Religious Anti-Zionism Satmar Hasidim, Neturei Karta, and the Edah Haredit

"The Land of the Hart was not subjected to the rule of ministers, to the laws of the celestial spheres, or to the reign of heaven, but rather it is supervised under the governance of the Ein Sof, may His name be blessed, without the mediation of any minister or celestial sphere, and without any tzimtzum." "Only when the blessed G-d will appear to wreak judgement on Mount Esau [root out the forces of evil] and when the 'domination shall be the Lord's [Obad. 1:21]-- we will then walk to the land together with the righteous Moshiach!"

"[Zionists] are not rooted in the soul of Israel, but belong to external souls, the Amalekite spirits... These are descended from the mixed multitudes who came with Israel out of Egypt. These, the offspring of Pharaoh, arise in every generation and every age in a different guise and with different names, seeking to undo us."-- Rabbi Margolis

Rabbi Judah the Prince sent Rabbi Hiyyah, Rabbi Assi, and Rabbi Ammi to appoint scribes and teachers in towns throughout Eretz Yisroel. They came to a certain place where they could find neither a scribe nor a teacher. They said [to the townspeople]: "Bring us the guardians of the city [neturei karta]]" They brought them to the town watchmen. They said to them: "Are these then the guardians of the city? They are the destroyers of the city!" They said to them: "Who then, are the guardians of the city?" They replied, "The scribes and teachers, as Torah states: "Unless the Lord builds the house, its bulders labor in vain on it; unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman keeps vigil in vain' [ps 127:1] JT Hagigah 2:7

If G-d doesnt build the house * Im Hashem Lo Yinve Bayis * אם השם לא יבנה בית

Composed by Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz, (Psalm 127:1) and (Psalm 121:4)

"Israel is to be redeemed by penitence alone"- Maimonides

The Rebbe of Munkács (1872-1937), Rabbi Hayyim Eleazar Shapira viewed Zionism as Satan, and changed the meaning of the pasuk below to say, "May the Lord rebuke you, o Satan who chooses Jerusalem." He also quoted Devarim 32:17 as referring to 'those who seek to force zion to submit to them and make it the center of their sacrilegious enterprise.'

The Munkaczer Rebbe believed that Agudists have, in their hypocrisy, done more harm than all the wicked of the earth. They look like pious Jews, but then they combine Torah and worldly knowledge, and are siding with secular zionists! People like the Gurer Rebbe are training so-called 'doctor rabbis'. They are not רבנים, rather they are רע בנים!

The Munkaczer Rebbe would cite the warning issued by twelfth century Rabbi of Rothenberg to every G-d-fearing Jew who wished to travel to the land of Israel: "Let him be abstinent in the land and beware of any transgression, for if he sins there, he will be punished most severely, for G-d supervises the land and watches over its inhabitants (Devarim 11:12). He who rebels against the kingdom from within the king's palace is not the same as he who rebels outside it. This is the meaning of 'a land that consumes its inhabitants'(Numbers 13:32). As for those who go there and think they can get away with levity and reckless contentiousness, I would invoke the verses, 'But you came and defiled My land'. (Jer. 2:7) and 'Who asked of you to trample my courts?'(Isaiah 1:12)

The Munkaczer Rebbe believed that the land was reserved for 'righteous zealots' who were prepared to live a fully religious and spiritually-aligned life, and not secular Jews that were working the land. The land was designed solely for prayer and spiritual activity. He said, "For those who travel to the Holy Land for worldly purposes, rather than to study Torah and to worship G-d, place themselves in the 'company of the insolent' (ps. 1:1). It is written of such persons: 'But you came and defiled My land.' (Jer. 2:7) ".. We must follow in the footsteps of our old rabbis and forefathers, by supporting only those residents of the land who devote themselves to the study of Torah and the worship of G-d.... [Indeed] the evil forces have become stronger in our Holy Land and they undermine its very foundation through their plowshares and agricultural colonies." Thus, the Holy Land sustains its holiness during the period of exil only by denying its materiality.

The nationalistic and arrogant political movements provoked the animosity of non-Jewish Arab neighbors, with whom the Old Yishuv had learned to live in peace over many generations.

Rabbi Amram Blau, leader of Neturei Karta during the pre-state period, said "Over Israel there have arisen Zionists who adopt gentile notions in an attempt to force the End, using a false idea of worldly redemption through power and the kindness of the other nations.. they have come to the Holy Land and raised the flag of rebellion against the kingdom of heaven.. They have connived by the most horrendous means to uproot our holy Torah, as well as all human morality... They have become entangled with our Arab neighbors to the point where the Yishuv is being subjected to riots and Jewish blood is being shed, heaven forfend... Our holy Torah teaches that we should take no interest in the political realm while in exile, until the coming of the Moshiach, may be come speedily and in our own day, and there is nothing int his position to antagonize our Arab neighbors. While in exile we wish only to live and to fulfill the commandments of our Creator, may His name be blessed; and we have no interest in living in our Holy Land except to imbibe its holiness and to fulfill the commandments which can only be fulfilled here.

The Munkaczer Rebbe said, "It is apparent how far things have gone these days, when the Land of Israel is full of defilement.. the religious ordeals are especially difficult there, and it is extremely dangerous to dwell in the land since the new immigrants, who pretend to ascend to the land, are in fact descending to the depths of hell. When they lived there in the diaspora, they were already ruined by false ideas; but when they arrive in the Land of Israel, they lose all contact with Judaism, by violating the holy Shabbat and the Torah as a whole... It is now mortally dangerous to reside int he land. With all those who are defiling the land, the G-d fearing Jews will be forced against their will to fight difficult battles."

Shapira believed that the ultimate result of the Zionist settlers activity is not physical construction, but is spiritual destruction. The Zionists threaten to bring a new and terrible exile for the people of Israel, and so political passivity is crucial. "One may not rely on any natural effort or on material salvation by human labor. One should not expect redemption from any source other than G-d." He would cite Rabbi Jonathan Eybeschutz's oath taken by Israel not to hasten the end of days: "The congregation of Israel shouted out their vow.. For even if the whole people of Israel is prepared to go to Jerusalem, and even if all the nations consent, it is absolutely forbidden to go there. Because the End is unknown and perhaps this is the wrong time. ..Tomorrow or the next day they might sin, and will yet again need to go into exile, heaven forbid, and the latter [exile] will be harsher than the former.

According to Teitelbaum, the Zionist's attempt to 'force the end' and undermine faith in divine redemption into a meta-historical demonization of the Zionist enterprise as the ongoing anti-messianic work of Satan himself. He also cites psalm 74:3 and claims that the holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel was a continuous process, the final eruption of the forces of evil as prelude to redemption.