Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Open Letter from a heartbroken friend to R' Aaron Teitelbaum, Satmar Rebbe of Kiryas Yoel


I just received the following letter that needs no commentary, I will just translate it into English!

Loose Translation in Red


איך האב באקומען דיין נומבער פין מיין חבר ער האט מיך געזאגט די פירסט א שטארקע סאשעל מידיע קבוצה פין אנשי
שלומינו ד'סאטמאר וויליאמסבורג יצ"ו אין פין ‏דיר קען א מעסעזש אנקומען צו די ריכטיגע פלאץ
‏I got your number from a friend of mine, and he told me that you have a social media following from the Williamsburg Satmar Community, and if you post my message, it will get to the right places!

גיי איך דא שרייבען אפאר דברים היוצאים מן הלב ‏וואס איך האף עס וועט זיין נכנסים אל הלב אין עס וועט אנקומען . ווי עס איז פארהאן א אוזן קשבת
The following are words that are from my heart, and I hope will be well received by the hearts of your readers, 

מען האלט געציילטע טעג פאר די יום הדין ראש השנה. יעדער איד מאכט זיך א חשבון הנפש פאר ער טוט עפעס א עבירה.
 אדער טוט איינעם וויי. מען שטייט אויף צו סליחות . מען לויפט צו רביס אין קברים אויסבעטען א גיט יאר. מען גרייט זיך פאר יום טוב מען לערנט‏ מיט די קינדער. מען לויפט איינקויפען עסן מען מאכט א פיש פלייש ארדער. אלעס פארט שיין. וויליאמסבורגער באן פארט אין די שינעס
We are just days away from the Day of Judgement, and every Jew does a reckoning if they did a sin or if they hurt someone during the past year.  Jews get up early to say Selichos, they run to Rebbis, and to  cemeteries to be assured that the prayers will be answered so that they  have a great year. We get ready for this great holiday by learning with our children, by shopping and buying fish and meat, and everything runs like a clock and even the Wiliamsburg train runs on time! 

איך בין היינט ג' סליחות ארויסגעפארען צו די ציון פין ריבניץ אין מאנסי. בעטען מיין חבר זאל זיין ראש השנה אין א שול אין צוריק קומען צו אידישקייט. איך האב א חבר וואס האט געלערנט מיט מיך אין ישיבה. ער האט חתונה געהאט מיט א היימישע מיידל פין א שיינע היימישע שטוב. סיי זיין טאטע אין סיי איר טאטע זענען געווען ביי אלע מעמד יסוד איתן ‏אין אלף שמות
Today, the third day of Selichos I decided to go to Monsey to pray at the grave of the Saintly Ribnitzer Rebbe. 
I prayed that my good friend goes to shul this Rosh Hashana and that he return to Judaism. 
This friend was a classmate of mine in yeshiva, and got married to a heimeshe girl from a nice heimeshe family. Both of his parents are pillars of the community.

‏ליידער ליידער ליידער איז מיין חבר מער נישט קיין איד איך וויין בשעת איך שרייב די שורות. מיין חבר איז געווען א איד ווי מיך. זיין ווייב אין ער קומען פין הערליכע וויליאמסבורגע סאטמארע שטובער. אין זיי זענען מער נישט קיין אידען. זייערע קינדער זענען מער נישט קיין אידישע קינדער. אידען פארבלייבן זיי אבער איך מיין ארויסצוברענגען אז זיי ווייסען נישט פין קיין ראש השנה קיין יום הדין זייערע קינדער ווייסען נישט פין קיין יום הדין אדער פין גיין בכלל אין א שול . יא וויליאמסבורג גייט אן. יא דער רבי זאל לעבן וועט ארויפגיין אויף די באלעמער וויינען . איך האב א זיץ אין הופער איך גיי מיטוויינען ווען דער רבי וועט שרייען אין וויינען אז אידישע קינדער פארען אפ פין אידישע דרך ‏
פאריאר ‏האט די רבי אזוי געוויינט וועגען די אפגעפארענע אפילו הושענה רבה האט די רבי נישט נאכגעלאזט. יא רבי מען וויינט איבער די אפגעפארענע
Unfortunately, and woe to all of us, my friend is no longer Jewish!  My friend was Jew just like me, both he and his wife come from the most exalted beautiful Satmar homes, and they are no longer Jewish.  Their children are no longer Jews! 
What I am trying to say is, not that they  are no longer actually  Jewish, but they will never again know or experience A Rosh Hashana or a Yom Kippur and their children will never even know to go to a shul!
Yes Williamsburg goes on as if nothing happened!
The Rebbe, he should live and be well, will go to the bimah and cry!
I bought a seat on Hooper Street Shul, and I will cry along with the Rebbe as he yells and cries about the children that went off the derech!
I recall, that last year the Rebbe cried so much about the OTDs' that even on Hoshana Rabba he was still so upset about the situation!
Yes Rebbe we cry about the OTDS' (off the derech)!

