in this issue ... THE JEWISH OBSERVER (ISSN 0021-6615) is published monthly, except July and August, by the The Satmar Rav, ;r~i~? p'"T~ 1~1 . 3 Agudath Israel of America, 5 Beekman Street, New York, N. Y. And Now That They're Here, Regina Presser 5 10038. Second class postage paid at New York, N.Y. Subscription Return to the Galil, Yaffa Ganz 9 $9.00 per year; two years, $17.50; three years, $25.00; outside of the Why Confess? A. Scheinman . 17 United States, $10.00 per year. Forty Years After Munich, Israel Saperstein . 20 Single copy, $1.25 Printed in the U.S.A. Where Evil is Spawned, Dr. Henry Biberfeld . 27 Heroes: Remembering, Understanding, and Emulating, RABBI N!SSON WOLP!N Editor Nissan Wolpin . 31 Another Look at Holocaust Literature, a review article . 39 Editorial Board DR. ERNST BODENHEIMER Taking Reb Nachman Literally, Mordechai Schiller .46 Chairman Books in Review .47 RABB! NATHAN BULMAN My First Siddur RABB! JOSEPH ELIAS JOSEPH fRIEDENSON Birthday in Kishinev RABBI MOSHE SHERER Sefer Shemos The Sinai Hagada THE JEWISH OBSERVER does not Second Looks at the Jewish Scene assume responsibility for the Women in a Progressive Society, Ezriel Toshavi .48 Ka6hrus of any product or ser­ vice advertised in its pages. Letters to the Editor . .52 SEPT., 1979 VOL. XIV, NO. 2 J Part of the crowd outside the 10,000-seat synagogue in Kiryas Yoe!, during the funeral of the Satmar Rav ~"Yr. As we go to press, we take note except on Shabbosos, so involved came to America in 1946 and settled of the irreplaceable loss suffered by was he in Torah study. By the out­ in the Williamsburg section of Kial Yisroel with the passing of the break of World War II, he was rav Brooklyn. late Satmar Rav, Rabbi Yoe] Teitel­ of the thriving community of Sat­ It was in Williamsburg that the baum i1:J1:l7 i',,~ i:n on 26 Mena­ mar and had emerged as one of the Rebbe painstakingly helped thou­ chem Av/August 19, at the age of leading figures in Hungarian Jewry. sands of fellow survivors recon­ 92. (Rabbi Reuvain Grozovsky 7"~! struct their lives, at the same time The Satmar Rav, a direct descen­ quoted his father-in-law, Rabbi reconstructing a thriving Chassidic dant of both the famed "Yismach Boruch Ber Lebowitz 7"~!: "The community-taking advantage of all Moshe" and the "Chavas Daas" Satmar Rav was the person to con­ technological advances of contem­ 1l was recognized as a young man for tact whenever the Polish and Lithu­ porary America, while shunning its his unusual lomdus, hasmada and anian leadership had need to com­ values and the more apparent tzidkus-Torah scholarship, municate with Hungarian Jewry.'') aspects of its life-style. As a result, diligence and piety, assuming his He distinguished himself with his at the time of his passing, the Rebbe first rabbinical position as rav of heroic adherence to Torah under the presided over a tight-knit, highly Muzheyer at the age of seventeen. most brutal conditions of the Nazi disciplined community numbering During the forty years following his concentration camps. After a brief in the thousands, with major set­ l Bar Mitzva, he never slept on a bed, stay in Eretz Yisroel, the Rebbe tlements in Williamsburg and else- The Jewish Observer I Sepf., 1979 3 ---"-,-~- where, including their flourishing the Em es. If one gets upset, he can Chassidirn and Misnagdim, Euro­ Kiryas Yael in New York's Monroe forget himself for a moment, and peans and Americans, paying Township, Monsey, Montr~al, and, then at least a bit of the Emes comes homage to one of the greatest of of course, Jerusalem, where he was through.") contemporary Jewish leaders, who Rav of the Eida Hachreidis. As much as he was held in awe had taught and led his people as a Indeed, the Satmar communities by his followers, he was also loved "rav" for seventy-five years. .. are all distinguished by a kehilla by them as a father. (How often did And the masses of disciples ripped system that include complete con­ he ask a chossan, approaching him their garments in kriya mourned for trol of shul, kashrus, education, and for a blessing on the eve of his the loss of their father who had in many cases, social welfare. Thus, wedding, if he had purchased a cared for their every need, both the Brooklyn kehilla embraces an watch for the kalla, and then dis­ spiritual and material. He will be educational system of 5,000 stu­ patched him to the Rebbitzin who missed-not only by those who fol­ dents embodying a complete girl's gave him the necessary funds ... ) lowed his particular ideology, but school and yeshivas spanning nur­ The 100,000 people that by Orthodox Jews of contrasting sery through Kole!; as well as an crowded the streets of Monroe to viewpoint as well who saw in him a extremely effective tzeddaka-medi­ bid farewell