Hasidic Judaism is a Jewish religious movement that originated in Ukraine in the 18th century. The students of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of the movement, spread it throughout Eastern Europe and established «courts,» groups of Hasidim led by a Tzadik, a spiritual leader. Over time, these «Hasidic courts» adopted a dynastic format, with a member of the founding leader’s family, usually a son, taking his place upon his death. By 1860, virtually all Hasidic courts were dynastic. Today, they are found mostly in Israel, the United States, and Great Britain, although they have also been established in other countries. After World War II, these groups adopted the name of their place of origin to distinguish themselves from one another. Hasidic groups are generally considered part of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement, known as the «Haredim.»

The largest Hasidic group currently is Satmar, founded by Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum (1887-1979) in 1905, in the town of the same name, formerly part of Hungary and now part of Romania. Some estimate it has around 65,000 to 75,000 adherents, although others speak of 120,000. After World War II, it was reestablished in New York City, first in Williamsburg and Brooklyn, and then expanded to Kiryas Joel. Upon the death of its founder, it was led by his nephew Moshe Teitelbaum. Upon his death in 2006, the dynasty remained divided, to this day, between Moshe’s two rival sons, Aaron and Zalman Teitelbaum.

The Holocaust hit the Hasidim particularly hard, easily identifiable among the rest of the population due to their dress and cultural insularity. Hundreds of Hasidic leaders perished along with their followers, but the flight of some leaders, especially at the very moment when their followers were being exterminated, provoked bitter recriminations, such as that of Joel Teitelbaum, who escaped to Switzerland, but not before assuring his parishioners that, thanks to their religiosity, they would be saved. A promise that obviously proved false.

Once in New York, Teitelbaum formulated a fierce anti-Zionist theology, based on a very particular explanation of the Holocaust. He said: «Because of our sins we have suffered greatly… and in our generation we need not look far to find the sin responsible for our calamity… The heretics (of the Haskala – Enlightenment and Zionism) have made every effort to violate these oaths, to ascend (to the land of Israel) by force, and to seize sovereignty and freedom for themselves, before the times appointed (by the Lord) arrive… [They] have lured the majority of the Jewish people into a horrible heresy, the likes of which has not been seen since the world was created… And so it is no wonder that the Lord struck with great divine wrath… And there were also righteous people who perished (in the Holocaust) because of the iniquity of the sinners.» Teitelbaum argued that until the sin (of creating the State of Israel) is removed, the Messiah will not come to redeem the Jewish people.

 Joel Teitelbaum didn’t invent anything new; he merely continued the thinking of the Hungarian ultra-Orthodox school initiated by the Chatam Sofer, which rejected modernity, opposed any change, and sought total separation from the outside world. It’s just the same old extremism.

By Marcos Gojman.

Bibliography: «Unorthodox» by Deborah Feldman and other sources.