Early life Teitelbaum was born on January 13, 1887. He was the second son of the
Grand Rabbi of
Sighet Chananyah Yom Tov Lipa Teitelbaum and his second wife, Chana Ashkenazi. The couple married in 1878, after receiving a
special dispensation for him to take a second wife, as his first wife Reitze—daughter of
Rebbe Menashe Rubin of
Ropshitz—was unable to bear children. Joel was the youngest child; he had four older siblings. The rabbis of the Teitelbaum family were known for their highly conservative stances and their opposition to the
Enlightenment,
Neolog Judaism, and
Zionism. Chananyah was the great-grandson of
Moshe Teitelbaum, a disciple of the
Seer of Lublin, who was, in turn, one of the main promulgators of Hasidism in Hungary. He served as a rabbi in
Técső. In 1883, after
his father's death, Chananyah arrived in
Máramarossziget (shortened to Siget in Yiddish; today Sighetu Marmației, Romania), where he began to serve as a rabbi. He became dean of the local
rabbinical seminary and the leader of the eponymous Hasidic movement based in the city. Joel was renowned for his intellectual capacities from a young age. At his
bar mitzvah, he delivered a sermon of several hours concerning an issue from tractate
Shabbat in the Talmud. He was stringent in matters regarding
ritual purity and would lengthily prepare for prayer by meticulously cleaning himself. Even before marrying, he received
semikhah from eight prominent rabbis, including
Moshe Greenwald. In 1904, just several days before his father's February 15 death, the 17-year-old married Chavah Horowitz, the daughter of
Abraham Chaim Horowitz of
Połaniec. They had three daughters, none of whom survived their father or had any children. The first, Esther, died in her youth on September 14, 1921; Rachel died on March 19, 1931, shortly after her wedding. The youngest, Chaya Roisa (or Reysel), died on October 23, 1953. Teitelbaum's older brother,
Chaim Tzvi Teitelbaum, succeeded their father in all three of his posts. Their mother and a small faction of the Hasidim regarded the younger brother (i.e. Joel) as the appropriate heir. The newly-wedded Joel and Chava then moved to her father's residence in
Radomyśl Wielki and remained there for over a year. On 8 September 1905, the Teitelbaums settled in
Szatmárnémeti, or Satmar in
Yiddish. Despite his youth, supporters opened a
study hall for him. He gradually began to attract a local following. Journalist Dezső David Schön, who researched the Teitelbaum dynasty, wrote that Teitelbaum started to refer to himself as the "
Rebbe of Satmar" around this point. Subsequently, he had tense relations with the first to claim the title: Yisaschar Dov Leifer, the son of
Mordechai of Nadvorna. Leifer died on 12 September 1906.
Rabbinical career In 1911, Teitelbaum was invited by the Jewish community in
Ilosva (or Iršiva) to serve as their town's rabbi. Although then part of
Austria-Hungary, the town is now
Irshava, Ukraine. During Teitelbaum's residency, he established a local seminary and spread the ideas of Hasidism among the populace. Upon the outbreak of
World War I, he returned to
Satu Mare, where his former study hall gradually developed into a full-fledged seminary. As a young rabbi, he clung to the positions of his father and grandfather. He forbade any contact with
Zionists, including the
Mizrachi (Religious Zionists), and supported
Chaim Elazar Spira, the
Rebbe of
Munkacs, in his opposition to
World Agudath Israel. When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved under the terms of the
Treaty of Trianon (1920) following the war,
Satu Mare,
Partium, and
Transylvania became part of the
Kingdom of Romania. The then-chief
Orthodox rabbi of Satmar, Yehudah Greenwald, died on 9 March 1920. Several of Teitelbaum's supporters advanced his name as a possible candidate for the vacant office, but he was opposed by the
non-Hasidic Ashkenazi majority, modernists, and Zionists in the community (not to mention by many other Hasidim). Eventually,
Eliezer David Greenwald (no relation to the former) was chosen. In 1922, after eight years outside the town, Teitelbaum returned to his community, Iršiva, then in
Czechoslovakia. On 29 March 1925, he was appointed chief rabbi of
Krula. He moved to the city about a year afterward. On 21 January 1926, his older brother, Chaim Tzvi, died unexpectedly of an
intracranial hemorrhage. Tzvi's oldest son,
