3 Young Followers of Satmar Rebbe Banned from Yeshiva, Synagogue for UN Picketing

Three young followers of the Satmar Rebbe in Williamsburg who took part in a demonstration in front of the United Nations on Jan. 14th against the State of Israel and its retaliatory attack on the Beirut airport have been expelled from the Satmar Yeshiva and banned from the Satmar Synagogue, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned today. The action against the three youths was taken as an indication of the displeasure of the Satmar Rebbe over their participation in the picketing which was done without permission or approval from the Hassidic sect, the JTA was informed. The youths, aged 17 to 19, were expelled from Yeshiva Torah V’Yirah and banned from the Yitev Leiv Synagogue in what amounted to an act of social ostracism against them, the JTA was told.

Two other Satmar youths who took part in the demonstration averted similar punishment, the JTA was told, when they convinced sect leaders that they repented their picketing. The three expelled youths have the same option, it was indicated, although it could not be learned whether they intended to seek a reversal of the ouster action. The Satmar Rebbe followers were among a group of some 100 bearded Williamsburg Jews who took part in the demonstration in expressing the view among ultra-Orthodox Jews that the modern State of Israel is opposed to traditional Judaism. A leaflet distributed during the protest asserted that Israel “is not and cannot be a ‘Jewish State’.”