רבי איך וויל דיך זאגען איך האב א חבר וואס איז אפגעפארען מיט זיין ווייב אין קינדער צוליב אכזריות פין דיין מוסד אין וויליאמסבורג. מען האט אים פארטריבען מיט די גרעסטע מאס רשעות. ער האט נישט געהאט ווי צו שיקען אין וויליאמסבורג. ער מיט זיין ווייב זענען ארוני'ם . ביי די זאלוני'ם ווערן זיי נישט אנגענומען. פאפא זיכער נישט אין וויזניץ אויך נישט. האבן זיי געוואנדערט אויף ב"פ ווייל ווילאנג קען מען זיצען אין וויליאמסבורג ווען די קינדער האבן נישט קיין מוסד. דארט אין ב"פ האט מען זיך געווארפען מיט זיי. ווייל קיינער זיכט נישט די סחורה וואס קומען פין וויליאמסבורג וועגן נישט האבן ווי צו שיקען קינדער. האבן זיי געלייגט אין א שוואכע מוסד. זיך צוצישטעלן צו די אנדערע עלטרין פין יענע מוסד האבן זיי זיך געמיזט דערקייקלען ווי זיי האלטן יעצט

Rebbe: I want to tell you that the reason my friend, his wife and his children are "off the derech" is because of the brutality of your moised in Williamsburg!
They chased him and his family away with utmost cruelty! He had no school for his children!
Why? you ask?
Because my friend and his wife are Aroinim (followers of R' Aron Teitelbaum) ! And Zalonim (followers of R' Zalman Leib Teitelbaum) will not of course accept Aronim in their schools!
Pupa refused to accept the children and Viznitz followed suit!
So the family wandered to Boro-Park, because they couldn't be in Williamsburg in limbo, while the children had no place in any of the Williamsburg yeshivois!
In Boro-Park, the mainstream yeshivois refused to accept the children because they came from Williamsburg, so they placed the children in a Yeshivah not so suitable, and had to reveal to the parents of this school their embarrassing situation!

רבי איך האב איין בקשה איידער איר גייט ארויף צו די באלעמער וויינען איך וויין שוין. דער בחור איז געווען מיין ידיד ער האט געפלאנט אויפצישטעלן א בית נאמן בישראל ווי איך. רבי איך וויין אויף זיינע דורות וואס וועלן שוין נישט לייגן תפילין אדער וויסן אז ה' הוא אלוקים. רבי עס איז נישט דא נאך איינער זייט מען איז דא אין גלות אמעריקע וואס איז אפגעפארען מיט די ווייב אין קינדער. בלויז וועגן די מוסדות . דאס איז א חידוש. דאס איז א פרשה פין בערך 5 יאר צוריק אין די וויליאמסבורגע מוסדות האבן זיך נישט געלערנט. ווי זיי פירען זיך אויף . קען מען חרוב מאכן נאך שטובער. רבי נאר די קענסט אפשטעלען די אכזריות פין די פירער פין די מוסדות‏
Rebbe: I have one request, before you approach the bima to cry, I want you to know that I am already crying! This young guy was my friend and had grand plans to build a noble Jewish home just like me.
Rebbe: I am crying over his descendants that will never wear tefillin again or have knowledge that G-d is our Creator.
Rebbe: There isn't another case  in the entire history of the  American Galus where an entire family, a husband, wife and children went off the derech together ..not to be orthodox Jews in one shot! 
All because of your Moisdos HaTorah! 
This story is already 5 years old, and the Williamsburg organization have learned absolutely zero!
With their despicable behavior they are certainly going to destroy more families!
Rebbe: Only you can stop this brutality from the administrators of your Moisdos!

