Sacred Autograph of the Admor Rabbeinu Yoel of Satmar on a Rare Deed from Jerusalem
This is an important historical document from the original Satmar congregation in Jerusalem! A signed power-of-attorney deed authorizing the founding of the Rav Tov Satmar neighborhood in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood.
The deed was signed by the holy Admor Rabbeinu Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar during his historic visit to Yerushalayim in 1959.
The deed states:
“Since it is my desire to build and found a community in the neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem…I, the undersigned, [the Admor] Yoel Teitelbaum of Brooklyn, New York…presently in the Tzfania Hotel in Jerusalem, hereby deliver my general power-of-attorney…” The document concludes with his sacred autograph “Hak[atan] Yoel Teitelbaum”.
Original autographed documents documenting the Admor’s visit to Jerusalem are extremely rare!
The Admor Rabbeinu Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar (1887-1979), author of the Divrei Yoel, was the spiritual leader of the post-Holocaust Chassidic renaissance. Serving as a father and guide to thousands of Holocaust survivors, he rebuilt the Chassidic court of Satmar both in the United States and Eretz Yisrael. Renowned for his firm opposition of Zionism and modernity, he waged a mighty battle against the Zionist movement and fiercely opposed journeying to Eretz Yisrael in order to join the resistance to conquer the Jewish homeland. After the Holocaust, he re-established the majestic Chassidic court of Satmar both in the United States and Eretz Yisrael and served as Nasi of the Eidah Hachareidis in Jerusalem.
The Har Tuv neighborhood was founded in Jerusalem in 1965 and was celebrated with an elaborate Chanukas Habayis of the main building (see the Admor’s drashah in honor of the Chanukas Habayis in Kuntress Chiddushei Torah V’drahos pgs. 31-33). The congregation was led by his esteemed disciple Rabbi Chaim Eliyahu Sternberg, and one of the Rabbanim serving under him was Rabbi Yechezkel Roth, the Karslburger Rav. In time, the Satmar community in the neighborhood dwindled and rebuilt itself as Kehal Yitav Lev in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem, 1959. Autographed by the Admor. Condition: Good; fold mark and hole-punched on top. Notary seal on verso.
