There is a “story” that in the immediate post-war period, the Satmar Rebbe (the original) and the Hazon Ish were discussing the situation in Eretz Yisrael (deliberately messed up the Brits, threatened by the Arabs, and infested with rabid socialists). They agreed about the need to flee to caves in the midbar. The Hazon Ish referred to the yeshivos in Eretz Yisrael as caves in the midbar. The Satmarer moved to Brooklyn (which suggests that Yidden who have fled “out of town” are even stricter that the Rebbe. According to our sources, R. Shimon Bar Yochai fled to an actual cave in the midbar (suggesting he was some sort of fanatic, as he had the option of sitting in a yeshiva or fleeing out of town).
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