March 4, 2006
Court Suspends a Ruling in Satmar Case
by Staff Writer
The New York Times
In the latest twist in the bitter battle for the leadership of the Satmar sect of Hasidic Jews, an appellate court yesterday suspended a judge's decision that had effectively given a faction from Orange County control of the group.
The Orange County faction has been fighting with a faction based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, since 1999 for the reins of the politically active Satmars, who number about 60,000 in New York State and are locked in a succession struggle. A fight in October between the groups led to several arrests on assault charges.
Their ailing grand rabbi, Moses Teitelbaum, is in his 90's. His oldest son, Aaron, runs the Orange County congregation, based in Kiryas Joel. His youngest son, Zalmen, runs the Brooklyn congregation. Both claim to be heir to the leadership.
Last month, in a suit over access to a cemetery, Acting Justice Stewart A. Rosenwasser of State Supreme Court in Orange County ruled that a member of the Orange County group was the rightful president of the sect's board of directors. The Brooklyn group argued to the appellate judges that the ruling conflicted with one by another judge, in Brooklyn, that the courts could not intervene in what he termed a religious dispute.
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