Jews Vs. Israel

Satmar is not a theological movement or even a doctrinal sect. It has no novel theology or new halachic positions. It's a kehillah, not a denomination. Saying Satmar "began" in 1905 is like saying America is only forty years old because the Bush dynasty entered politics in the 1980s. There is nothing in Satmar thought that departs from normative rabbinic Judaism. On Zionism in particular their stance is not innovation at all, quite the contary. Before the Holocaust, nearly every major rabbinic authority opposed the Zionist project, with only a handful of exceptions. Satmar simply did not abandon that consensus after 1948. And on the specific issue of drafting yeshiva students into the military, opposition has been nearly universal across the rabbinic spectrum. Hasidic, Litvish, and Sephardic Rabbis all opposed forced conscription of Yeshiva Bochurim. To call that position a "radical departure" is just plain false. Satmar's worldview wasn't shaped by 20th-century Europe but by Mount Sinai. Their ideology is simple: believe in God, keep His mitzvot, and preserve a distinct Jewish identity, and that ideology is as old as the Jewish people. Zionism, on the other hand, was founded with the explicit goal of transforming Judaism from a religion into a nationality. That is the radical departure from 3,300 years of Jewish tradition.

NEW YORK: Thousands of Yidden attend a protest against the Israeli government’s draft of Bnei Yeshiva outside the Israeli Consulate in Manhattan, organized and attended by both Satmar Rebbes. Other gedolim attending include the Bobov-45 rebbe.

Thousands upon thousands of Torah Observant Jews are gathering now at the Israeli Consulate to protest Zionism and Israel’s forced conscription of our brethren in the Holy Land. Here’s the Grand Rabbi of Satmar enjoining everyone to attend as it’s our mission to *disavow Zionism.* “We will continue to sanctify Hashem’s name in spite of all the distortion by Zionists.”