to the Satmar Rav tower of principled leadership. cal-welfare system and wide-reach­ included followers and admirers, ,,,~ ii=• 'M' lT. ing Bikur Cholim network, directed by the Satmar Rebbitzin. This, in a smaller format, is duplicated in the rolling expanses of Kiryas Yael-the Satmar sponsored suburban settle­ ment. The Satmar Rav's relentless demands for the highest religious standards proved to be an impor­ tant contribution toward changing the complexion of a significant segment of Orthodox life in America. Witness: Holocaust survivors and their American-born grandchildren-dayanim (rabbinical judges), and rabbonim, diamond polishers, computer technicians, and gas-pump attendants among them-who proudly walk the streets of the New World in traditional garb, making the shtreimel an every­ week feature of many communities. The Rebbe was renowned for his extremely strong stand against Zionism, even refusing to accept the existence of the State of Israel­ differing markedly with Torah authorities of Agudath Israel in this. For that matter, he opposed the very concept of an organized coalition­ structured Orthodoxy as personi­ fied by Agudath Israel. Nonethe­ less, he was respected-even revered-in other circles for his vast scholarship, tzidkus, personal humility, astute wisdom, and un­ wavering tenacity. (He was once advised by a close associate, "Don't let yourself get so upset!" The Rebbe replied, "There are a thousand reasons not to reveal 4 The Jewish Observer I Sept., 1979 Regina Presser In the past, we did all within our means to influence the Russians to release our Jewish brethren. And Now That They're Here • • • My husband recently stopped in at the Kar­ borhood-the women were dressed in pants suits, the novsky's-a Russian couple in our neighbor­ men went bareheaded, trying desperately to look hood-and noticed a Russian-language copy of American. Yet, we could detect that Russian something Watchtower Magazine lying on the table. When in their eyes: confused, anxious, seeking-seeking asked about its source, Mr. K. explained that what? Then, one or two stepped into our shul. They someone had been handing out copies in front of had left Russia to come to a land where they could his building (a fifty-family apartment house, 90% openly acknowledge their Jewishness, could fill in of its tenants are Russian immigrants) and that it forms and questionnaires, such as RELIGION: and write seemed interesting-there was an article about down "Jewish" fearlessly, unashamedly. But real "oneness" that was especially appealing. When Jewishness? Most never knew that there was anything my husband explained that this was a Christian more to being Jewish beyond the free, open declaration. l missionary publication that had no place in a What more? Shabbos? Yam Tov? Kosher-slaughtered Jewish home, Mr. K. was very surprised and meat? Davening? Alef Bais? These were outside of their '1 we're still not sure if he understood the objection. experiences. I In fact, most of them know nothing more than the fact that they are Jews, and that because Russian anti­ * * * Semitism would not permit them to forget. Their per­ Our neighborhood-the Kensington section of sonal identity papers were stamped "Jew," and since Brooklyn, which straddles the line between Boro Park papers are necessary for just about everything in the and Flatbush-has between 1500 and 2000 newly USSR, from securing employment or/and apartments arrived Russian families, and dozens more are moving to traveling, they were forced to remember who they in each week. (One Russian lady said she thought that are. In America, Land of the Free, they can soon lose all of Brooklyn was Russian because on her block of even that. Ocean Parkway, she hears only Russian spoken). There Most Russians are not only ignorant of Judaism, are much bigger Russian clusters-in Brighton, Upper they know nothing about any religion. Which Ameri­ Manhattan, and parts of Queens, with many more can-believer or atheist-has not heard of the Ten spread out all over the city-as well as in other urban Commandments, of Noach and the Flood, and at least areas, such as Cleveland, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. And some other Bible stories! Most younger Russians had informed sources report that arrivals are expected to never heard of any of these concepts or events. continue at the rate of 2500 a month, with 10,000 Rus­ A young Russian couple was invited for a sian emigrants now in Italy waiting to enter the USA. Shabbos meal by religious neighbors. They At first, we paid little attention to them, these Rus­ appeared very interested but somewhat puz­ sian men and women walking the streets of our neigh- zled as the host explained the meanings behind the rituals and special foods.