Extreme Orthodox: Satmar and Central European Chassidism, with Ken Blady ONLINE

This three-session course is offered through Acalanes Adult Education starting July 2.

Experiencing a population explosion, the ultra-conservative, uncompromising Satmar, with headquarters in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, are today the largest and wealthiest Chassidic community in the world. They do not recognize the State of Israel, maintaining that a Jewish homeland should not exist until the coming of the Messiah.

Among the topics discussed in these Power Point presentations:

• Sketch of the early history of Chassidism and a Glossary of Chassidic Terms

• The Chasam Sofer, fierce opponent of Reform and Modern Orthodoxy, and the beginnings of Extreme Orthodoxy in Central Europe, early 19th century

• How the Satmar Rebbe was saved from the concentration camps by the Labor Zionist, Israel Kastner• Triumph of the Spirit: The heroic deeds of Holocaust survivor, Rabbi Yekutiel Yehuda Halberstam, the Klausenburger Rebbe

• Extremists among Extremists: A lust for asceticism among Reb Areleh’s Chassidim in Mea Sha’arim, Jerusalem 

• Only 55 miles from Times Square but it might as well be Planet Yehupetz: Everyday life in Chassidic People’s Republic of Kiryas Yoiel, Monroe County, NY

• The “Angels” of Williamsburg: Their break with Lubavitch and alignment with Satmar

• Slugfest: The death of the Satmar Rebbe, and the struggle for succession

•Ordeals of Satmar “black sheep.”

About Ken Blady»