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Abstract:
It is important to remember not only that many Jews rejected Zionism but also that for some it symbolized an abomination, heresy, and the worst collective sin the Jewish people have ever committed. Since it was first published in 1960, Va-yo'el Moshe-a book written by Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe-is considered the most radical anti-Zionist text written by a Jew in modern history. During the ensuing sixty years, the book has reappeared in more than a dozen full editions and been translated into several languages. At least thirty further volumes have offered interpretations, adapted it for children, compiled digests, or reviewed its relevance to various ideological issues or halakhic rulings.
The essay presents the history of Jewish anti-Zionist texts published prior to Va-yo'el Moshe and briefly reviews Teitelbaum's biography to explain his motivation for writing the book. It then outlines the book's contents and the religious principles that support its main theses. Last, it reviews the Jewish public's reaction to the book and explains how and why it became a canonical text among Jewish Orthodoxy's most radical wing, which in this article is titled Extreme Orthodoxy.
Keywords:
Satmar Hasidism, Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy, Jewish fundamentalism, American Judaism, US Hasidism
INTRODUCTION
FOR MORE THAN A HUNDRED THOUSAND Satmar Hasidic Jews and even a greater number of members of the radical Haredi groups that are associated with organizations such as the Edah Haredit and Neturei Karta in Israel and the Central Rabbinical Congress of America (CRC, also known as Hit'aḥadut Ha-Rabanim), Va-yo'el Moshe has become a canonical text. The book, written by Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, the Satmar Rebbe, is taught in special classes, both in the yeshivas and in independent study groups, and hundreds of rabbis around the world cite the book regularly during their sermons at public events. Excerpts from the book can be found quoted and interpreted in pamphlets that are distributed every weekend in dozens of synagogues worldwide and sent by mail to thousands of subscribers. Va-yo'el Moshe inspires various radical groups, such as Neturei Karta, whose provocative demonstrations-such as their participation in protests alongside radical Muslims who seek the annihilation of Israel-challenge, and aggravate, Jews in Israel and abroad.
The ideology expressed in Va-yo'el Moshe can be reduced to...
