The Satmar Rebbe, Hagaon HaRav Yoel Teitelbaum’s letter explaining his psak against participation in Israeli elections, is going to be auctioned off after Pesach.
The auction, which is being organized by the Kedem Auction House in Jerusalem, was revealed to the public on Tuesday, election day in Israel.
The letter was written in 1951, just three years after Israel’s inception and before the second election in the country’s history. In it, the Rebbe said that taking part in the Zionist government is worse than idolatry. He compared participating in the elections to supporting missionaries. Many Satmar Chassidim still hold to the edict in this letter until this day.
The 16-page letter includes position on Heter Mechirah. “All the true Torah sages who fear God in their hearts, and seek the truth, have forbidden it. Because all the permits are nonsense, they are not real, which were sought by some rabbis who were influenced by the Zionist administrators of the heretics […] and misled a few rabbis abroad in ways that can not be written down.”
Maron Aran, one of the owners of the Kedem auction house was quoted by Israel National News as saying: “This historic letter is one of the first documents in the dispute that is accompanying our people to this day. The fact that until today many lives still exist in light of these arguments and these positions make it even more fascinating and important.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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18 Responses
Many actions of that grand rebbi defy logic
In all seriousness, where can one read this letter in its entirety?
This will likely sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Is this letter the property of the auctioneer? If the letter was stolen from the addressee, he could be liable for dealing with stolen goods.
Not voting = less power for the חרדי parties.
Boy, how history has proven the SR wrong. I’m sure he was a great tzadik, and learnt much Torah, but he was wrong.
I wonder how he would have paskened on the measles issue.
You would have to PAY ME to take this letter. Tfu.
to claim all true Torah sages, thereby demeaning the greatest talmid of Volozhin makes this like buying the memorabilia of a person not so much famous as infamous.
History has proven that the Satmar Rebbe zt”l was 100% correct. We saw all the infighting the Chareidi parties have among themselves, not to mention their begging the zionist state for monetary handouts, getting bubkas and still seeing the zionists defunding the yeshivos, trying to force the bochorim out of their yeshivos and forcibly drafted into their zionist army.
Modertors Note: Because Satmar has no infighting? LOL.
Refresh your memory please. Chillul Shabbos birabim.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz8Wdz_Z__A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waTmCo-ZuWA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeBPC8_o5qU
Even the Chareidi Gedolim in Eretz Yisroel who did allow voting came to the Satmar Rebbe zt”l for brochos and advice. So while they disagreed with him on this singular issue, they sought him for almost every other klal issue.
Tfu. That’s what I say to the SR. TFU
Yabia Omer:!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF YOU DO NOT AGREE OR DO AGREE ON THIS ISSUE THERE IS NO RIGHT TO WRITE HORRIBLE AND NOT YIDDISHE WORDS ON THE HEILIGA SATMAR REBBE !!!!!
STOP WRITING RIGHT NOW, I DO NOT KNOW WHY THE MODERTORS LET YOU PASS THESE CARZY COMMENTS ABOUT THE HEILIGA SATMER REBBE.
HE SHOULD BE MISPALLEL FOR US UP IN HIMMEL, BUT NOT FOR YOU CAUSE YOU
DO NOTTTTTTT DESERVE IT
HE SHOULD FORGIVE YOU FOR ALL YOU SAY EVEN THOUGH YOU DO NOT DESERVE IT!
AND MONEY WONT EVEN HELP YOU FOR ALL THE AVEIROS YOU ARE HAVING EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR LIVES !!!!!
DO NOT WORRY NO ONE WILL FORCE YOU TO TAKE THIS HEILIGE LETTER
SATMAR IS ENOUGH BIG AND HAS ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO WANT THIS LETTER AND WHO WILL MAKE SURE YOURE HANDS SHOULDNT TOUCH IT
AND MONEY WONT EVEN HELP YOU FOR ALL THE AVEIROS YOU ARE HAVING EVERY MOMENT OF YOUR LIVES !!!!!
DO NOT WORRY NO ONE WILL FORCE YOU TO TAKE THIS HEILIGE LETTER
SATMAR IS ENOUGH BIG AND HAS ENOUGH PEOPLE WHO WANT THIS LETTER AND WHO WILL MAKE SURE YOURE HANDS SHOULDNT TOUCH IT
ENJOY YOUR MONEY THAT WONT TOUCH YOUR HANDS
Modertors Note: Because Satmar has no infighting? LOL.
THIS SENTANCE IS TOTALLY ZIONISTIC !
YOU KNOW ALL THE 3 SHIVIYUM HASHEM TOLD US ARE:
1-NOT TAKING A LAND AND MAKING IT OUR OWN-this is what the zionists are doing.
2-NOT FIGHTING WITH OTHER PEOPLE WITH DIFFERENT RELIGIONS-whose is fighting with the arabs?
3- NOT FREEING OURSELVES FROM GALUS-hashem told us not to go up to eretz yisreal till mashiech comes….who is now in our supposed to be holy land ?
ZIONISTS
ALL 3 OF THEM HASHEM TOLD US IF WE DO NOT FOLLOW HE WILL MAKE
“OUR BLOOD FLOW IN THE STREETS AS WATER”
WHAT HAPPENED BY WORLD WAR 2 ?
SIX MILLION JEWISH PEOPLE WERE KILLED !!!!!
NOW LET ME ASK YOU HOW CAN YOU BE SO IGNORANT TO THE HEILIGE SATMAR REBBE’S WORDS WHEN HE HAD PROOF.
DONT YOU SEE IT YOURSELF…..
PLEASE DO NOT MAKE YOURSELF BLIND!
MODERTORS READ THIS AND TELL ME WHO IS RIGHT
WHO?
every one is entitled to their opinions but remember what was the current situation in 1951 (68 years ago) is not the same situation as is today.
We have to ‘live with OUR times’ !
PROsatmarwilliamsburg: You are fool that knows NO torah. Rashi was a religious zionist. He states in the first pasuk in the Torah, that hashem created the world and gave the Jewish people eretz yisrael and this is what we are required to say to the goyim. You have created a fake religion. Satmar has failed in derech eretz and in following the Torah. Shame on Satmar. You are all apikorsim and Hashem will punish you denigrating klal yisrael. You and your followers will lose your share in olam haba.
PROsatmarwilliamsburg: You are fool that knows NO torah. The holocaust happened before the state of Israel. You don’t know any Torah if you think you could possible be punished before you do an aveira.