In Satmar Custody

[Yala]

Has anyone heard of the following documentary? Flipping through the channels last night I ran across this documentary in the middle. I haven't seen it in it's entirety yet but apparently missionary groups of Satmars went to Yemen and recruited Yemenite Jews to the US and not Israel, b/c of course the Satmar are extremely anti-Zionist. In any case, once the Yemenite Jews arrived, mostly in the NY area, their kids were taken from them by the Satmar, jobs were not found for them (as promised), their passports were taken away by the Satmar(so they would not travel to Israel), the Satmar tried to wipe away most of their customs, among many other horrible things. Here is a synopsis of the movie followed by a link I've found on the subject, but I'm wondering if many people know about this phenomenon and if anything is being done about it....

Brief Introduction - The Satmar Community
With more than 100,000 strong, the Satmars are the world¹s largest Hassidic sect. They follow an interpretation of Jewish law that is exceptionally strict even in the orthodox world. Their policy is of unrelenting anti-Zionism; like other ultra orthodox they don¹t recognize the state of Israel. However, unlike other extreme orthodox groups, they actively oppose its very existence. They are based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, USA, with a major outpost in Kiryat Joel, in Orange County, NY, USA.

A Brief Introduction - The Jewish Yemenite Community in Yemen
The Jews of Yemen were dispersed throughout the country, and settled in over a thousand localities. About eighty percent lived in villages – each characterized by its own specific dialect, laws, customs, clothing, etc. The remaining part lived in towns as Sana¹a and Aden. Their Jewish identity was expressed through many aspects of their rich culture, and recognized particularly by its distinctive dress and jewelry.

The Satmars wish to embrace all the Yemenite Jews into their community as they know the Yemenite Jews kept ancient traditions from the days of the Second Temple, while they were isolated in Yemen for centuries.

Synopsis:

In Satmar Custody reveals the story of the Jaradi's, a Jewish Yemenite family, one of many that were brought from Yemen to the US (Monroe, NY) by the Ultra orthodox Satmar Community which operates a propaganda machine against the immigration to Israel.

The story exposes a deep cultural gap between the Yemenite families and the Yiddish Satmar Community that became distractive and tragic to families who have traveled thousands of miles to an entirely different planet of their own, with strange rules, norms, morals and lifestyles.

Still in Yemen, Yemenite Jewish families are brainwashed by skillful missionaries, unable to defend themselves in the eye of this intricate and deceptive operation. The film follows the life of Yahia and Lauza Jaradi who were brought from Yemen into the Satmar Community. It starts on the day that the Jaradi couple received an urgent phone call notifying that their two and a half year old daughter, Hadia, died in a hospital in Paterson, N.J. Through their search for their daughter's body, they are getting closer and closer to what seems as the very painful truth about her faith.

A related article:

http://www.forward.com/articles/agency-whisks-yemenites-away-from-ny-enclave/

[Mediocrates]

Do you know any Satmars? I do. Hard bunch, very hard. Anyone but them is apikorsim. I remember once one told me he was more likely to cheat another (non Satmar) Jew then a goy since all the Jews but them were worse than the worst goyishe mamser. One wrecked my aunt's car because she drove on Shabbat. Of course she was in a wheelchair too which made traveling even a short distance on Shabbat nearly impossible.

[MGB8]

People who act like that lack a Jewish soul. They aren't Jews, not really. They are more like the Taliban. Their actions run contrary not merely to the Torah, but also the teaching of the great Rabbis in Jewish history. They lose the forrest for the trees - the lose the spirit for details - many such details being a product of human interpretation, and not the actual script of the Torah.

It's a sad commentary.

Honestly, if you want to look for a theological reason for the rise of Christianity at the expense of Judaism....

[Yala]

It's groups/sects like this, and Neteura Karta (who some Satmar are affiliated with) who give the Ultra-Orthodox, and Jews in general, a bad name. They are the Jewish Taliban.

[redcake]

There was another film about a kidnapping conspiracy involving Yemenite Jews, and the murder of Ofra Haza....... weirrrrrrd.

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Ofra.htm
http://yitchakrabin.com/Barry%20Chamish/html/ofra_haza_murder.html

[Yala]

There was another film about a kidnapping conspiracy involving Yemenite Jews, and the murder of Ofra Haza....... weirrrrrrd.

http://www.conspiracyarchive.com/Commentary/Ofra.htm
http://yitchakrabin.com/Barry%20Chamish/html/ofra_haza_murder.html

The Ofra Haza thing and the atomic experiments are ridiculous conspiracy theories.

There were however some incidents of some early Zionists cutting off the peyot and secularizing Yemenite Jews which are true. Also, in the 50's I believe, a few Yemenite children were kidnapped and given to Ashkenazi families(not 4500, of course, which is a ridiculously overblown number), which is exactly what's happening today with the Satmars apparently.

[adara]

I remember once one told me he was more likely to cheat another (non Satmar) Jew then a goy since all the Jews but them were worse than the worst goyishe mamser.

Then they can make Ann Coulter an honorary Satmar Jew!



One wrecked my aunt's car because she drove on Shabbat. Of course she was in a wheelchair too which made traveling even a short distance on Shabbat nearly impossible.

What a horrible thing to do! I hope she responded in kind by either prosecuting or suing them, preferably both.

Someone referred to them as the Jewish Taliban. Sad, but true. They give Judaism a very poor name.

[bararallu]

To be mild- I'm not a fan of the Satmars, but comparing them to the Taliban is very extreme. When Satmars get busted for caches of IEDs and Kalishnikovs, when they start blowing up Churches and Mosques, then we can talk comparable attributes.

[adara]

To be mild- I'm not a fan of the Satmars, but comparing them to the Taliban is very extreme. When Satmars get busted for caches of IEDs and Kalishnikovs, when they start blowing up Churches and Mosques, then we can talk comparable attributes.

You're right, but when they begin attacking other Jews, they're really feeding the antisemitics' hands. Although I doubt the Satmars will ever become physically violent like Fatah and Hamas, we don't need any kind of war or animosity between various streams of Judaism.

[bararallu]

I agree it would be great if we didn't have any. But "animosity" between different strands of Judaism is as old as the Tanach. Only very rarely has there been extreme physical violence, and then mostly in the foggy past. But as time passes the separate groups evolve further and further away from each other... until, well until being Jewish is exactly the same as being "Human", a symbolic non starter given the bloodshed we see on this planet. We have had many splinters a long the way.. some have become extinct, some have returned, some are separate forever... like the Samaritans and the Karaites.

[dayag]

Neturei Karta's anti-Zionist opinions are one thing, but when they go to Holocaust Denier conventions in Iran and hug Ahmedinejad, that is way over the line.

[bararallu]

The NK are a splinter group of Satmars right? If so has the latter issued a charem order?

[dayag]

The NK are a splinter group of Satmars right? If so has the latter issued a charem order?

Actually Neturei Karta and the Satmarers are separate groups, though they have had some overlap in membership over the years.

There is a news article from almost a year ago at
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3340592,00.html
where it talks about the "Satmar Hassidism Court...calling on the public to disassociate themselves from the seven Neturei Karta members who visited Iran to attend the Holocaust denial conference...."

[bararallu]

I thought that the NK was just an ideological group, but in terms of religion they followed the Satmar minhog and generally followed Rab. Teitelbaum' chassidic dynasty? But I'm not that familiar w/ them...

[dayag]

I thought that the NK was just an ideological group, but in terms of religion they followed the Satmar minhog and generally followed Rab. Teitelbaum' chassidic dynasty? But I'm not that familiar w/ them...

I am getting all my information second hand as well.