The Bnei Yoel (Sons of Joel) are a group of
Satmar
Satmar (; ) is a group in Hasidic Judaism founded in 1905 by Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum (1887–1979), in the city of Szatmárnémeti (also called Szatmár in the 1890s), Kingdom of Hungary, Hungary (now Satu Mare in Romania). The group is a b ...
Hasidim, who, after the death of
Joel Teitelbaum
Joel Teitelbaum (, ; 13 January 1887 – 19 August 1979) was the founder and first Grand Rebbe of the Satmar dynasty. The Satmar Rebbe is also known as the Krula Rav.
A major figure in the post-war renaissance of Hasidism, he espoused a stric ...
, refused to accept the leadership of the new Grand Rabbi of Satmar, Rebbe
Moshe Teitelbaum, and instead decided to remain followers of Rabbi Joel.
They are also known as:
*"The Rebbetzin's Hasidim", referring to Joel Teitelbaum's surviving wife,
Alte Feiga Teitelbaum (1912-2001). (A "
rebbetzin
Rebbetzin () or Rabbanit () is the title used for the wife of a rabbi—typically among Orthodox, Haredi, and Hasidic Jews—or for a female Torah scholar or teacher.
Etymology
The Yiddish word has a trilingual etymology: Hebrew, רבי ' ...
" is the title for an
Orthodox rabbi
A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...
's wife.)
*"''keygeners''", meaning those "who go against" something (in
Yiddish
Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
.)
*"''misnagdim''," "opponents" in Yiddish, but not to be confused with the non-Hasidic movement of the
misnagdim
''Misnagdim'' (, "Opponents"; Sephardi pronunciation: ''Mitnagdim''; singular ''misnaged / mitnaged'') was a Jewish religious movements, religious movement among the Eastern European Jewry, Jews of Eastern Europe which resisted the rise of Has ...
, the ideological opponents of the original Hasidic movement in the 18th century.
Some members of the Bnei Yoel have taken the side of Rabbi
Zalman Leib Teitelbaum
Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum (III), known by the Yiddish colloquial name Zalman Leib (born 23 December 1951), is one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar. He leads the dynasty's Williamsburg, Brooklyn faction, which is based at the community's cent ...
in the dispute that erupted about the succession of Moshe Teitelbaum, in which brothers
Aaron Teitelbaum
Aaron Teitelbaum (born 20 October 1947) is one of the two Grand Rebbes of Satmar, and the chief rabbi of the Satmar community in Kiryas Joel, New York.
Background
Aaron Teitelbaum is the oldest son of the late Grand Rabbi of Satmar Moshe Te ...
and Zalman Leib Teitelbaum both claimed the right to become the new Rebbe.
Some of the Bnei Yoel who have taken the side of Zalman Leib, but opposed Zalman's father, Moses, are often referred to as the "Hasidim of ''Ahava Mesiteres''" (Hasidim of "Hidden Love"), based on a discourse of Zalman Leib.
References
External links
Jewish Women's Archive encyclopedia article on Rebbetzin Teitelbaum
{{Hasidic dynasties
Satmar (Hasidic dynasty) members