רבי איידער די תקיעות שופר דרשה. שריי צו די וויליאמסבורגע פירער פין די מוסדות ראטעוועט אידישע קינדער אין עלטרין פין ווערן גוים מחללי שבתים. ‏ הערטס אויף אוועקשטיפען אין שווער מאכען צו זיין א איד אין שיקען קינדער לערנען הייליגע תורה. יעדער וויל זיין גיט אבער יעדער קומט נישט פין די זעלבע שטוב. יעדער האט נישט די זעלבע נאטור. רעכענט ענק מיט יעדע מצב
‏Rebbe: Before you give your speech that you give before the Shofar blowing, Scream at the Williamsburg administrators and beg them to save Jewish children and beg them to prevent parents from becoming goyim and sabbath desecrators!
Tell them to stop pushing away our children  and  stop making it so tough just to be a religious Jew. Everyone wants to be a good Jew but not everyone comes from the same type of home and not everyone has the same nature ... why don't don't you take everyone into account?


פירער פין די מוסד וויינטס ענק אויס אויף ענקערע דורות דעם רבוש"ע האט נישט מורא פין ענק. ער איז שטערקער פין ענק. ענק האבן פארטריבען מיט אכזריות זיינע קינדער. וכל באי עולם יעברון לפניך כבני מרון מען גייט אריבערפירען מיין חברס נאמען אין ראש השנה אזוי ווי ענקער. מלאכים פרעגן פארוואס איז ער אין זיין ווייב אין קינדער נישט אין שול אין מען ענפערט אז זיין ווייב האט געהאט א שייטל בשעת ארויפלייגען די קינדער אויף די באס. אין דערפאר האט מען באשלאסען די משפחה באלאנגט נישט צו זיין אידען. אין די קינדער טארען מער נישט לערנען אין א סאטמארע מוסד

Leaders: Have a good cry over your own descendants, Hashem does not  fear  you guys! Hashem is much stronger than you . You guys drove  away G-d's children with brutality and cruelness .
And everyone including you guys will have to face G-D this Rosh Hashana, and when the angel looks around and asks why is my friend and his children not in shul, and we will of course have to tell him the truth, that the reason why he and his family isn't in shul is because his wife wore a Sheitel (instead of a "shpitzal) while putting her children on the bus,and because of that you guys decided that the family doesn't have to remain Jewish, and the children can no longer remain in Satmar Mosdois!

איך בין נישט קיין עושר א שטילע אינגערמאנטשיק וואס ארבעט שווער על המחיה ועל הכלכלה. איך האב נישט קיין צייט אפילו צו רעדען. איך בין ארויס געפארען קיין מאנסי צו די ציון האט עס מיך געקאסט פין מיין טאש. ווייל איך ארבעט אויף די שעה. מיך גייט מען נישט אויסהערען. עס קרענקט מיך אין אויף די וועג אהיים פין מאנסי האב איך באשלאסען צו שרייבן צו דיך די ווערטער. וואס מיין חבר האט מיך געעצהט אז אפשר דורך דיך וועט עס ערגעץ אנקומען

I am no wealthy guy, I am a quiet young guy that works very hard to make a living and my occupation gives me no time even to talk, I work on the hour. Nevertheless, I took the time to go to Monsey to the grave (of the Ribnitzer Rebbe)  at my expense.
I decided to write this letter while on my way home to Williamsburg ... 