Yekusiel Yehuda Teitelbaum (II), was just fourteen years old. Although many of his followers suggested Joel succeed his brother, the custom prevailed, and the boy was given his father's three posts. Yekusiel Judah Gross of
Berbești was brought to serve as his tutor and
de facto chief rabbi of
Sighet. Regardless, most of the Hasidim turned to Joel, who became the dynasty's rebbe in all but title. When he grew older, Yekusiel established a following of his own from among his father's loyal supporters, but his influence as rebbe never exceeded the city's limits. On 20 May 1928, Eliezer David Greenwald of Satmar died, and Teitelbaum ran for the municipal rabbi's office again. An election committee established by the Orthodox community's board chose him for the post on June 11, with nineteen members in favor, five against, and two abstentions. After a prolonged dispute with his opponents, the parties decided to hold an election among all members of the congregation. It occurred on August 9, and Teitelbaum received 437 votes in favor and 331 against. The opposition did not accept the results. On 27 September, 779 approved Teitelbaum in a second vote, and only one member rejected him. Chaim Freund, the community's president, and several other members of the board were close supporters of the rabbi, and his opponents accused them of rigging the vote throughout the election process by various means, including granting and withdrawing the right to participate according to criteria which benefited their candidate. Both sides sued their opponents in rabbinical courts and complained to the civilian authorities. The parties presented their claims in lengthy pamphlets printed in 1929: Freund's faction issued a book under the name
Milkhemes Mitzve haKhudosh ("The New Commanded War"), and the other one published
Sfas Emes ("Words of Truth"). Finally, following the continued refusal of many to accept Teitelbaum, his supporters established their own independent community on 10 December 1929, where he could serve as a rabbi. The fear of losing members' fees motivated the other party to negotiate. An agreement was reached on 11 June 1930, and Joel was invited to serve as Satmar's chief rabbi. He chose not to accept the nomination until he was certain of support from the community council, which took three and a half years. Only then did he move, arriving on 27 February 1934. With 334 students, his rabbinical seminary became Satmar's largest, having more pupils than the other three combined. In August 1932, Teitelbaum visited
Jerusalem. A small party there sought to appoint him as the Ashkenazi chief rabbi of the city in the wake of
Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld's death, but
Yosef Tzvi Dushinsky eventually received the post. On 29 January 1936, Teitelbaum's first wife, Chava, died. On 20 August 1937, he remarried with Alte Faige Shapiro, the orphaned 25-year-old daughter of Avigdor Shapiro from
Częstochowa, who was half his age. , 1936
Incident with King Carol II of Romania In the winter of 1936, the Romanian king
Carol II visited the city of Satmar. A large parade consisting of thousands of soldiers and courtiers accompanied his arrival. The municipality prepared a large stage upon which all its religious and municipal leaders stood. Teitelbaum was accompanied by his son-in-law, Chananya Yom-Tov Lipa Teitelbaum, rabbi of
Szemihály, and community leader Shmuel Rosenberg, and standing beside them were rabbis of the status quo and
neolog communities, as well as other religious leaders. When the king approached the stage, he surveyed all the people who stood on it and started walking toward Teitelbaum, who was holding his rabbinical stick in one hand and his hat in the other. Two priests began walking towards the king, but he ignored them. Teitelbaum, suddenly noticing what was happening, saluted and said the
blessing "Shenatan MiChvodo LiVnei Adam" (lit. who gave from His (God's) honor to human beings) – the Jewish blessing said when one meets a king. The king gave Teitelbaum his hand. The moment was documented by a Jewish photographer and was published in the Romanian press. Several days later, the king was asked why he approached the Orthodox rabbi first, and he responded: "Immediately when I walked toward the stage, I surveyed all those who were standing on it. My heart was attracted to this rabbi due to his appearance that radiated spirituality (lit., Yiddishen geistlichen rabbiner)." The king's response was published in the country's Jewish press.
