Israel – The Aharoynim vs. the Zoylinim.

Israel – The hoardings at Shabbat Square and its environs in Mea She’arim strain, as always, from the weight of the posters paying respects to rabbis the ultra-Orthodox community wishes to honor. But last week, there was no mention of the Satmar Rebbe’s visit. There is not even any mention of him in the most unbridled expressions of vehemence between rival Hasidic courts.

A thunderous silence greeted the visit by Admor (the acronym for “our master, our teacher, our rabbi”) Reb Aharon Teitelbaum, whose first visit to Jerusalem came in the shadow of the deep schism within Satmar Hasidism. There were no posters lauding him and none attacking him. Contrary to custom, even the timetable of the visit was not posted for the benefit of passersby.

Nor did the hoardings reveal the deep schism within Satmar Hasidism, which has become more intense since the death of the previous rebbe, Rebbe Moshe Teitelbaum, about a year ago.

but one thing both camps are united in the opinion that Rebbe Aharon did a blessed deed and strengthened their camp by announcing his intention to build a neighborhood for his disciples on the ruins of the Edison Cinema, even the organ of Agudat Yisrael, the historical ideological rival of Satmar Hasidism – deviated from the usual bitterness of its reports about the Satmars and reported on it.

Jerusalem did give the admor the cold shoulder. The Eda Haharedit, the umbrella organization of all the extremist ultra-Orthodox factions in Jerusalem, did not publish an announcement of solidarity in advance of the visit. Later, it took an even blunter step: The festive luncheon that was held at a hall in the Talpiot neighborhood was not granted kashrut certification by the Badatz, the rabbinical court of the ultra-Orthodox community. In the end, a well-known rabbi who is a member of the Eda agreed to grant kashrut certification.

Many other admors and important ultra-Orthodox institutions in Jerusalem fell in line with the Eda. After all, Zalman Leib controls institutions and money, so they determined that it would be best to refrain from any gesture that might have been interpreted as an expression of support for the admor.

Read extended article [haaretz]