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

DIN,tell your friend he is wasting his precious time writing letters to this Jew hating gangster Zalmen Leib YEMACH SHEMO,this piece of human garbage does not give a rats behind about him and his family or any other Jew ,heck this filthy KAPO jew hating bastard does not give a rats behind for the lives of the seven million Jews in Eretz Yisroel,this piece of Drek and his brother the other jew hating gangster Aron yemach shemo,wrote letters to all the senators and congressmen in N.Y and asked them to support Obama's decision to enable Iran to eventually wipe out Israel and it's seven million Jews.
this filthy traitorous rats spent tens of thousands of dollars in broadcast ad's on WABC ,to explain to the world,that religious Jews fully support Obama's treacherous suicidal deal with Iran,and also that religious Jews have no interest in having their own country before the arrival of the messiah,and that MEDINAS YISROEL is an illegitimate state.

Unknown said...

Why didn't this family move to Kiryat Joel? I'm certain that the Aronim would have accepted them.

Unknown said...

Hey anonymous. you seem like an obsessed satmar-hating idiot. you are probably one of the dropouts who was born to dysfunctional parents and were never encouraged to learn anything, and instead of blaming yourself, satmar (either one) is a very convenient scapegoat. be ashamed of yourself.

there are rules that were made - correctly or otherwise - by the leadership so that the perceived integrity of the satmar or any chasidus ideology is preserved. if you want to lead your life differently, then the school sees children coming from such homes as a threat. this makes a lot of sense. if you care so much about your children, then this a sacrifice that you need to make. of course, (like I know someone) if you you take a vacation in peurto rico and do everything your fargashmete heart desires - and then you also boast about it - you should understand why your kids are not welcome in the school.

a. you don't belong in a chasidishe community
b. your children wont grow up chasidish anyway, so why punish them by sending them to a chasidishe school

you need to be honest with yourself. yes, being chasidish comes with giving up a lot of taaves. it may be painful doing it, but the alternatives are more painful.

if this a problem for you, then look yourself in the mirror, and see who you are, and move to a non chasidish community, who tolerate your kind of behavior, and live your true self.

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately, chasidim believe that Rebbes represent yiddishkeit but this may not be true. We are all responsible for our OWN spiritual growth even if we feel hurt and slighted. Going off is not the solution but relearning yiddishkeit and digging deep into our souls will help us make healthy decisions. Lifelong decisions that come from anger will never yield positive and healthy results. One does not need to be chassidic in order to be frum. Shabbos, kashrus, family purity, derech eretz and middos is what it is all about and not the type of head covering one wears. Hatzlachah to this young family and may they find peace of mind and happiness.

Chana said...

So there was no middle ground at all for this family? Thousands upon thousands of frum children attend yeshivas that are not controlled by either of the Satmar brothers and not a single one of them was good enough for this family, they decided that throwing yiddishkeit away was the better choice? This all or nothing behavior is insanity.

Hozen said...

Its better to be OTD then to be a Satmar Jew Hater

Anonymous said...

The letter was addressed to Reb Aron T not Reb ZL Please correct


Right the wrongs said...

די סאטמערע זענען אזעלכע רשעים און עס גייט זיי אפילו נישט אן צו מען פארט יא אפ אדער נישט

Right the wrongs said...

Because Kj is nothing better

Anonymous said...

As a matter of fact. Thousands of Jew's are becoming גוים because the ישיבות און חדרים ווארפן ארויס קינדער, בחורים, און סטאם מענטשן פון בית המדר. ווען מען זאל זיך אראפזעצן און דורך טראכטן וואס מען טוט דא אפ פאר כלל ישראל און אויפהערן צו האקן אז אינטערנעט איז די פראבלעם דא, וואלט די אידישע וועלט אסאך אנדערש אויסגעקיקט.

Unknown said...