World War II In 1940, following the
Second Vienna Award, Satmar again became part of
Hungary. Prior to the Holocaust, Teitelbaum ignored the threats to the Jews of Transylvania and failed to engage in the preparation of rescue and aid plans. As the situation of Hungarian Jews became dangerous, Teitelbaum equipped himself and his closest circle with certificates or visas that would facilitate their escape to
Mandatory Palestine or the United States. At the same time, he thwarted all attempts at cooperation between the heads of the ultra-Orthodox communities and the Zionist organizations, which could have helped the rest of the Jewish community to escape. His daughter settled in Jerusalem, while he called on his followers not to emigrate. Teitelbaum's attempts to leave Hungary were part of a broader general phenomenon, which attracted criticism, even then, of rabbis and other public figures fleeing the country. When the Germans invaded Hungary, Teitelbaum's closest associates sought a safer way to smuggle him out by bribing two junior officers, drivers of a Red Cross ambulance, who agreed to drive a group of Jews to Kolozsvár (today
Cluj-Napoca) in return for money. The travelers included his family and several wealthy families who paid most of the costs. The attempt failed, and Teitelbaum was arrested and sent to
Kolozsvár Ghetto. Faced with harsh living conditions, he asked his followers to try to transfer him to Budapest or back to the ghetto of Satmar, where Jews were housed in residential buildings, but they were unable to fulfill his requests. Baron
Fülöp von Freudiger, director of the Orthodox congregation in Budapest, selected eighty rabbis and other prominent figures and paid for their inclusion in the passengers' list of the
Kastner train, which was to depart the state for a neutral country. Teitelbaum put himself on the list even though a Zionist group organized the evacuation. On 30 June 1944, once negotiations with the Germans had been concluded, the passengers boarded a freight train that was planned to proceed to Switzerland but was eventually diverted to
Bergen Belsen. The group was held in a special section, in better conditions than those of other groups. Although the group included several notable figures, Teitelbaum was given special consideration. The group's physician exempted him from roll calls, and volunteers performed the tasks imposed on him. With the help of Kasztner and SS officer Herman Krumey, the final arrangements were made, and Teitelbaum was transferred to Switzerland with some Jews from the group. Upon his arrival in Switzerland, he was accorded preferential treatment by the authorities. In late April 1948, the Satmar Hasidim established "Congregation Yetev Lev", named after
his grandfather, which was registered as a
religious corporation. The community's regulations, accepted in April 1952, decreed that Teitelbaum was not a salaried officeholder but the supreme spiritual authority over the members. In 1951, although not a resident of Israel, Teitelbaum was appointed to the ceremonial office of President of the anti-Zionist
Edah HaChareidis (Congregation of God-Fearers) in Jerusalem. After the death of
Zelig Reuven Bengis on 21 May 1953, he also succeeded him as the Chief Rabbi and Grand Patriarch of Edah HaChareidis Rabbinical Court. He visited Israel twice, in the summers of 1956 and 1965. In 1955, Teitelbaum founded the
Central Rabbinical Congress, which he headed for the remainder of his life. From the early 1960s, Teitelbaum's envoys sought to establish a rural settlement where the congregants could be secluded from the outside world. They eventually managed to purchase territory in
Monroe, New York, where they built
Kiryas Joel (Town of Joel). The first families settled there in 1974. On 23 February 1968, Teitelbaum suffered a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed and barely functioning. His wife, backed by several
sextons and other functionaries, became the behind-the-scenes power in Satmar. In the early hours of 19 August 1979, he complained of aches and was transported to
Mount Sinai Hospital, where he suffered a
myocardial infarction and died at approximately 8am. Over 100,000 people attended his funeral in Kiryas Joel. He was succeeded by his nephew,
Moshe Teitelbaum, the second son of his older brother. == Opinions ==