ultimate, undeclared goal was the spiritual annihilation of the people of Israel.128 Therefore, collaboration with those trying to cause the people of Israel to sin, that is, Zionist institutions, is strictly forbidden, even under threat of death.129
. Zionists are the descendants of the Erev Rav (mixed multitude) and the Amalekites, so it is no wonder that they have caused the people of Israel such trouble.130
• Any collaborators with Zionism, even the religious members of Ha-Mizrahi and Agudath Israel, are also guilty of its sins.131 Therefore, the Zionist and the Haredi rabbis also bear part of the blame for the Holocaust.132
• The Zionists bear the blame for the Holocaust not only because of their ideological concept, but also because of their actions, which included: provoking Hitler and causing him to take revenge upon the people of Israel, obstructing emigration to other countries so as to force Jews to settle in Palestine and the closure of their borders to immigrants following the demand to establish a Jewish state.133 Particular blame falls on the Zionists for deliberately preventing the Haredim from immigrating and thus saving themselves.134
• The sin of Zionism was so grave that even its bitter opponents, Rabbi Yoel’s anti-Zionist followers were punished for it.135 It was through Jacob the Patriarch that a few of the believers, in the true way of the Torah, that is, Rabbi Yoel and his Hasidim, were saved.136 Survival during the Holocaust, although effected through human beings, should be attributed to God’s mercy. Praise for the Zionists’ rescue efforts is forbidden, as is praise for Germans who saved Jews for money.137
•The Zionists were saved by Satan, who had thus sought to glorify himself.138
• The Holocaust was part of the redemption process. The Messiah’s advent, destined to occur during its course, was impeded by the Zionists’ actions and the intervention of Satan.139 Despite the destruction and the grave doubts regarding faith in the aftermath of the Holocaust, one must not doubt God’s intentions.140
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125 Yoel Teitelbaum, Va-Yoel Moshe [And Moshe was Content] (Brooklyn, 2003), Ma‘amar Shalosh Ha- Shevuot, [Part I: The Three Vows], clause 18, pp. 36–37; Yoel Teitelbaum, Kuntres Divrot Kodesh: Drashot Shalosh Seudot [Book of Holy Talks: Third Sabbath Meal Sermons] (Jerusalem, 2006), p. 13.
126 Yitzhak Krauss, Shalosh Ha-Shevuot Ke-Yesod Mishnato Ha-Anti Tsionit Shel Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum [The Three Vows as the Basis of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum’s Anti-Zionist Doctrine], MA Thesis, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1990; Aviezer Ravitzky, ‘The Impact of the Three Oaths in Jewish History,’ Messianism, Zionism, and Jewish Religious Radicalism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996), pp. 211–234.
127 Teitelbaum, Va-Yoel Moshe, Introduction, p. 1.
128 iIbid., p. 7.
129 Teitelbaum, Divrei Yoel Al Ha-Torah, 2 (Jerusalem, 1972), pp. 181–182; ibid., 3, p. 144.
130 Teitelbaum, Al Ha-Ge’ulah, clause 61; p. 109. This expression denotes a group of Egyptians who attached themselves to the Israelites at the time of their exodus, and although seemingly assimilated, became a ‘fifth column’ that incited the people of Israel, as in the golden calf incident. See: Assaf Tamary, ‘Erev Rav’. Mafteah, 2 (2012), pp. 43–72.
131 Yoel Teitelbaum, Va-Yoel Moshe, Ma’amar Shalosh Ha-Shevuot, clause 114, p. 127; Teitelbaum, Divrei Yoel Al Ha-Torah, 5, pp. 80–81.
132 ibid., 5, pp. 64, 384; Teitelbaum, Divrei Yoel: Yemei Ha-Purim (Qiryat Yoel, 2004), pp. 17–18.
133 Teitelbaum, Al Ha-Ge’ulah, Introduction, p. 11; Teitelbaum, Va-Yoel Moshe, Ma’amar Shalosh Ha- Shevuot, clause 110, pp. 122–123.
134 ibid., Ma‘amar Shalosh Ha-Shevuot, clause 111, pp. 123–124.
135 ibid., Introduction, p. 8.
136 Teitelbaum, Divrei Yoel Al Ha-Torah, 2, p. 120.
137 Teitelbaum, Al Ha-Ge‘ulah, clause 38, p. 73.
138 Teitelbaum, Divrei Yoel Al Ha-Torah, 8, p. 152.
139 ibid., 4, pp. 34, 127–128; ibid., 6, p. 185; ibid., 8, p. 56.
140 ibid., 4, pp. 148–149; Divrei Yoel: Yamim Nora’im, p. 112.
Tablet also published an affidavid from the daughter of Dr. Avraham Fried, one of the Zionist emmisaries sent to Satmar and other outlying locations to warn that deportation meant almost certain death and to urge that Jews flee to Romania (which was then safe and could be used as a staging ground to escape elsewhere) or go into hiding. (Anna Porter cites two similar affidavits in her book, Kasztner's Train, as well.)
Fried's daughter claims that Teitelbaum tried to prevent her father from delivering his message.
See the affidavit here: page 1, page 2, page 3.
Related Posts:
The Satmar Rebbe and the Holocaust Part 1.
The Satmar Rebbe and the Holocaust Part 2.