With assistance by the US government and Jewish organizations in the US, 300 Jews living in Rada, Yemen are scheduled to emigrate by Pesach. Despite efforts by the Jewish Agency to persuade them to move to Israel, one-third have opted to immigrate to the US, which has caused considerable embarrassment to aliyah officials in Israel.
In recent years the Jews of Rada, a city located north of the capital city of Sanaa, have been subject to frequent physical harassment by their Muslim neighbors and the threat to their lives is real. Since last December’s murder of R’ Moshe Yaish- Nahari Hy”d, a prominent figure in the Jewish community, by a local Muslim who insisted he convert to Islam, the US State Department has been in contact with the Yemenite government to ameliorate the situation. The rescue operation has been organized by United Jewish Communities with assistance by organizations involved in resettlement of Jewish refugees.
The Satmar community in New York is also providing special assistance, maintaining constant contact with the kehilloh in Yemen based on the experience Satmar Chassidus has acquired in sheltering and integrating Jews from crisis situations in various countries. Thanks to their efforts, the US government has agreed to allow Jews to settle in Monsey, New York, which offers the chareidi milieu needed to accommodate their way of life.
The US Government is planning to pay flight costs and a fundraising drive by the Jewish Federation will cover housing and integration expenses. Hopefully the operation will be carried out by Pesach to allow them to celebrate in a state of cheirus. One hundred and thirteen Jews are slated to relocate to the US and have already been interviewed by the US Embassy in Sanaa. Between 130 and 150 Jews are expected to move to Eretz Yisroel.
Originally the operation was to remain secret based on fears among US officials that premature publicity could raise the ire of extremists in Yemen, but it was revealed to the media by Richard Wexler, chairman of the Jewish Agency’s North American Council, who attacked American Jewish leaders for cooperating with Satmar, which is considered anti-Zionist. Wexler claimed every effort should be made to have all the Jews settle in Israel. He said bringing Yemenite Jews to the US would be “a black chapter in history.”
Senior officials at the Jewish Agency expressed surprise and disappointment over the fundraising drive, especially the involvement of chairman Howard Riger, since it is the primary funding source for the Jewish Agency’s work to bring immigrants to Israel. “We adamantly oppose the immigration of Jews of any kind to the US, including the group of Jews from Yemen that will not be coming to the State of Israel. All Jews from all of the diaspora communities, including Yemenite Jews, belong in their homeland, Israel.”
In response UJC heads said Jews are being extricated from what can be described as a life-and-death situation. “We decided to assist with the immigration, resettlement and integration of Yemenite Jews whose lives are endangered due to the rise in the number of violent incidents against Jews in the country. We’re working closely with the Jewish Agency to encourage the Jews that remain in Yemen to immigrate to the State of Israel. However, we will work to guarantee the safety of those who chose to immigrate to the US.”
(By: Yated Ne’eman Israel Staff)
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6 Responses
it’s quite stuppid of wexler to make an outcry about working with satmar, all they want to do is save jewish lives, why make a fuss????
Where is the United Nations, on this issue? I haven’t heard of any conferences on the discrimination in Yemen or of any votes by the General Assembly decrying the situation.
Maybe I missed that in the article?
And I’ll bet there is a University planning a protest in a city near you! And I’m sure the UN will get around to this eventually.
The “Jewish” Agency is upset that won’t be able to attempt to shmad the heilige Yidden from Yemen, as they attempted with previous influxes of the Yidden from Yemen to Eretz Yisroel.
I was familiar with the Yemenite immigrants to the USA whose children were warmly accepted into the Monsey Chassidishe community, and were very soon speaking Yiddish and leaving their thousand year old minhagim for chasidishe minhagim. At least if they go to Eretz Yisrael their authentic Torah way of life will remain what it was. I hope that someone on this forum can verify that the Satmar kehilla has allowed the Yemenites to remain with their customs and are now still not trying to integrate them into becoming Satmar.
Satmar has long been directly involved in hatzolos nefoshos of the heilige Yidden in Yemen and Iran.
The zionoists have a torid history of trying to forcibly shmad these immigrants, and everything must be done to prevent the zionists from doing so.
The Satmar kehila has allowed them to practice their 3,000 + year minhagim and lead a full Torah life.
Today the “zionists” could care less about whether or not the Yemenites are shomrei mitzvot or not. There are thriving frum Yemenite communities in Eretz Yisrael with yeshivot, rabbanim, and an intact way of life. I do not know of ANY Yemenite community in NY, and have only seen the Yemenites in Monsey attending Satmar chadorim and girls schools-which are Yiddish speaking and teach Satmar Chassidus. I’m sure the Satmar Kehilla “allows” them to practice their minhagim, but do they do anything to help them preserve their way of life? Are they reading the Torah in the way they have for thousands of years or are they now learning the Toyreh and their kids translating everything into Yiddish? They do not have the Chassidishe minhagim or chumros but that is what their children are being taught. In one generation 3000 years of an authentic Torah lifestyle-more close to the actual mesora according to many- is going to be gone. Let them come to EY!!!