Major Satmar Hasidic leader ill with COVID-19, on ventilator
Image by getty images
As COVID-19 test positivity rates continue to climb in Orthodox communities in New York, a major leader of the Satmar Hasidic sect was put on a ventilator Wednesday morning after becoming critically ill with COVID-19, according to Yeshiva World News.
Flyers circulated online Wednesday morning calling for prayers for Mayer Rispler, a community leader in the Aronim faction of the Satmar community.
An accountant by trade, Ripsler has long been one of the community’s most important leaders and a major donor to Satmar institutions. He has also served as a spokesperson for the community at times.
In April, after a large funeral prompted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to lash out at the community in a widely criticized tweet, Rispler defended the mayor and called for compliance with government health regulations.
“We do not condone any behavior that puts people at risk and pledge to keep working alongside the brave men and women of the NYPD in addressing and eliminating any such occurrences,” Rispler wrote at the time.
Rispler is not the first major leader in the Satmar community to become gravely ill with COVID-19. Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum, head of the Aronim faction, reportedly tested positive for the virus in March.
The post Major Satmar Hasidic leader critically ill with COVID-19 appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
