It was a most unusual sight in the Bnei Brak cemetery as forty Satmar Chassidim from the local community visited the kever of HaGaon Rav Eliyahu Katz Z”L, a member of the Bnei Brak Satmar community for decades, who was niftar last Yom Kippur.
In the years preceding the petira of the rav, tension developed between him and the administration of the mosdos and various community askanim, who wanted the rabbi to back up their struggle against the members of the second faction of Satmar. They did not approve of the fact that the rabbi chose not to take a side in the conflict that stirred the Satmar Chassidim around the world. Some of these individuals chose to make his life miserable because of this, and the niftar experienced some very difficult days.
A Satmar chossid from Bnei Brak claims in a conversation with Kikar Shabbos News that a small handful of askanim identified with the administration of the mosdos persecuted Rabbi Katz, slandering him and excluded him from any role in the community.
The report adds that when Rav Katz was lying on his deathbed, he shared with his family that the persecution he was going through was causing bodily harm, leading to his difficult medical condition.
But on Monday, an interesting scene took place in the cemetery where he is buried, located on Chazon Ish Street in Bnei Brak. The forty Satmar Chassidim, including the prominent chassidim and elders of the community, went to the kever of their late rabbi in order to ask for his mechila in the name of all the members of the community.
In a conversation with Kikar, a Chassid relates that “in the recent period, a number of community members has become ill with terrible cancer, and there is a feeling that it may be a punishment for not properly honoring the rav.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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22 Responses
I like the recipe.
Make someone’s life miserable, leshem shamayim of course.
Wait till he dies.
Go to kever and ask for mechilah
Assume this trick worked to perfection
Feel like a tzaddik again.
Rinse hands at cemetery and repeat.
@Rational: Ouch, that’s harsh. True, but harsh.
Why are you so charitable “rational”. They didn’t go to his kever shortly after Rav Katz zt”l died, they waited until several members of the “right” faction became seriously ill. I understood Chassidim are nohag not to disturb a nifta during the twelve months after he dies save to visit after the shiva and if there is no matzeva put up then, to go again on the shloshim when the matzeva is out up. Why are they bothering him now? Do they think after persecuting him in life he will be happy to see them in death?
Rachmono Litzlon.
Pathetically ridiculous to read this hatreded comments over here. I agree we – Jewish nation – must all love every single Jew out there regardless of that other Jews background, differences , perspectives etc. I bet all of those negative commentators here if we take them out by judging them who they really are in person in a public forum like this here, none of them will like it, because it’s just not fair. Nobody is perfect! You guys are doing a great disservice for us to Jewish people who suffer so much already, the חולול ה here is almost unbeatable.
Please stop the hate! Stop the judgment! U don’t want the judge of all the Judges to judge U like that!
@my-opinion, no reason to defend Satmar, that’s pretty standard mode of operation of theirs in the US too. They can’t get along with anyone! Who do you think drove Bobov, Kloisenberg etc out of Williamsburg.
The two brothers can’t even get along!
To MYOPINION ;
Well said,
This is called SOCIAL MEDIA JUDGEMENT
Its called אמת ויציב.
They are arent to far behind what the erev rav did. Buncha satmarer chayes asking for forgiveness. Horrible!
@long Island YID
It’s a lot tougher to be a man, try to fix things from the past as best as possible. The fact, they went below their dignity personally asking for forgiveness is something to be Admired, not the other way around which brings nothing but hatred and negativity..
Of course I’m not suggesting it’s okay to disrespect a holy man like he was !
This has Nothing to do with defending Satmar. We all know that every tree has their good and rotten apples. They’re a bigger sect and their rotten part is unfortunately sometimes more visible.
@Takes2-2tango
At this point what is your alternative? What should Now be done other than asking for forgiveness?
In my view it’s extremely wrong for you to stamp thousands of Jews because of some bad apples! The are tremendous in Chesed etc. Again, to a stamp entire sect is extremely wrong! I don’t know you, trust me when I tell you that you don’t want to be judged this way like you are judging them!
To My opinion:
I would agree with you wholeheartedly if the satmar rebbes themselves came out with a public letter condemning these bad apples. But fact is fact, they dud not come out.
