ר׳ יואל טייטלבוים

ר׳ יואל טייטלבוים (1887–1979) was the founding rebbe of the modern Satmar Hasidic community. Born in Sighet to ר׳ חנניה יום טוב ליפא טייטלבוים, he served as rabbi in Irshava and Carei before assuming the Satu Mare rabbinate in 1934. In 1944 he was confined in the Cluj ghetto and escaped Hungary on the Kastner train, reaching Switzerland after detention in Bergen-Belsen. After a short stay in Jerusalem he settled in Williamsburg in 1946 and rebuilt Satmar as a major network of synagogues, schools and charities. He also led Jerusalem’s Edah HaChareidis. His ויואל משה systematically articulated his opposition to political Zionism, and his leadership shaped a large transatlantic Hasidic community and Kiryas Joel.