Wow guys may God help us. These comments are just heartbreaking. I was expecting to read supportive responses of repentance. Just like learning Torah and not doing is not good, so is not understanding when something is helpful and when it isn't. When something starts to cause Rifts and hardships for people for no good reason, the Integrity of any ideology is no longer important, especially if the ideology was there to strengthen the community in the first place. Ideologies in general are harmful. This is actually known and accepted amongst educated truth-seeking people in the general world. Looking at history, you couldn't come away otherwise. I am not really the type of person that would be reading a blog like this, I actually just Googled ribnitzer rebbe. But the truth is I have have gone to Williamsburg because I have a friend there and I actually had to stop going there because it was so difficult. Even as a guest unless I was really just in my friends house,I felt very unwelcome. If I went to a wedding with my friend and was dressed totally modestly but was looked up and down in a way that was harsh over and over and I just found the atmosphere to be harsh. There is something really missing from the community and I'm told it wasn't always like this. What is missing is the feminine dimension of life.warmth, love, sincerity,variety, light-heartedness, curiosity, color, Beauty, and sincere connection. It has become so rigid and judgmental that I know that if I had grown up in that Community I would have left. It is okay for some people but it doesn't seem there is room for everyone. My guess is people there are people there who are even keeping it together but are suffering. If someone is all in their head I don't expect them to understand. These are the kinds of people who will leave any comments besides those of support to a post like this. But there are serious repercussions and they should be obvious to anyone who knows how to read the changes in the culture. You can't afford to stay in your head you have to try to make reality better as well.God has room for everyone and everyone was created by God. We just need to welcome God in and not try to be more religious than the Torah with our judgments. It's hard when the people themselves feel judged. Let's appreciate the variety of people in the world like we can appreciate the variety and beauty in nature. When people can't do that, They don't really develop. And when they don't develop there is essentially no one to talk to because they themselves become a liability. There are plenty of Commandments concerning man between man that we need to take seriously.

Unknown said...

That sounds like such a difficult thing to go through I can't even imagine. Just the emotional toll something like that would take. And they had to go through it more than once and I am sure the thought of having to go through it again was too much. Especially when you are trying to send your kids to Torah schools. A Torah that teaches kindness and understanding and Ahavas Yisroel. I'm sure it was hard with how hypocritical the communities were being. And it's one thing to talk about it but a very different thing to go through it. And how to explain it to your kids. I am sure it would take all the inspiration out of someone. I can't even imagine. I am sure anyone would feel very jaded. And it would make them question things. How terrible that they had to go through this! Please tell them that there are people out there that are very very sorry. I am so sorry to see some of the other comments intellectualizing things when this is obviously very painful situation comma especially that those people did not have to go through. How many tears they must have shed as a couple and having to deal with rejection over ridiculous ridiculous things. We are so so sorry!!!

Unknown said...

in response to the all-or-nothing comment, isn't it obvious that this person was speaking emotionally and could not possibly get across every single thing? Do you really need every detail spelled out for you and black and white and not able to get a sense of something? Besides that,Isn't it obvious that a family like this would have tried everything first or were just so so hurt that this is what they chose reluctantly? Does this community know what critical thinking is? Aren't you somewhat capable of thinking from a bigger perspective, or at the very least an empathetic one? Isn't it obvious that behaviors stemming from intellectual disputes need to be handled completely differently from emotional pain? How does a group of people that claims to live by the blueprint of the universe and study it miss this very basic piece of wisdom? As you should have learned from the Torah truth and peace do not sit comfortably together. The Torah commands for the Jewish people to spread out. Maybe it's all this isolation and years of not overcoming small changes in the outside culture like a vaccine, that has caused the people to be very weak and not able to overcome it as the impurity there has grown but the people were not forced to grow in truth and goodness in order to overcome it. The most sincere people are the ones who have a hard time there. People who just follow do very well.

Unknown said...

He didn't finish the entire story after the first part, he just got to the point in his plea to the Rebbe.