Thousands of Chasidic Jews streamed into Kiryas Joel Yesterday Sunday August 16 2020, for the 41st Yahrtzeit of the Satmar Rebbe, Reb Yoel Teitelbaum Zatzal, the founder of the Satmar Chasidic movement and namesake of the Satmar village in Orange County.
Worshippers visit Teitelbaum’s mausoleum each year on his yertzheit, Rabbi Teitelbaum died at age 92 in 1979, two years after Kiryas Joel was created.
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A most visited Jewish holy place in the United States is the graveside of Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, zt’l (1886—1979), venerated Satmar Rebbe and author of Divrei Yoel. On Sunday, 26 Av, August 19, 1979, sad tidings of the Rebbe’s passing spread very quickly, with radio news broadcasts announcing it every ten minutes. Preparations were quickly made by the Monroe Satmar kehillah to accommodate a large crowd. Decisions had to be made as to where to inter the Rebbe, where to conduct the funeral, who would eulogize him, and who would succeed him as Rebbe. As the Rebbe left no living offspring and no will or indication clearly identifying his successor, every decision was difficult.
The Rebbe’s nephew, Rabbi Moshe Teitelbaum, zt’l (1914—2006), then Sigeter Rebbe, son of the Rebbe’s older brother, Rabbi Chaim Zvi Teitelbaum, zt’l (1879—1926), Sigeter Rebbe and author of Atzei Chaim, and closest surviving blood relative, was clearly the most likely heir to lead the huge following that the Satmar Rebbe had painstakingly amassed. The Sigeter Rebbe, however, was in Miami at the moment of the Rebbe’s passing and, while en route to Kiryas Yoel, he was unavailable for immediate consultation.
At that time, in 1979, in the beginning years of the Kiryas Yoel community, it had no cemetery. The Satmar kehillah then had a cemetery in Pinelawn on Long Island and one in Floral Park, NJ, but not yet in Kiryas Yoel. A plot of land in Kiryas Yoel was then immediately designated to serve as the cemetery for the community. The land was instantly cleared and the main shul in Kiryas Yoel was chosen as the site of the funeral.
Thousands of chassidim began to converge at the main shul in anticipation. Chassidim came from New York City, the Catskills, Florida, Lakewood, New Hampshire, Montreal, and Toronto. The roads leading to Kiryas Yoel were so clogged with traffic that the state police had no choice but to close them. People simply pulled over to the next available space on the side of the road and left their cars, some as far away as Route 17, the closest highway, and walked several miles. Ultimately, more than 125,000 people were present. The Sigeter Rebbe chartered a private plane to come to New York from Florida and arrived in Kiryas Yoel by helicopter.
Tears flowed incessantly. Everyone in the huge crowd cried profusely for world Jewry’s great loss. After anguished eulogies in the shul, including that delivered by the weeping Satmar Rebbetzin, Alta Feiga Teitelbaum, a’h (1912—2001), widow of Rabbi Yoel, the mass of people brought the Rebbe to the newly designated cemetery. The crowd filled the cleared field. Loud wailing was heard as the Rebbe was lowered into his final resting place. As Kaddish was recited by Rabbi Ezriel Glick zt’l (1926—2014), the Rebbe’s gabbai, many strained to hear some word as to who would be the successor, but no announcement was made. As the Rebbe was buried alone in the new cemetery, the community arranged for a minyan to be present at his gravesite 24/7, until a second meis was interred there 14 days later.
A week after the funeral, the entire scene was reenacted for the matzevah shtelen (erection of the tombstone). Thirty-six years later, the Satmar Rebbe’s gravesite has become one of the most-visited chassidic holy sites in the world, with a heavy flow of visitors all year round.
Several months after the Rebbe’s passing, the Sigeter Rebbe was asked to assume the leadership mantle of the Satmar kehillah. The Sigeter Rebbe was anointed as president of the Badatz of Jerusalem, as was his uncle before him. Reluctantly, he accepted, but deferred the ceremonial rabbinic coronation until the first yahrzeit. At that time, many important chassidic Rebbes, rabbis, and roshei yeshiva participated, including the entire Badatz of Jerusalem. Initially, the successor was known as the Sigeter-Satmar Rebbe, but as the chassidim accepted the reality that their holy leader was no longer with them, the Sigeter Rebbe became the Satmar Rebbe.
The cemetery adjoins the Satmar Yeshiva in Monroe, separated by a gate, representing the Rebbe’s legacy. Presently, more than 1,000 students eat, sleep, and learn there. The charitable proceeds of the day’s activities represent the yeshiva’s main support.
