Poster from the Satmer Rav, R. Joel Teitelbaum warning against the Zionist new zionist government in Eretz Israel. The Rav notes that he has written about this in length previously , and about the geulah and, in bold letters, notes the strong prohibition concerning them and that it is forbidden to join them, even for a mitzvah. The Zionists are equated to avodah zorah, and are engaged in a terrible rebellion against the kingdom of heaven.

R. Yoel Teitelbaum began his rabbinic career in Krooly, a small town in Hungary. In 1929, the Rav of the Orthodox community in Satmar, a larger and more prestigious community, passed away, and Rabbi Teitelbaum was invited for a Shabbos “tryout.” The Rav displayed exceptional knowledge of Talmud, far above the prevailing image of a Chassidic rabbi, who was expected to be more of an expert in Kabbalah and prayer. He was retained by the community, which prospered under his leadership, and began attracting students to its yeshiva from all over Hungary. As the War approached, the Satmarer Rav was smuggled out of harm’s way, first into Switzerland, where he remained throughout the War, and afterwards in 1946, into Israel. On a fund-raising mission to the United States, he met many people from his former community who urged him to stay in America and help them recover from the trauma of the War. Rabbi Teitelbaum’s decision to stay in America was historic, in that it set in place the foundation for the growth of the Satmar community. In 1948, he drew worldwide attention when he became the only Jewish leader to denounce the newly founded Jewish state. He based his Anti-Zionist position on a gemara in Ketubot 111a, that derives from the triple mention in Shir HaShirim of the verse, “I have bound you in oath, O daughters of Jerusalem,” that HaShem bound the Jewish People and the nations of the world with three oaths: 1. “shelo yaalu bachoma” – that the Jews should not forcibly “breach the wall,” and enter Eretz Yisrael 2. that the Jews should not rebel against the nations of the world. 3. that the nations of the world should not oppress the Jewish People excessively during the Exile The gemara concludes with the threat that if the Jews would violate these oaths, HaShem would bring upon them great harm and physical destruction. Rabbi Teitelbaum claimed that the Zionist movement had brought the Holocaust upon the Jewish People by violating the oaths incumbent upon them. By the 1960’s, the Satmar community in Brooklyn had grown rapidly and the rebbe had gained many new adherents, and his opinions and blessings were sought by thousands.

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