So long as the higherups are quiet, this whoke show is meaningless.
@my-opinion Please don’t take this the wrong way. Although I have a trimmed beard and no long Payos or any Payos behind the ears, my Great Grandfather was a big member of the original Divrei Yoel Satmar sect. When you say, and I quote, The are tremendous in Chesed etc. I must tell you what I once heard in Federal Court when a member of our community was pleading in front of a judge for leniency as he was about to be sentenced. People spoke about his tremendous charitable contributions. The judge interrupted him and screamed, yea, with stolen money? Not saying that Satmar is using stolen money for their Bikur Cholim Chesed organization.
Sorry, Im not impressed. Actually Im nauseated. So they caused this person terrible tzar while he was alive, so much so that they contributed to his death, and now since they are getting cancer, they go to his kever, when it no longer makes a difference, and now they ask mechila!!
I think what they should do is come out publicly, such as putting ads in newspapers, condeming this type of behavior towards anybody and everybody, and not just to other members of Satmar. They should condemn and denounce this type of behavior regardless if its done to Satmar, Lubavitch, other chasidus, other chareidiem, Datiyim, Zionists, secular Jews, and even non-jews. And when they publicly ask mechila from everyone that they denigrated throughout the years, then Ill start believing them.
@Forshayer
It’s truly remarkable and well-respected the fact that you are so different, terms of looking Chasidish from the outside, yet still managed to be close to such a holy but Chasidisha Rabba. It shows nothing short of great Quality family type you are from. Knowing, it’s what beneath that head hair what makes us being Jewish all about !
I think Chabad ppl also don’t wear long or any Payos and are still remarkably fine Jewish ppl so..
It might be a wrong platform to admit, I used to work in downtown Brooklyn for many years right near the courthouse on Adams Street not far from the newer Federal Court Building. Where I must agree with you the pathetic feeling I had when I saw A JEWISH PERSON in that orange or green jumpsuits handcuffed and the crimes they alleged / committed I used to observe at my lunch hour.
We all were commanded by God about not to steal! End of story! He did not talk a word about the size of a beard, yes beard no beard, Paos. Simply said No Stealing for his Jewish people.
My point is that of course stealing is wrong bud yet let’s be fair, to condemn the entire sect for this horrible scenario, is in my view terribly wrong! It’s a lot more than Satmer b. Cholem they do but it’s still wrong. One wrong does not make one right the same goes 1 Wrong doesn’t make the entire sect wrong !
@Takes2-2tango its ur choice to find bad in everything. The only higher-ups we should worry about is our higher up spiritual level to Hashem.
May all of klal yisroel be zoche to do teshuva as these yidden have done, and may all yidden be blessed with a complete refuah.
Wow, despite all the naysayers here, it is quite nice that they are looking inward to see where perhaps they strayed. Going to the kever to ask for mechila was an excellent choice. If that’s where their yesurim are coming from, maybe they be healed speedily in our days.
i would take a request for forgiveness at face value, and not try to analyze the motivation. There is so much petty infighting within many of these chassidus that going for a few weeks with conmunal shalom bayis itself would do more for z’man moishiach than having thousands of guys running up and down Eastern Parkway waving yellow flags. (of course there is no known occurence of broigas in the Litvish tzibur0
What I see here in the comments is pure heimishe anti-semitism. Why do we expect the world should be anti-semitism free if we self are using hate and hotsoas shem ra against each other?
Please fight anti-semitism between jews than worry about anti-semitism against Jews, the first one is much more affecting (you wouldn’t have an idea to which keiver to visit for mechileh…).
Perhaps It could help if they asked ‘mechila’ at the graveside of R Aaron Leib Steinmen ztz”l also. Seemingly it was acceptable to some in the community because of their differences in shitos to denigrate the Gadol Hadoor in an ugly manner.
This Eitzah of going to the Kever and asking Mechila is actually brought down in Shulchan Aruch
To all the negative comments:
There is a strong possibility that all these people are sincerely regretting the bad behavior of the past.
@my-opinion
looks like they went because somone got sick. period.
they never said they will stop.
they could’nt even think of asking before.but they are such good ppl