This is the Forward’s coverage of Satmar, a Hasidic sect in New York City.
Satmar
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Culture EXCLUSIVE: How A Hasidic Dynasty Handles A Succession Crisis
The following essay has been adapted from “Who Shall Lead Us: The Story of Five Hasidic Dynasties in America,” by Samuel Heilman (University of California Press). In his old age, Yoelish Teitelbaum, the first Satmar Rebbe, had outlived his heirs. Although he was leader of the largest Hasidic group in America, with tens of thousands…
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Fast Forward New York Mayor Bill De Blasio Cleared In Hasidic Fundraising Probe
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been cleared in federal and state probes into possible improper fundraising that had ties to the Satmar community in Brooklyn. “I’ve said consistently that we acted appropriately, we acted ethically, we acted lawfully,” de Blasio told WNYC. “I think this confirms what I’ve been saying.” Federal prosecutors…
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News Prosecutors Grill De Blasio Over Ties To Satmar Leader
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio met Friday with federal prosecutors investigating whether he gave special treatment to an influential Satmar Hasidic landlord in exchange for supporting his campaign, according to The New York Times. The landlord, Moishe Indig, is a top lay leader among the Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based followers of Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum, the…
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News Her Journey From Hasidic Rabbi To (Happy) Transgender Woman
Abby Stein is almost certainly the only ordained Hasidic rabbi who is also a woman. Stein wasn’t female when ordained, of course. She was a young man, soon to be married to a woman also from the strict Satmar community in which they were both raised. While Stein – then named Yisroel and nicknamed Srully…
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News Is Fraud Arrest of Hasidic Fixer Sign of Probe Into Wider Scandal?
The Satmar political activist whom federal agents arrested Thursday on food stamp fraud charges had a side gig as a political fixer for rich Hasidim, the Forward has learned. Isaac Sofer, who managed government relations for a Satmar yeshiva system, used his political connections to help wealthy members of the Hasidic community, according to a…
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News Satmar Hasidic Activist Isaac Sofer Arrested for Food Stamp Fraud
The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested prominent Brooklyn Satmar community activist Isaac Sofer on Thursday morning on charges that he lied in order to obtain food stamps. Updated, 3:00 P.M. Sofer manages government relations for the Central United Talmudical Academy, the Williamsburg yeshiva system that serves followers of the politically connected Satmar Grand Rabbi Aron…
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News How the Hasids Won the Battle of Bloomingburg — and Everyone Else Lost
When Mrs. F. and her husband decided to move away from Kiryas Joel, the upstate New York shtetl where they grew up, they went to their rebbe to ask for advice. The couple couldn’t move just anywhere. Both are members of the Satmar Hasidic group, and like all ultra-Orthodox Jews, they had special requirements: a…
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News Why So Many Ultra-Orthodox Jews Will Vote for Hillary Clinton — Not Donald Trump
Why are some of the most observant Jews in America planning to vote for Hillary Clinton on Tuesday? Here’s a general rule of thumb: The more religious you are, the more likely it is you plan to vote for Donald Trump. Among white evangelicals, for instance, support for Trump increases with frequency of church attendance….
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