Part IV · Torah on Zionism
A timeline of opposition.
From the First Zionist Congress in 1897
to the present — the chronology of
Torah leaders who rejected the project,
in their own time, from within their
own tradition.
1897
First Zionist Congress, Basel
Theodor Herzl convenes the First
Zionist Congress. Orthodox rabbis
across Europe — including leaders in
Galicia, Hungary, and Lithuania — reject
the proposal. Rabbi David Moshe
Friedman of Chortkov, despite earlier
interest in religious settlement, declines
to endorse the political movement.
1912
Agudat Israel is founded
Orthodox Jewry organizes in Poland as a
non-Zionist Torah party. Even this
compromise is later opposed by the
Munkacser Rebbe and the Satmar
Rebbe, who argue that any cooperation
with Zionism is itself forbidden.
1920s
The young Rabbi Yoel
Teitelbaum
Before becoming Rebbe of Satmar, the
future Satmar Rebbe forbids any contact
with Zionists — including the Religious
Zionist Mizrachi — aligning fully with
the Munkacser position.
1932
Rabbi Sonnenfeld publishes
Truth and Peace
The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem publishes
a pre-state statement affirming that
Orthodox Jews oppose the subjugation
of the Arab population of Palestine.
1934
Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum takes
office as Chief Rabbi of
Satmar
After years of struggle, he assumes
leadership of the Satmar community in
Hungary and becomes a defining voice
of uncompromising opposition to
Zionism.
1944
The Kastner train
Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum, caught
attempting to flee Nazi-occupied
Hungary, is sent to Bergen-Belsen. He
survives via the Kastner train to
Switzerland. His community is
destroyed.
1946
Arrival in Brooklyn
The Rebbe arrives in New York on the
Vulcania on the second day of Rosh
Hashanah. He settles in Williamsburg
with a small group of survivors.
1948
Establishment of the State of
Israel
Declared May 14. The Torah world's
reaction divides: Agudat Israel moves
toward cooperation. Satmar, the Eidah
HaChareidis, Brisk, and others reject
any religious legitimacy for the new
state.
1951
Rebbe appointed President of
Eidah HaChareidis
The Satmar Rebbe — though resident in
Brooklyn — is appointed President of
the anti-Zionist Rabbinical Court of
Jerusalem.
1955
Founding of the Central
Rabbinical Congress
The Satmar Rebbe founds the CRC, an
umbrella of American Orthodox rabbis
aligned against Zionism. It endorses this
organization to this day.
1959–1961
Vayoel Moshe published
The Rebbe's magnum opus is published
in Brooklyn — three treatises
establishing the canonical halachic case
against Zionism.
1967
Al HaGeulah V'Al HaTemurah
Published in the aftermath of the Six-
Day War to reject the theological claim
that the Israeli military victory was
divine redemption.
1979
The Rebbe's passing
Over one hundred thousand Jews attend
the funeral in Kiryas Joel, the town
named in his honor.
2003
Torah Jews / Natruna is
founded
At the request of the Satmar
community, Rabbi Moshe Dovid Katz
establishes an organized body to carry
the Rebbe's voice into the age of mass
media.
Today
The work continues
Torah Jews represents Orthodox
communities in the United States,
Europe, and the Holy Land. Endorsed
by the Grand Rabbi of Satmar, the
Central Rabbinical Congress, the Eidah
HaChareidis, the Roshei Yeshivas of
Brisk, and leading authorities across the
Orthodox world.
