Affront And Center
Dear Editor,
The 5TJT issue of June 13, 2025, featured a front-page photograph and lead story about Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum, the current Satmar Rebbe’s upcoming visit to Israel. The event does warrant coverage—even though most Five Towns Jews are not Satmar Rebbe adherents.
When I was a rabbi in the community, I knew a good number of Jews who came from parts of Hungary that were affiliated with the Munkaczer Rebbe, Rav Chaim Elazar Shapiro, a.k.a. “the Minchas Elazar” and the first U.S. Satmar Rebbe, Rav Yoel Teitelbaum (a student of the Minchas Elazar). Indeed, they may still feel a sense of connection or pride in one of their movement’s current two rebbes. They each used very strong terminology to oppose the Zionist movement and later the State of Israel.
The decision of the Five Towns Jewish Times to make Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum the central image on the cover of the paper was not in good taste. I say this especially at this time (or, indeed, any week after October 7, 2023)! The State of Israel, which he and his movement oppose in such a vitriolic way, has been fighting a war for its survival.
Your issue went to press before Israel launched its preemptive military strike against Iran. But the paper reached readers just before Shabbat, as families across your readership were deeply concerned for relatives serving in the IDF.
In that moment of national anxiety and personal fear, the face on your cover could have been that of an IDF soldier, an IDF chaplain, or a rabbinic leader aligned with the State of Israel. It could have been the face of a spouse, a parent, or a child of those serving. Instead, it was a photo of a man whose movement refuses to acknowledge the legitimacy of the State of Israel, omits its soldiers from its prayers, and has made theological rejection of Jewish sovereignty a defining position.
This is not a question of whether the Rebbe’s visit is newsworthy. It is a question of editorial framing—of what message is conveyed when ideological opposition to the very institutions now defending Jewish lives is given symbolic prominence. Satmar’s ideology is not passive. It actively denies the spiritual and political legitimacy of the very state your readers are praying for—and worrying about.
One must ask: after October 7, did Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum offer any public religious response at all? His brother, Rabbi Zalman Teitelbaum of the rival Satmar faction, issued a modest call for Avinu Malkeinu to be recited “because of the difficult situation that prevails in the Holy Land.” As Rabbi Dr. Levi Cooper has documented, the language was carefully constrained—but it marked a minimal acknowledgment. Did Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum do even that?
Editorial decisions shape communal imagination. They define what—and who—is seen. In a moment of war, when others are standing guard, your readers deserve a cover that recognizes not only the drama of the week, but the burdens being carried on their behalf.
Sincerely,
Rabbi Heshie Billet
Jerusalem, Israel
Rabbi, Young Israel of Woodmere 1980–2020
In Response
A few weeks ago, we featured a prominent photograph of Satmar Rebbe Rav Aharon Teitelbaum with a caption describing that he was planning to leave on a charter flight to Israel with a few hundred of his chassidimin the near future. It would be his first visit to Israel in a decade. I’m not sure if the trip was postponed or even canceled since the 12-day war with Iran disrupted travel to Israel.
In his letter to the editor, Rabbi Billet contended that while the fact of the trip after a ten-year absence might be news, it certainly was not worthy of its front-page display in the 5TJT. In his letter and our exchange of texts and e-mails that followed, Rabbi Billet asserted that he understood I was not a subscriber to Satmar positions when it comes to the State of Israel.
The Satmar position on Israel is not like that of the Neturei Karta, the chassidic-looking group that always seems to be present at anti-Israel, pro-Hamas demonstrations and looks like the answer to the question of, “Which one does not belong?”
Considering the Satmar position on support of Israel or lack thereof, Rabbi Billet said that he took umbrage at the prominence of a front-page photo in a newspaper with complete and absolute support of Israel on all levels.
My response to him was firstly that in no way, shape, or form was that front-page photo indicative of our position on our support of Israel. I explained to him, as well as others who commented, that the coverage of a news story or any story is not about our advocating for one position or another. Our editorial position on many issues is articulated openly and honestly in our front-page column “From The Editor.”
The fact of the matter is the photo of the Satmar Rebbe was there because it was both eye-catching and newsworthy inasmuch as a leader of a large Jewish community around the world—including Israel—has managed to not visit the Jewish state in a decade. Nothing more.
Rabbi Billet’s point (as well as that of a few others who added their thoughts) was that the picture of the Satmar Rebbe is not of specific interest to our readership or market, so to speak. I understand that, but I also believe that the Rebbe is a recognizable personality in all our communities, whether you follow him or not. I don’t think the photo was making any kind of statement other than stating: This is the Satmar Rebbe (one of them, at least), and he is planning on traveling to Israel for the first time in a decade. That was it!
At the same time, I received a note from a reader about last week’s front-page photo of Ishay Ribo performing on stage in Lawrence at a benefit for Yeshiva Shavei Hevron. The writer said that featuring a photo of an entertainer on our front page at this time was inappropriate and shameful.
I responded to the writer that I thought she was wrong about her conclusion. I explained that all four articles on that same front page were, from one angle or another, about the war between Israel and Iran. I further explained that Ribo was performing at a benefit for this particular yeshiva located in Chevron. I pointed out that the Yeshiva and its related institutions have over 900 students. Over the last 21 months, 300 of those students have served or are still serving in the IDF. Eighteen students or former students lost their lives in either Gaza or Lebanon. And, I added, a child of one of the Yeshiva’s graduates is being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Inappropriate? Shameful? Please, let’s be serious.
Sincerely,
Larry Gordon
