Teitelbaum, R. Yoel / Satmar / Khal Charedim archives. Lot of five items

Teitelbaum, R. Yoel / Satmar / Khal Charedim archives. Lot of five items
Teitelbaum, R. Yoel / Satmar / Khal Charedim archives. Lot of five items.
In the 1920’s Congregation Khal Charedim was established in New York’s Lower East Side by a group of devout and G-d-fearing individuals of Hungarian origin who, due to various circumstances, found themselves in America. Determined to uphold their traditions and unwilling to compromise one iota from their religious standards, they founded Khal Charedim. The bylaws of the kehilla only permitted membership to like-minded individuals who undertook that they and their spouses would maintain the accepted religious and Chassidic standards practiced in Europe. This was almost unprecedented in an era where the prevailing attitude was, that the European standards of yiddishkeit could not survive and certainly not flourish in America.
Although originally the community did not have an official Rav, in 1938 they appointed a renowned European Rav to that position. The Rav had narrowly escaped the Nazi invasion of Austria and without a position waiting for him in the US could not have obtained an entry visa. This official Rav however, did not settle in the Lower East Side but in Williamsburg where he opened his own Bais Ha’Midrash. The times being what they were and with only one main supporter helping him to establish himself in America, the Rav felt compelled to overlook the sad fact that the family of the lay-leader of his new kehilla were lax in certain areas of religious behavior. Although the new kehilla too, was strictly orthodox they did not require the same personal standards from their members and their families as did Khal Charedim.
A disagreement arose whether the official Rav of the Khal Charedim could preside at the same time over a second congregation which did not necessarily conduct itself in accordance with the Khal Charedim standards. The president of Khal Charedim, Reb Moshe Shea Ha’Cohen Perl, presented the question to R. Yoel Teitelbaum then serving as Rav in the City of Satmar, Romania. Orthodox Jewry was a crossroads at this critical juncture and the dilemma posed to the Satmar Rav would have ramifications that would decide the very fabric of Orthodox life in the New World. On the one hand, one of the leading Torah personalities of the time had reached the shores of America and stood poised to elevate the general populace. Here was an opportunity for the Satmar Rav to urge the people to accept the Rav’s leadership. On the other hand, this small existing bastion of undiluted yiddishkeit was asking that even a tiny breach not be allowed in the wall that they had erected to maintain their age-old standards.
This historic handwritten letter sent by the Satmar Rav declared that there was no room for compromise. Upon the receipt of the Satmar Rav’s response, the official Rav of Khal Charedim felt compelled to resign. As he was in fact established in Williamsburg, the resignation was basically a formality, but to the devout Jews sacrificing themselves daily to maintain the standards of old, it was a watershed event. The Satmar Rav had spoken: America would no longer be the land of compromise.
Subsequently in 1948, when the Satmar Rav immigrated to America, it was the same Khal Charedim which signed the required affidavit legally bringing the Rebbe to America to serve as their Rav.
Signed letter by Rav Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar written to R. Moshe Shea Perl, president of Khal Charedim. The Rebbe responded that whilst queries of this nature cannot be answered under any circumstances from a distance, generally speaking one should maintain total separation from those who compromise their religious standards. The Rebbe added that the “Eigel” made in the desert shortly after the receiving of the Torah was due to the influence of “Eirev Rav” and the Jew’s association with them.
Although written prior to the Holocaust and the subsequent immigration of the Rebbe to America, this letter provides a glimpse into the foresight and worldview of the Rebbe, and can be considered the document which laid the foundation upon which “Satmar” would be established a decade later in America.
23 by 14 cm. Some stains. Laminated.
Minutes of a board meeting of the executive committee of Khal Charedim dated 1946, unanimously agreeing to appoint the Satmar Rav as Rav of the Kehilla.
Two letters from the State Department written to Reb Moshe Shea Perl confirming that the Rebbe will be arriving in New York Harbor on September 12th 1948.
Original booklet with the constitution and bylaws of Khal Charedim.
Opening bid $10,000