Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - Satmar Chasidim Honor Their Leader's Yertzheit Peaceful

Kiryas Joel, Monroe, NY - Yesterday was the twenty-seventh yertzheit, Yiddish for the anniversary of death, of the Grand Rebbe Joel Teitelbaum, the founder of the Satmar Chasidic movement, who died at 93 and was buried here in Kiryas Joel cemetery.

Thousands of Chasidic men streamed into this village They started coming Saturday evening and they will still be coming today from Monsey and Montreal, from Brooklyn and from just down the street, up the paved path to the cemetery, and into a modest mausoleum to pray where Rabbi Teitelbaum, his wife, and his successor, Rabbi Moses Teitelbaum, are buried.
The path to the cemetery was lined with a temporary railing. Behind the railing young men took donations for dozens of charities. They stood with bags or a neat stack of cash in hand, hoping to help with more than just prayers.

Rabbi Zalmen and Rabbi Aron Teitelbaum - feuding sons of Grand Rabbi Moses, made separate trips to the cemetery hours apart from each other.
The day was peaceful in spite of the recent court wrangling over which of the brawling Satmar factions own the cemetery. An appeals court has ruled that it belongs to the Brooklyn congregation, which Rabbi Zalmen's side rules, but Rabbi Aron's faction has since filed a deed transfer to renew its claim to the property.